BMJ. 2007 Jul 21;335(7611):116.
BMA backs police campaign against female genital mutilation.
Moszynski P.
EXTRACT
A crackdown on female genital mutilation has been launched by London’s Metropolitan Police in an attempt to protect the estimated 6500 girls it believes undergo the procedure each year in the United Kingdom.
The BMA backed campaign, dubbed Operation Azure, has been launched at the start of the summer holidays, because that is the time when girls from certain ethnic groups—mainly African communities—are thought to be most at risk. The extended holiday period allows time to recover from the physical effects of the operation. Most girls are sent abroad, but female genital mutilation is also thought to be conducted in the UK, although no one has ever been prosecuted.
A £20 000 (€30 000; $40 000) reward has been offered in an attempt to break the wall of silence surrounding the issue. The Metropolitan …
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