This Government should be the one to see the 'first successful prosecution for FGM', the home secretary says.
In her speech at a Conservative conference plenary today, Amber Rudd MP talked about this Government's record on tackling Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
She told the audience: 'We have strengthened the law, introduced a new FGM mandatory reporting duty and tougher penalties for perpetrators.'
FGM has been illegal in the UK for around 30 years.
It was first banned under the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985, a law updated in 2004 with the Female Genital Mutilation Act.
The Serious Crime Act 2015 introduced the duty of regulated professionals such as teachers and health professionals to report all known cases of FGM for under 18s to the police.
However, there has never been a successful prosecution of this crime, a fact a recent Home Affairs Committee report described as 'beyond belief'.
'I am determined that this Government should be the one to see the first successful prosecution for FGM, and to see its perpetrators punished,' Ms. Rudd said.
