Parents face jail to halt female circumcision

Parents who take their daughters abroad to undergo female circumcision will face up to 14 years in jail under measures which come into force today.

Home Secretary David Blunkett and Home Office minister Baroness Scotland met victims of the "barbaric practice" at a support centre in north-west London.

Mr Blunkett said last year he would close a loophole in measures which banned female circumcision 17 years ago.

The practice is carried out by some in the Somali, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Yemeni, Malaysian and Indonesian communities.

Some have evaded the law by arranging for girls to have the operation abroad. It involves the surgical removal of the clitoris, and sometimes parts of the labia, reducing sexual pleasure.

Mr Blunkett backed a Private Member's Bill which amended the law to make it unlawful to take girls abroad for genital mutilation. It increased penalties from five to 14 years' imprisonment.

Speaking today Mr Blunkett said: "No cultural, medical or other reason can ever justify a practice that causes so much pain and suffering."