Who Has to Report FGM? The Mandatory Reporting Duty Explained

In England and Wales, the FGM mandatory reporting duty applies to registered health and social care professionals and to teachers. If, in the course of their work, a girl under 18 tells them she has had female genital mutilation (FGM), or they see physical signs that it has been carried out, they must personally report it to the police, usually by calling 101, within one month at most. Best practice is by the end of the next working day. The duty is narrower than many people think. It does not cover suspected or “at risk” cases, disclosures by parents, or women aged 18 and over. And it does not cover teaching assistants, nursery staff or unregistered care workers. They must still act, through normal safeguarding procedures.

At a glance: Nexis CPD’s £9 FGM Awareness course covers what FGM is, the law, the signs that a girl may be at risk or may have been cut, and how to respond. It is CPD accredited and 100% online with a verifiable e-certificate, and any three courses cost £18. It is awareness training, not a regulated qualification.

What is the FGM mandatory reporting duty?

The duty is in section 5B of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. It was added by section 74 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 and came into force on 31 October 2015. Section 5B(1) says:

“A person who works in a regulated profession in England and Wales must make a notification under this section (an ‘FGM notification’) if, in the course of his or her work in the profession, the person discovers that an act of female genital mutilation appears to have been carried out on a girl who is aged under 18.”

The Home Office and Department for Education have published procedural information on the duty, last updated in January 2020. It sums the duty up as requiring “regulated health and social care professionals and teachers in England and Wales to report ‘known’ cases of FGM in under 18s which they identify in the course of their professional work to the police”.

The duty sits inside a wider legal framework. FGM itself is a criminal offence under section 1 of the 2003 Act, with a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment under section 5. The NHS describes it as “a form of violence against women and girls”, and says that “if it’s done to a child it’s child abuse”.

Who has to report FGM?

Section 5B(2) lists three groups as working in a “regulated profession”:

• Healthcare professionals. This means anyone registered with a regulator overseen by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, except the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. The procedural information lists the General Chiropractic Council, General Dental Council, General Medical Council, General Optical Council, General Osteopathic Council, General Pharmaceutical Council, Health and Care Professions Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council. So doctors, nurses, midwives, health visitors, dentists, pharmacists and paramedics are all covered.
• Teachers. In England, this means people “employed or engaged to carry out teaching work at schools and other institutions”, whether or not they have qualified teacher status. In Wales, it means education practitioners registered with the Education Workforce Council, plus anyone employed or engaged as a teacher at a school.
• Social care workers in Wales who are registered with the Welsh social care regulator (the Act still refers to it by its old name, the Care Council for Wales).

One point needs care. The 2020 procedural information says social workers in England are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council. That changed in December 2019, when Social Work England took over. Social Work England is one of the regulators listed in section 25(3) of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002. Section 5B(12) of the FGM Act tells you to ignore section 25(3A) of that Act, which would otherwise exclude Social Work England. On that reading, registered social workers in England remain within the duty. If you are a social worker and unsure, check with your designated safeguarding lead.

The duty applies in the private sector too. The procedural information confirms it covers “those working in private education and healthcare”.

Who is not covered by the mandatory reporting duty?

This is where most misunderstandings happen. The procedural information makes clear that the duty does not apply to:

• Teaching assistants and trainee teachers. In England, the guidance says the duty would include a teacher in their induction period and second-year Teach First participants, “but not trainee teachers in other circumstances, nor teaching/classroom assistants”. In Wales, the position is different: the duty covers learning support staff in schools and further education, because they are registered with the Education Workforce Council.
• Further education teachers in England. The guidance says: “If you are a teacher in a FE college in England, the duty does not apply.”
• Unregistered staff, such as care workers, healthcare assistants, nursery practitioners and youth workers who are not on a register held by one of the regulators listed above.
• Professionals in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Section 8 of the Act says sections 5B and 5C do not extend to Northern Ireland, and the Act as a whole does not extend to Scotland. The guidance confirms that professionals there should “continue to comply with your existing safeguarding responsibilities”.
• Work outside your profession. The duty only applies to cases discovered in the course of professional work. The guidance says it does not cover volunteering.

Not being covered by the legal duty does not mean doing nothing. The multi-agency statutory guidance on FGM says non-regulated practitioners “still have a general responsibility to report cases of FGM, in line with wider safeguarding frameworks”. If they become aware that a girl under 18 has had FGM, “they should still share this information” with their safeguarding lead and follow their organisation’s procedures.

When does the FGM reporting duty apply?

The duty only applies to what the guidance calls “known” cases. Section 5B says a professional “discovers” FGM in two situations:

1. Disclosure by the girl. The girl tells you that FGM, “however described”, has been carried out on her. The procedural information gives the example of the word “cut”. You do not need her to use the term “female genital mutilation”.
2. Visual identification. You observe physical signs that appear to show FGM has been carried out, and you have no reason to believe it was a lawful surgical operation. Section 1(2) of the Act permits necessary surgery and procedures connected with labour or birth.

The relevant age is the girl’s age when you discover it. The guidance is clear that the duty “does not apply where a woman aged 18 or over discloses she had FGM when she was under 18”.

