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Hospitals should share more information on the victims of female genital mutilation with police and social services, Boris Johnson urged today.
This would build up a picture of the true scale of the illegal practice, to help secure prosecutions and identify siblings at risk. Experts believe at least 3,500 women suffering mutilation have been treated in London hospitals in recent years, including hundreds who have had surgery.
Currently, hospitals do not have to pass on vital information to the authorities that could drive prosecutions for-ward. The Mayor is working with public health minister Jane Ellison, hospitals and health workers to draw up an agreement on information sharing. They hope it will operate along similar lines to collection of knife crime data from casualty departments, where privacy and confidentiality are respected.