The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (c. 31) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It extended previous legislation by also making it illegal for UK nationals to perform female genital mutilation outside the borders of the UK, and increased the maximum penalty from five to 14 years.
The Act replaced the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985. It does not extend to Scotland, the corresponding legislation there is the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005.
Experts said in 2003 that about 74,000 women in the UK have been subjected to the procedure, and that up to 7,000 girls would be at risk to be subjected to it abroad.[1] As of 2009[update] no one has been successfully prosecuted in the UK, under either the 1985 or 2003 Acts.[2]