Guidance

Female genital mutilation (FGM) protection orders

Updated 4 November 2021

A female gender mutilation (FGM) protection order can help if you are concerned that you, or someone you know, has been subjected to, or is at risk of, FGM.

What FGM is

FGM comprises all procedures involving partial, or total removal, of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It has no health benefits and harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue, and therefore interferes with the natural function of girls’ and women’s bodies. The practice causes severe pain and has several immediate and long-term health consequences, including difficulties in childbirth also causing dangers to the child.

FGM is known by a number of names, including ‘female genital cutting’, ‘circumcision’ or ‘initiation’. The age at which girls or women undergo FGM varies enormously according to the community and could occur in the UK as well as overseas. The procedure may be carried out when the girl is newborn, during childhood or adolescence, just before marriage or during the first pregnancy. The majority of cases, however, are thought to take place between the ages of 5 and 8 and therefore girls within that age bracket are at a higher risk.

FGM is illegal in the UK. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the practice is illegal under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 and in Scotland it is illegal under the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005. Under the 2003 Act, a person is guilty of an offence if they mutilate the whole or any part of a girl’s or woman’s genitalia, including assisting a girl to mutilate her own genitalia or assisting a non-UK person to mutilate overseas a girl’s genitalia.

How FGM protection orders can help

A FGM protection order can help if you:

• believe you are at risk of FGM
• have already had FGM committed on you
• know someone who is at risk of FGM

FGM protection orders are unique to each case and contain legally binding conditions and directions to protect you or the person at risk of FGM. The court can make an order in an emergency so that protection is in place straightaway.

The court can make a FGM protection order to:

• protect you or another person at risk of FGM
• protect your or another person against whom FGM has been committed

Applications for FGM protection orders can be made at the same time as police investigations, other criminal proceedings or proceedings in the family court. Someone who disobeys a court order can be sent to prison for up to 2 years for contempt of court but breach of a FGM protection order is also a criminal offence with a maximum sentence of 5 years imprisonment.

Apply for an FGM protection order

An application for a FGM protection order can be made at a family court in England and Wales.

Search by postcode to find a court that deals with applications for FGM protection orders.

Who can apply

• the person who is to be protected by the order
• a relevant third party
• any other person with the permission of the court

A relevant third party is someone specified by the Lord Chancellor to make applications on behalf of others. Adults or children (those under 18) can apply for a FGM protection order. Children may have a ‘next friend’ or someone to assist them, but do not have to, if they have a legal representative or if the court agrees.

If you’re worried about coming to court

Write your concerns on your application form or make your request in writing to the court delivery manager as soon as possible or there may be a delay in hearing the application.

Courts may be able to offer:

• separate court waiting rooms
• separate court entrances and exits
• parking on court premises to facilitate easy access to the court building for intimidated witnesses

Witness protection facilities may also be available in some courts.

If you are worried about giving evidence in the court room

Tell the court about your concerns in your application form. The court will decide what is appropriate and may order:

• Screens to ensure that witnesses cannot see the respondents in court (in this type of case the respondents are the person or persons alleged to be arranging the FGM procedure). Screens are placed around the witness box within the court so that the witness cannot see the respondents, and the respondents cannot see the witness whilst they are giving evidence.
• Video recorded evidence. This allows an interview with the witness, which has been recorded before the hearing, to be shown as the witness’s main evidence during the hearing - the witness does not have to report again what they have already said, but they must still be available to be cross examined if necessary.
• Live TV or video links, allowing the witness to give evidence from outside the courtroom. This allows a witness to give evidence via a TV link from another room in the court building or from another building altogether. Although the witness does not come into the courtroom, those present in court will see the witness giving evidence on TV monitors.

It is for the court to decide what is appropriate, if anything, in each case.

If you have a disability and require assistance or special facilities, please contact the court to ask what help is available.

If you require an interpreter because you do not speak English, you need to notify the court so that one can be arranged, identifying the language and dialect.

