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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Tonge quizzes Browning on Female Genital Mutilation [FGM]
September 10, 2011 1:38 PM
• [Sep 08] Baroness Tonge (Liberal Democrat): TO ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to prepare a strategy on; and, if so, what arrangements they will put in place to fund such a strategy and to co-ordinate it across government.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to reinstate the role of female genital mutilation co-ordinator; and, if so, when.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what they are doing to encourage awareness of and debate on female genital mutilation.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote outreach in communities regarding female genital mutilation.
Baroness Browning (Conservative): The Government are absolutely committed to tackling and preventing female genital mutilation (FGM). There are no plans for a separate government strategy, as tackling FGM is a key part of the Government's integrated approach to ending violence against women and girls. The Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls: Action Plan, which was published earlier this year, includes commitments to:
develop learning programmes for the police on FGM;support community engagement work to tackle FGM;develop guidelines on FGM for prosecutors; and review the multi-agency guidelines on FGM.
To meet these commitments, the work of the FGM co-ordinator is being continued by a steering group made up of the relevant departments, including the Home Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for Education, Department for International Development and Department of Health. As a result, we have made significant progress in raising awareness of FGM and supporting professionals to intervene. For example, more than 40,000 leaflets and 40,000 posters have been circulated to schools, health services, charities and community groups around the country, and we have established a regular forum for the voluntary and community sector to raise concerns with the Government.
This forum is also used to map community engagement work and identify best practice. In addition, the new multi-agency practice guidelines are helping to ensure that professionals are able and confident to intervene to protect girls at risk.
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