You do not need to be certain. The guidance says the duty “does not mean that you must be 100% certain that FGM has been carried out or that a clinical diagnosis must have taken place prior to a report being made”. And if you report a disclosure and no physical evidence is later found, “you will not be penalised for making the report”.

What if you only suspect FGM, or a girl is at risk?

Then the mandatory duty does not apply, but your safeguarding duties still do. The procedural information says:

“The duty does not apply in relation to at risk or suspected cases or in cases where the woman is over 18. In these cases, you should follow local safeguarding procedures.”

The same applies if someone other than the girl tells you. If a parent, sibling or other person says a girl under 18 has had FGM, “the duty does not apply and a report to the police is not mandatory”. The guidance says this should be handled through wider safeguarding procedures. In England, that is likely to mean a referral to children’s social care, and in Wales “the disclosure must be immediately referred to the local authority”.

Whatever the route, the guidance says that “where there is a risk to life or likelihood of serious immediate harm, professionals should report the case immediately to police, including dialling 999 if appropriate”.

The multi-agency statutory guidance lists signs that a girl may be at risk. They include a girl talking about a “special procedure” or a special occasion to “become a woman”, plans for a long holiday to a country where FGM is practised, and a family expressing concern that it may happen. The guidance also warns that professionals “should not assume that all women and girls from a particular community are supportive of, or at risk of FGM”. Our guide to the types of child abuse covers how FGM fits within wider child protection.

How do you make an FGM report to the police?

Section 5B(5) sets out the legal requirements. The notification:

• must go to the chief officer of police for the area where the girl lives;
• must identify the girl and explain why it is being made;
• must be made within one month of when you first discover the FGM;
• may be made orally or in writing.

The procedural information recommends calling 101, the police non-emergency number. Be ready to explain that you are making a report under the FGM mandatory reporting duty. Give your name, role, workplace and contact details, the details of your organisation’s designated safeguarding lead, and the girl’s name, age or date of birth and address. You will be given a reference number. Record it.

On timing, the guidance says reports “should be made as soon as possible after a case is discovered, and best practice is for reports to be made by the close of the next working day”. The one-month limit exists “to allow for exceptional cases”. One example is where reporting immediately could put the girl or a sibling at risk and you need to consult colleagues first. If that happens, consult your designated safeguarding lead and keep a record of every decision.

You do not breach confidentiality by reporting. Section 5B(7) says a disclosure in an FGM notification does not breach “any obligation of confidence owed by the person making the disclosure”, or “any other restriction on the disclosure of information”.

Can the designated safeguarding lead make the report for you?

No. This is one of the most important points to get right. The procedural information says:

“The duty is a personal duty which requires the individual professional who becomes aware of the case to make a report; the responsibility cannot be transferred.”

Schools often have a simple rule that all safeguarding concerns go to the designated safeguarding lead (DSL). For FGM, that is not enough. Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, the statutory guidance for schools and colleges in England, states that “teachers must personally report to the police cases where they discover that an act of FGM appears to have been carried out”. It adds that, unless the teacher has good reason not to, they “should still consider and discuss any such case” with the DSL and involve children’s social care as appropriate.

In other words: report it yourself, and tell your DSL. Our guides to the designated safeguarding lead role and KCSIE cover the wider school safeguarding framework.

There is one exception. Under section 5B(6), you do not need to report if you have reason to believe that someone else in your profession has already reported the same act of FGM. All healthcare professionals count as one profession for this purpose. If you are unsure whether a report has been made, or the person who reported was from a different profession, the guidance says to report anyway and mention that a report may already exist.

Should teachers ever examine a girl for FGM?

No. The procedural information is explicit: “For teachers and social workers, there are no circumstances in which you should be examining a girl.” It recognises that a teacher might see something unexpectedly, for example “assisting a young child in the toilet or changing a nappy”. In that case, the teacher “must make a report under the duty, but should not conduct any further examination of the child”.

The same restraint applies to healthcare professionals. The guidance says the duty does not change who carries out genital examinations: “Unless you are already delivering care which includes a genital examination, you should not carry one out.”

Equally, you must not avoid the subject. The guidance warns that a professional who “deliberately avoids this issue and alters the care or support which they would otherwise give to the girl” would be in conflict with their wider responsibilities, and “follow up action may be taken”.

Should you tell the girl’s family before reporting?

Usually, yes, but not always. In line with safeguarding best practice, the procedural information says you should explain the report to the girl and/or her parents or guardians, ideally before or alongside making it. But if telling them “may result in a risk of serious harm to the child or anyone else, or of the family fleeing the country, you should not discuss it”. If you are unsure, talk to your DSL first.

The guidance also notes that the police will consult children’s social care before taking action, and that the police will give you feedback on the outcome. In Wales, professionals must also report to the local authority under section 130 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.

What happens if you fail to report FGM?

Failing to make a mandatory FGM report is not itself a criminal offence. The procedural information says failures “will be dealt with in accordance with the existing performance procedures in place for each profession”, and that employers and regulators “are expected to pay due regard to the seriousness of breaches of the duty”.

