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<p>Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government
is clear that we will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong
suffering to women and girls</p><p>The Government has significantly strengthened the
law in 2015 to improve protection for victims and those at risk, and to break down
the barriers to prosecution.</p><p>Work to tackle FGM is an integral part of our cross-Government
Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, published in March 2016. The Strategy
commits to continue to challenge deep-rooted social norms, attitudes and behaviours
that discriminate against and limit women and girls across all communities. As part
of our commitment to tackling all forms of VAWG, we have pledged £100 million in funding,
including the £17 million VAWG transformation fund. This year, we will refresh the
strategy to ensure that we are doing all that we can to tackle crimes which disproportionately
affect women.</p><p>In July 2017, the National FGM Centre received additional funding
through the Department for Education’s Social Care Innovation Programme to sup-port
its work through to the end of March 2020. The intention was for this funding to be
time limited, with the Centre to be self-sustaining from April 2020. Therefore, the
Home Office have no plans to contribute to the funding of the Centre beyond March
2020.</p><p>The Home Office does not hold information on the average cost of supporting
an FGM victim in the UK. However, we are committed to continuing our work to protect
and support victims and those at risk of this terrible crime.</p>
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