Proportion of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting.

Proxy
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This indicator contains some alternative data to those specified by the United Nations (UN). This indicator is the most suitable match currently available.

Series

Series

Sub-categories

Choose categories from the dropdowns below to see different breakdowns of the data. Some will not be available until a higher level is chosen.
Sub-categories - Age at which FGM took place
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Download source data for disaggregations (.csv)

Headline data

Proportion of girls and women aged 15–49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, by age
Year Value Units Series GeoCode Observation status Unit multiplier
2015/16 0.0223186614 Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Normal value Units
2016/17 0.023903046 Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Normal value Units
2017/18 0.0222649657 Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Normal value Units
2018/19 0.0229783665 Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Normal value Units
2019/20 0.0235073946 Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Normal value Units
2020/21 0.0193402811 Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Normal value Units
2021/22 0.0194773189 Percentage (%) Percentage (%) Normal value Units
2015/16 6195.0 Individuals Individuals Normal value Units
2016/17 6685.0 Individuals Individuals Normal value Units
2017/18 6265.0 Individuals Individuals Normal value Units
2018/19 6505.0 Individuals Individuals Normal value Units
2019/20 6690.0 Individuals Individuals Normal value Units
2020/21 5525.0 Individuals Individuals Normal value Units
2021/22 5620.0 Individuals Individuals Normal value Units

Source: NHS Digital

Geographical Area: England

Footnote:

1. Values between 1-7 are rounded to 5. All other values are rounded to the nearest 5.

2. Commissioning region is derived from the patient’s postcode of usual address.

3. Individuals refers to all patients in the reporting period where FGM was identified or a procedure for FGM was undertaken.

4. Each patient is only counted once.

5. Age - When a woman with FGM has given birth to a baby girl, the baby should not be recorded in the dataset unless the baby girl has also been identified with FGM. Some babies have been recorded in the dataset in error, so some entries aged under 18 may be incorrect. This is a very small proportion of the data.

6. Country - Where a patient has more than one Country of Birth recorded in the FGM Enhanced Dataset, the latest is used.

7. Country - ‘Rest of Africa’ includes all cases where the recorded country of birth is in Middle and Southern Africa, according to the UNSD regional mappings.

8. Country - ‘Rest of Asia’ includes all cases where the recorded country of birth is in Central, Eastern, South-Eastern Asia and Southern Asia, according to the UNSD regional mappings.

9. Country - ‘Rest of the world’ includes all cases where the recorded country of birth is outside of Africa, Asia and the United Kingdom, according to the UNSD regional mappings.

10. FGM Type - Where a patient has more than one FGM type recorded in the FGM Enhanced Dataset, the latest is used.

For tabular data alternative see Table tab.

Percentage of women the NHS has interacted with where FGM was identified Proxy

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  • England
Chart details
Source:
NHS Digital, Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Geographical Area:
England
Unit of Measurement:
Percentage (%)
Footnote:

1. Values between 1-7 are rounded to 5. All other values are rounded to the nearest 5.

2. Commissioning region is derived from the patient’s postcode of usual address.

3. Individuals refers to all patients in the reporting period where FGM was identified or a procedure for FGM was undertaken.

4. Each patient is only counted once.

5. Age - When a woman with FGM has given birth to a baby girl, the baby should not be recorded in the dataset unless the baby girl has also been identified with FGM. Some babies have been recorded in the dataset in error, so some entries aged under 18 may be incorrect. This is a very small proportion of the data.

6. Country - Where a patient has more than one Country of Birth recorded in the FGM Enhanced Dataset, the latest is used.

7. Country - ‘Rest of Africa’ includes all cases where the recorded country of birth is in Middle and Southern Africa, according to the UNSD regional mappings.

8. Country - ‘Rest of Asia’ includes all cases where the recorded country of birth is in Central, Eastern, South-Eastern Asia and Southern Asia, according to the UNSD regional mappings.

9. Country - ‘Rest of the world’ includes all cases where the recorded country of birth is outside of Africa, Asia and the United Kingdom, according to the UNSD regional mappings.

10. FGM Type - Where a patient has more than one FGM type recorded in the FGM Enhanced Dataset, the latest is used.

This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from UK statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from UK statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other UK-specific metadata information.

Indicator available

Proportion of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting.
Indicator description

Proportion of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting.
Geographical coverage

England
Unit of measurement

Not available for this indicator
Definitions

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) refers to “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons" (World Health Organization, Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation - An interagency statement, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIFEM, OHCHR, UNHCR, UNECA, UNESCO, UNDP, UNAIDS, WHO, Geneva, 2008, p.4). The World Health Organisation defines the four types of female genital mutilation as follows -

Type 1 - Partial or total removal of the clitoral glans (the external and visible part of the clitoris, which is a sensitive part of the female genitals, with the function of providing sexual pleasure to the woman), and/or the prepuce/clitoral hood (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoral glans).

Type 2 - Partial or total removal of the clitoral glans and the labia minora (the inner folds of the vulva), with or without removal of the labia majora (the outer folds of skin of the vulva).

Type 3 - (Often referred to as infibulation). Narrowing of the vaginal opening with the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the labia minora, or labia majora. The covering of the vaginal opening is done with or without removal of the clitoral prepuce/clitoral hood and glans (Type I FGM).

Type 4 - All other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, for example pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization.
Available disaggregations

Not available for this indicator
Calculations

(Number of individuals with identified FGM/ Total number of women) * 100

(Number of individuals in the specified age range with identified FGM/ Total number of women in the specified age range) * 100

Other information

The period April to March is used to report annual data for the number of cases of FGM in England.

Please note that individuals refers to all patients in the reporting period where FGM was identified or a procedure for FGM was undertaken, and that therefore the year in which the case of FGM is reported may not be the same as the year in which FGM took place.

In order to create percentages, mid-year estimates have been used from the year that covers the majority of the FGM reporting year; i.e. for the FGM reporting year 2015/16, 2015 mid-year estimates of population have been used.

This indicator is being used as an approximation of the UN SDG Indicator. Where possible, we will work to identify or develop UK data to meet the global indicator specification. This indicator has been identified in collaboration with topic experts.
Data last updated 19 April 2023
Metadata last updated 19 April 2023
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