In practice:

• Health and social care professionals may face fitness to practise proceedings by their regulator.
• Teachers face their school’s disciplinary procedures. If the school dismisses a teacher, or would have done had they not resigned, it must consider referring them to the regulator. In England that is now the Teaching Regulation Agency, which took over teacher regulation from the National College for Teaching and Leadership on 1 April 2018. The regulator can consider a prohibition order. In Wales, referrals go to the Education Workforce Council.

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 puts it simply: “Those failing to report such cases may face disciplinary sanctions.”

What other FGM laws should professionals know about?

The Serious Crime Act 2015 also strengthened the 2003 Act in other ways that matter to anyone working with families:

• Failing to protect a girl. Section 3A makes each person “responsible for the girl” guilty of an offence if FGM is committed against a girl under 16. That includes parents with frequent contact and adults caring for her “in the manner of a parent”. The maximum sentence is seven years. The multi-agency guidance says this is not intended to include teachers acting in their professional capacity.
• Offences abroad. Section 4 extends the offences to acts done outside the UK by UK nationals or residents. Taking a girl abroad for FGM does not avoid the law.
• FGM Protection Orders. Section 5A allows courts to make civil orders to protect a girl at risk or a girl who has already been cut. The multi-agency guidance says breaching an FGM Protection Order is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.

In the NHS in England, the multi-agency guidance also describes the FGM Information Sharing system, which lets clinicians note on a girl’s record that she is potentially at risk until she turns 18.

Do professionals need FGM training?

No law names a specific FGM course. But the professionals covered by the duty must be able to recognise FGM and respond correctly, and the multi-agency guidance says “training should enable all staff to discharge their safeguarding duties with regard to FGM, as for any other form of abuse”. It notes that knowledge of FGM is included at all levels of the healthcare safeguarding competence framework.

For schools, KCSIE 2026 expects all staff to speak to the DSL about any FGM concern, so everyone needs to know the signs, not just teachers. Our guide to safeguarding training requirements explains the wider training expectations by role. Our guides for teachers and nurses cover how safeguarding fits within professional CPD.

An online awareness course helps staff understand FGM, the law and the reporting routes. It does not replace your organisation’s safeguarding policy, your local safeguarding partnership’s procedures or professional advice on an individual case.

Which courses cover FGM and safeguarding?

These three £9 courses work well together for teachers, health professionals and anyone working with children and families, each with a verifiable certificate:

• FGM Awareness — what FGM is, the law, the risk indicators and how to respond.
• Safeguarding Children Advanced Level 2 — recognising abuse, responding to disclosures and making referrals.
• Forced Marriage and Honour-Based Abuse — the wider context of honour-based abuse that FGM often sits within.

Designated Safeguarding Lead (Children) and Safeguarding Children Level 1 are useful alternatives for DSLs and for staff new to safeguarding. Any three courses cost £18 with the pay-for-2-get-3 offer. Add them to the cart and the discount applies automatically. These are CPD accredited awareness courses, not regulated qualifications, and they do not replace safeguarding training required by your local safeguarding partnership.

Frequently asked questions

Who has a mandatory duty to report FGM?

Registered health and social care professionals, such as doctors, nurses and midwives, and teachers in England and Wales. Social care workers registered in Wales are also covered. The duty applies when, in the course of their work, they discover that FGM appears to have been carried out on a girl under 18.

Who do you report FGM to?

Under the mandatory duty, you report to the police, usually by calling 101, and record the reference number. You should also tell your designated safeguarding lead. For suspected or at-risk cases, follow local safeguarding procedures, usually a referral to children’s social care. If a girl is in immediate danger, call 999.

How long do you have to report FGM?

The law sets a maximum of one month from when you first discover the FGM. Government guidance says best practice is to report by the close of the next working day, unless there is a specific safeguarding reason to consult colleagues first.

Do teaching assistants have to report FGM?

Not under the mandatory duty in England, which applies to teachers but not teaching or classroom assistants. In Wales, registered learning support staff are covered. Every member of staff should still tell the designated safeguarding lead about any FGM concern straight away.

Is it a crime not to report FGM?

Failing to make a mandatory report is not a criminal offence in itself. It is dealt with through professional and disciplinary procedures: fitness to practise proceedings for health and social care professionals, and disciplinary action and possible referral to the regulator for teachers.

If you discover it, you report it

£9 per course. CPD accredited, 100% online, verifiable e-certificate. Pay for 2, get 3 — any 3 courses for £18.

This article is general information, not legal advice. It summarises the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (as amended by the Serious Crime Act 2015), the Home Office and Department for Education procedural information on mandatory reporting (last updated January 2020), the multi-agency statutory guidance on FGM (July 2020) and Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, as they apply in England and Wales at the time of writing. The mandatory reporting duty does not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland. Parts of the procedural information pre-date changes in professional regulation; always follow your employer’s safeguarding policy and your local safeguarding partnership’s procedures, and seek advice from your designated safeguarding lead. A Nexis CPD course is CPD accredited but is not a regulated qualification.