FGM order made to protect Kent girl taken to Sudan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-34213818

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A judge has ordered the return of a 13-year-old girl who has been taken to Sudan and is feared to be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Kent social services took High Court action in a bid to protect the girl, who was taken to Sudan by her mother.

Mr Justice Baker made the FGM protection order in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

He was told the mother left the girl with relatives before returning home to England.

The judge said the girl could not be identified. The case is due to be re-examined in the near future.

'Manipulative and violent'

Legislation providing for FGM protection orders came into force in July.

Lawyers indicated the girl's parents had separated and the girl had been left in Sudan without her father's permission.

The woman had described the girl's father as "manipulative" and "violent" and said she was "fleeing".

Female genital mutilation

Source: World Health Organization

Barrister Zimran Samuel, who represented Kent County Council, said social workers had been working with police and the Foreign Office and regarded the matter as urgent.

He said the woman's family considered FGM to be acceptable.

"The local authority's position is that there is a risk to this child that she could be forced to undergo this procedure and that injunctive steps need to be taken as a matter of urgency," Mr Samuel said.

Mr Justice Baker told the girl's mother to arrange for her to be returned home to England.

Diane McBrinn, for the woman, said her client would comply and take steps to get the girl back.

She said the woman denied her daughter was at risk of being subjected to FGM.