Costs

There is no court fee for making an application for a FGM protection order for yourself, or on behalf of someone else. Similarly, there is no court fee for any additional court procedures associated with your case such as:

• applications to vary or discharge an order
• applications to the family court to consider how the person who has breached the order should be dealt with
• requests for a court bailiff to serve the order

Getting legal aid

Legal aid is available when you are represented in an FGM protection matter including committals for breaching an order. A solicitor, or a member of a Law Centre or Citizens Advice, will be able to advise you about whether you have a reasonable case.

More information about legal aid

Or call 0845 345 4 345 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6:30pm).

Apply for an FGM protection order yourself

You can apply, or get a solicitor to do this for you. If you apply yourself, you must be prepared to complete the relevant forms and statements and explain your case to the court.

If you need help to complete forms, but do not know a friend or relative who can help, you should go to see a solicitor or Citizens Advice. Court staff can help by explaining court procedures, but they cannot provide legal advice on the merits of individual cases, or give advice about the probable outcome.

You will need an Application for a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Protection Order (Form FGM001).

If you need the court’s permission to apply on behalf of someone else, you will also need to complete Form FGM006 - Application for leave to apply for a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Protection Order.

You can download these forms for free or collect them from a court.

To find out which courts you can collect them from, search by postcode to find a court that deals with FGM protection order applications.

You will need to make a statement, if you are asking for the application to be heard without notice being given to the respondents in an urgent or emergency situation.

The application should include details of how you want the court to protect you or the person at risk of FGM, for example, to prevent you or the person at risk from being taken abroad for FGM to be committed.

The application should include details of any discussions which have caused you to believe you may be at risk of FGM.

If you do not wish to reveal your address or the address of anyone mentioned in the application form to the respondents, you should complete Form C8 confidential contact details.

You can download these forms for free or collect them from a court.

To find out which courts you can collect them from, search by postcode to find a court that deals with FGM protection order applications.

Get an order quickly

You can ask the court to consider your application straightaway and make an order without the respondents being served with any documents. This is known as an ‘ex-parte’ or ‘without notice’ order.

If a without notice order is made by the judge, you will be given a further appointment to attend at the court. The respondents will be entitled to be present at this appointment so that the judge can then listen to everyone before deciding whether to make another order.

If you are applying for an order without notice you must make a witness statement, including a statement of truth. If you are representing yourself, you must make a written statement, setting out why you need protection and take it to the court with your application Form FGM001. A statement of truth should say:

Statement of truth

I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth. I believe that the facts stated in this form and any continuation sheets are true.

Submit the forms

You should submit the completed forms and copies to the court by post or in person. You can also send your application by email.

Hand the forms to the court

The application form (FGM001, and FGM006 if applicable) and notice of proceedings form FGM002 must be served on the respondents and other persons. If a solicitor is helping you, the forms will be sent to them to serve.

It is in your own interest to attend the court on the date shown on the form. You should be ready to give any evidence which you think will help you to put your side of the case.

You can ask the court to serve the documents for you. The court will ask you to complete form D89 - request for personal service by a court bailiff. The court will then arrange for a copy of your application and other documentation to be served by the bailiff.

Electronic applications

If you intend to submit your application by email, you only need to send one copy of the completed application to the email address that appears on the courts information at the end of this guidance.

The electronic document must contain a signature or typed name in the statement of truth. You will need to retain your original signed document which the court will require to see.

Emailed applications sent after 4pm will not be processed until the next working day.

Arrange for the papers to be served

If you are an individual applicant, you must not serve the application or order on the respondent yourself. If you do not have a legal representative you can apply for a court official to serve these for you for free. Complete form D89 - request for personal service by a court bailiff and include this form with your application.

After the documents have been served the person serving the papers must complete a Statement of Service (Form FL415) and file this with the court. Form FL415 states who was served, how and where they were given the documents and on what day and time.

You can download these forms for free or collect them from a court.

To find out which courts you can collect them from, search by postcode to find a court that deals with FGM protection order applications.

If you are unable to find the address of those to be served or it appears that they are avoiding service, you may ask the court to serve the papers in some other way (for example, at a place of employment).

