FGM in the UK

Why language, law and early action matter

By Aneeta Prem MBE

FGM in the UK is a serious criminal offence and a safeguarding emergency. The law is clear. However, harm can stay hidden when fear controls families, disclosure comes late, and professionals hesitate.

This piece explains what FGM looks like in practice, why prosecutions remain rare, and why language matters. Above all, it focuses on early action, because prevention protects girls before harm happens.

FGM in the UK often comes to light years later

Many people assume survivors know what happened to them at the time. In reality, some only discover the truth years later, often during adolescence or adulthood, when they seek medical help for pain or complications.

One survivor described it like this, quoted with consent:

“I didn’t know I had undergone female genital mutilation. It wasn’t until I was a teenager, after my family moved to the UK. I had years of gynaecological and urinary problems. When I was 17, I attended a hospital appointment. The nurse and doctor explained that I had no clitoris and that I had been sewn closed. I didn’t even understand what that meant at the time.”

This matters because delayed discovery changes everything. It affects how professionals assess risk. It also shapes how they understand credibility. Therefore, systems must not expect early disclosure as the norm.

What the law already says in the UK

The UK criminalises FGM. The law covers carrying out FGM, helping someone to carry it out, and taking a child abroad for the purpose of FGM. In addition, FGM Protection Orders help prevent harm and manage risk.

Crucially, the law allows no cultural or religious defence. International human rights standards also make this clear. So the gap is not the statute. Instead, the gap is consistent application.

Why prosecutions remain rare

FGM is a hidden crime. Adults often plan it in private. Children may not have the language to describe what has happened. As a result, disclosure may come years later, through healthcare rather than a police report.

Cases can falter when professionals:

• wait for a child to verbalise abuse

• treat delayed disclosure as a credibility issue

• view risk indicators as family matters

• frame harm as culture instead of criminal intent

Even so, prosecution does not depend on early disclosure alone. Strong cases often rely on early safeguarding, evidence-led investigation, and prompt medical input. They also depend on close work between police and prosecutors.

Why language matters

Public bodies often use the phrase honour-based abuse. That term has become common in recording and guidance. However, survivors repeatedly describe how perpetrators used ideas of reputation and shame to silence them.

For that reason, Freedom Charity uses the term dishonour-based abuse. There is no honour in cutting a child. There is no honour in threats. There is no honour in control.

This is not a debate about wording for its own sake. Language shapes judgement. It influences how professionals assess risk, record evidence, and decide whether to act.

Prevention must come before crisis

Prosecution matters. However, prosecution alone will not stop FGM in the UK. Prevention must reach children before risk escalates.

Freedom Charity focuses on early, practical safeguarding in schools. We work with girls. We also work with boys and young men, because prevention means challenging harmful permission structures, not only responding to crisis.

Add this internal link on the anchor text: Not in My Name
Place it on the phrase “not in my name” in the sentence below.

Harmful practices thrive where silence becomes normal. So prevention needs young people who recognise coercion and can say, clearly, not in my name.

The Red Triangle badge and safe disclosure

Freedom also uses simple, visible prompts to help young people ask for help safely. The Red Triangle badge with a heart of gold is one of them. It gives children a way to signal concern without having to explain everything at once.

Add this internal link on the anchor text: Red Triangle badge against FGM
Place it on the phrase “Red Triangle badge against FGM” in the sentence below.

You can read more about the Red Triangle badge against FGM on Freedom’s website, including why it works as an early intervention tool.

If you want a second internal link, place it on: Freedom Charity shop
Use it in the next sentence.

People can also support prevention by buying a badge through the Freedom Charity shop, which helps fund education and safeguarding work.

Books and classroom prevention

Education stops harm earlier than any prosecution can. That is why Freedom Charity uses safeguarding education that children understand.

Freedom’s novels, But It’s Not Fair and Cut Flowers, supported by accredited lesson plans, go directly into schools so every child receives the same message. In addition, these resources help staff recognise warning signs and respond correctly when a disclosure begins.

What good practice looks like

Effective responses to FGM in the UK share common features:

• early identification of risk

• immediate safeguarding action

• appropriate use of FGM Protection Orders

• evidence-led investigation that does not rely on a child describing abuse

• timely medical input where needed

• survivor-centred safeguarding that reduces pressure and isolation

• clear prosecutorial framing that treats FGM as a crime

Just as importantly, professionals should treat silence and compliance as risk signals. They should not treat them as reassurance.

International FGM Day and why this matters now

FGM causes lifelong harm. Delay compounds that harm. Therefore, every missed chance for early action increases risk.

Each year, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM reminds the world of a basic truth: tradition never justifies violence against girls.

Add this outbound link to the anchor text: International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM
Link it to the UN observance page.

If you also want a Freedom internal link here, add it on the anchor text: International FGM Day guidance
Link it to Freedom’s FGM page.

Freedom publishes International FGM Day guidance focused on prevention, early safeguarding and action in the UK.

Conclusion

FGM stays hidden because fear, shame and control work. A safeguarding system must respond with clarity, confidence and care.

Language is not a side issue. It shapes understanding, action and trust. If the UK wants prevention to succeed and prosecutions to strengthen, professionals must name the harm clearly, act early, and refuse to borrow the language used to control victims.

“Survivors deserve a justice system that recognises risk early, treats silence as a safeguarding signal, and never borrows the language used to control them.”
Aneeta Prem MBE