ABSTRACT
The chapter considers Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and concludes that, notwithstanding the fact that aspects of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 are not fully in line with the PGC, due to practical and societal realities, this Act represents a good faith attempt at applying the PGC. There is a general tendency in Western countries to have a blanket ban on FGM. As such, the position in English law is very clear: it is always prohibited under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. Under this Act, the carrying out of a FGM can result in a fine or the imprisonment of the person carrying out the procedure. FGM is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as comprising ‘all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons’. 1 This practice is prevalent in a variety of countries, ranging from Ghana to India to Liberia. An estimated 137,000 women and girls are reported to be living with the effects of FGM in England and Wales. 2 The WHO attest to that fact that FGM assigns women to an inferior place within society and results in reduction in women’s sexual desire. They point to a number of influential organisations who view FGM as being universally unacceptable and an infringement of the physical and the psycho-sexual integrity of women. 3
