11th April 2024

Legal duties

FGM has been a criminal offence in the UK since 1985. It is illegal to arrange, assist in arranging or fail to protect a girl from the risk of FGM. Since 2014, it has been mandatory for all healthcare professionals to record the identification of FGM within a patient’s clinical record and to submit these details to the DHSC. While there is no requirement to ask every female whether they have FGM, healthcare staff are expected to use professional judgement to decide whether there are risk factors for each patient.

All vulnerable adults or children under 18 who have signs of FGM, or in whom there is good reason to suspect they are at risk of FGM, must be referred to the police and child social services within 1 month. There is no requirement to refer adult women to social services or the police.