Female Genital Mutilation A 'Major UK Problem'

By Siobhan Robbins, Sky News Reporter

A dedicated helpline set up to deal with female genital mutilation (FGM) has received more than 215 calls in just under 10 months, Sky News has learned.

The NSPCC revealed that since June last year, 96 of the cases picked up by its FGM helpline have been referred to the police or children's services.

John Cameron, from the charity, said: "There's a major problem in some of our communities in the UK where children are subjected to this appalling abuse. Many, many thousands of children are at risk in the UK to be taken abroad to be cut and of course there is some suggestion that this might be occurring in the UK as well."

It comes as a crackdown aimed at stopping girls being taken abroad to have their genitals mutilated has been taking place at airports around the country.

Those found guilty of FGM face 14 years in prison

Officers from Essex, Avon and Somerset, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Sussex, West Midlands and Metropolitan Police have been working with the Border Force and the National Crime Agency to identify possible victims being flown to and from high risk countries such as Sierra Leone.

They have been joined by women who had the procedure done to them and are now trying to stop other families from carrying out the cutting.

Sarian Karim Kamara was just a teenager when she was cut. She told Sky News it was the most painful experience of her life.

She said: "I was pinned downed by a group of women, I was blind-folded and my legs were spread apart. A big woman sat on my chest and I was cut."

The NSPCC runs a helpline for victims of FGM

FGM is viewed in some cultures as a ritual linked with becoming a woman and is mainly carried out in African countries.

It involves the partial or total removal of a female's external genitals.

It is thought 20,000 girls under the age of 15 are at risk of FGM in the UK every year.

The practice is viewed as child abuse in the UK and carries a 14-year jail sentence. 

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: "It's a crime to take a British citizen abroad to have FGM carried out, regardless of whether it's a crime abroad. We want more people to come forward."

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