Teachers may be given a legal duty to report cases of female genital mutilation as part of a drive by ministers to combat the crime.
Home Office minister Norman Baker said there was “weight” behind calls for mandatory reporting by schools and believed it could help bring mutilators to justice.
He added that the idea was “certainly on the agenda” and would be assessed more fully at a ministerial summit on FGM next month. The change would mean teachers and other school staff would have to report concerns over girls at risk of mutilation to officials or police.
A similar duty would apply in cases where teachers discovered or suspected that a girl had already been cut.
Mr Baker told of his concern about FGM’s prevalence in Britain and the failure to bring a single prosecution for the crime in nearly 30 years since the practice was made illegal.
He also wanted to look at the introduction of mandatory reporting in hospitals, suggesting staff tell police about FGM in the same way as they do for victims of shootings or stabbings.
