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<p>Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government
will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological
suffering to women and girls. <br> <br> There has been one prosecution brought under
the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, which was unsuccessful. The police and Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS) have highlighted that one reason for the lack of investigations
and prosecutions is a lack of referrals. In addition, cultural taboo and the age and
vulnerability of the victims may prevent them coming forward. <br> <br> In 2015 we
significantly changed the law to breakdown these barriers. We introduced: extended
extra-territorial jurisdiction, lifelong anonymity for victims, a new offence of failure
to protect a girl from FGM and a mandatory reporting duty. We have also introduced
FGM Protection Orders and latest figures show that 79 have been made to protect girls.</p>
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