FGM mandatory reporting
What it means
Female genital mutilation is illegal in the UK. There is a MANDATORY duty for regulated professionals to report to the POLICE any case where a girl UNDER 18 discloses FGM has been carried out, or where it is observed on examination. Adult cases are managed with safeguarding/support and risk assessment for others in the family (younger girls). Distinct from the discretionary public-interest route.
Worked example
A girl under 18 is found on examination to have undergone FGM — this must be reported to the police (mandatory), and other girls in the family assessed.
In the exam
On examining a 15-year-old a clinician identifies that female genital mutilation has been performed.
What settles it
FGM in an UNDER-18 (disclosed or observed) is a MANDATORY police report; adult FGM is managed through safeguarding/risk assessment, not automatic mandatory reporting.
Classically confused with
Statutory & mandatory disclosure
Source: FGM Act 2003 (mandatory reporting duty)