Health authorities have recorded 5,702 new cases of female genital mutilation in just one year, official figures show, equivalent to more than 100 cases every week. Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been illegal in Britain since 1985, with the original law strengthened in 2003 to prevent girls being taken abroad for the practice, yet so far no convictions have been brought. Eighteen of the cases recorded over the year were known to have been undertaken in the UK. The figures, covering the period of April 2015 to March 2016, were collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre and represent the first ever set of annual statistics on the practice. They show that 90 per cent (1,980) of the girls and women with a known country of birth were born in Africa, while more than one third…
