article_snippet: We cannot tell communities in Sierra Leone and Somalia to stop a practice which is freely permitted on Harley Street.'
article_snippet: The Committee warned there is a 'chasm' between the number of reported cases of FGM and the lack of prosecutions.
article_snippet: The Committee said different authorities, including the Director of Public Prosuections Alison Saunders, were passing the buck for failure to prosecute FGM cases.
article_snippet: Keith Vaz said: 'The DPP informed The Committee that Keith Vaz could only prosecute on the basis of evidence, the police said that the police could only investigate on the basis of referral, and the health professionals told us that the police could not refer cases because the police members were not fully trained and aware of the illegal procedure on a woman in a London hospital. '
article_snippet: While agencies play pass the parcel of responsibility, young girls are being mutilated every hour of every day.
article_snippet: This barbaric crime which is  committed daily on such a huge scale across the UK cannot continue to go unpunished.'
article_snippet: Crime Prevention Minister Lynne Featherstone said:  'Female genital mutilation is a crime and it is child abuse. '
article_snippet: the Government is bringing in new civil orders to protect girls before girls can be subjected to FGM, through the Serious Crime Act, and measures to punish parents who fail to prevent their daughters being cut. '