Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) - April 2018 to March 2019, Annual Report, Experimental Statistics Report

• There were 6,415 individual¹ women and girls who had an attendance where FGM was identified in the period April 2018 to March 2019.  These accounted for 11,575 attendances² reported at NHS trusts and GP practices where FGM was identified.
• The increase in total attendances during 2018-19 would appear to be a change in recording practice, as the number of distinct individuals has remained broadly stable.
• There were 4,120 newly recorded³ women and girls in the period April 2018 to March 2019.  Newly recorded means this is the first time they have appeared in this dataset.  It does not indicate how recently their FGM was undertaken, nor does it mean that this is the woman or girl’s first attendance for FGM. The number of newly recorded women and girls has reduced over time. This is to be expected as the longer the collection continues, the greater the chance of a women or girl having been recorded in it previously.

1. Individuals refers to all patients in the reporting period where FGM was identified or a procedure for FGM was undertaken. Each patient is only counted once.

2. Total Attendances refers to all attendances in the reporting period where FGM was identified or a procedure for FGM was undertaken. Women and girls may have one or more attendances in the reporting period. This category includes both newly recorded and previously identified women and girls.

3. Newly Recorded refers to an individual’s first appearance in the FGM dataset. Newly recorded does not necessarily mean that the attendance is the woman or girl’s first attendance for FGM.