What happens at the hearing

The hearing of an application for a FGM protection order will be heard in private (this is normally called ‘in chambers’), unless the court otherwise directs, and a record of the hearing will be made. The court may allow other people to be present at court, for example, a friend or independent adviser, for support. Applicants may be required to give oral evidence to the court. The length of a hearing varies, depending on the complexities of the case and whether the respondents dispute the allegations.

Once the court understands both parties’ points of view, it can decide any of the following:

• that it needs further information about you, and all the respondents. You will be told what extra information to provide
• that it needs further information, but are prepared to make a short term (‘interim’) order until all of the extra information has been provided. You will be given a new appointment, an interim order, and told what extra information to provide
• that it is prepared to make an order for a certain period of time, after which the court will reconsider the case. You will be given a new appointment date and a copy of the court order
• that it is prepared to make an order - the court can make an order for a particular period of time or the order could continue indefinitely until varied or discharged by you, the respondents or the court itself. You will be given a copy of the order

After the hearing

If the court has made a FGM protection order, the applicant serves a copy of the order and any other court documents on the respondents, the person who is the subject of the proceedings (if not the applicant), and any other person named in the order personally as soon as reasonably practical. You can ask the court to serve the documents for you.

The court will send a copy of the court order by email to the police within 24 hours of it being sealed. In many cases this will be before the respondent is served or otherwise notified of the order.

In addition when the order is served on the respondent or the respondent is notified of the terms of the order, the police must be told that this has happened. If the court has served the order, then the court will tell the police.

If you or your lawyer are responsible for serving the order, then you or your lawyer will need to email the notification of service to the police within 2 days of the order being served or the respondent being notified.

The court will give you a template to use for this purpose, email this to protectionorders@pds.police.uk.cjsm.net.

You can remove the cjsm.net if you are not signed up to the secure cjsm network and email protectionorders@pds.police.uk.

Do not attach any other document

When the order has been served or the respondent has been notified about the order, you or your lawyer will also need to send a statement of service to the court.

Vary, extend or end the order

You can make an application to vary, extend or discharge a FGM protection order at a later time. You will need to complete Form FGM003 – Application to vary, extend or discharge a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Protection Order.

If the respondent does not obey the order

A breach of a FGM protection order can be dealt with in the family court or through a prosecution in a criminal court.

Under paragraph 7(1) of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, you can make an application to the family court to have the breach dealt with as a contempt of court and apply to the family court for an arrest warrant. The application for a warrant of arrest must be supported by a statement setting out how the order has been breached. The application must be made on Form FGM005 - Warrant of Arrest Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) protection orders.

Where a person is found, by a family court to be in breach of the terms of the order, the court will deal with them under its powers of contempt of court, which can include sending them to prison for up to 2 years.

Alternatively, alleged breaches of FGM protection orders can be reported directly to the police, who can arrest those suspected of breaching the terms of the order. Following a police investigation of the breach, the Crown Prosecution Service will decide whether to proceed with a prosecution by applying the 2-stage test in the Code for Crown Prosecutors: whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and, if so, whether a prosecution is in the public interest. The maximum penalty for breaching an FGM protection order is 5 years imprisonment.

If the Crown Prosecution Service decides not to prosecute for whatever reason, you can still apply to the family court for a warrant of arrest for contempt of court as set out above.

However, if someone has been convicted of the breach in a criminal court they cannot be punished for contempt of court and vice-versa.

Female genital mutilation: further help and advice on GOV.UK

or:

For more information and advice on local services, phone the NSPCC FGM helpline 0800 028 3550, 24 hours a day, or email fgmhelp@nspcc.org.uk.

Applications for FGM protection order’s are dealt with by the family court. An application should be sent to the family court sitting at a court centre that deals with FGM protection orders. These court centres are usually open Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm. Counter services operate from 10am to 2pm, however some centres are by appointment only. Please highlight to the court on arrival that you are here for urgent business.

You can download these forms for free or collect them from a court.

To find out which courts you can collect them from, search by postcode to find a court that deals with FGM protection order applications.