BMJ. 2014 Jul 6;348:g4447. doi: 10.1136/bmj.g4447.
Referrals for female genital mutilation must rise, say MPs.
Dyer C.
EXTRACT
government should make the failure of professionals to report concerns a criminal offence unless reports rise substantially, a committee of MPs has said.
In a hard hitting report that denounces the practice as an “extreme form of child abuse,” the House of Commons home affairs committee called the UK’s failure to tackle FGM a “national scandal” and urged the adoption of a national action plan.
The report described the record of referrals of cases to social services by healthcare professionals as “extremely poor” and said many cannot even recognise the signs that a child is at risk. “It is unacceptable that those in a position with the most access to evidence of these crimes do nothing to help the victims and those at risk,” the MPs said…
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