Emily Thornberry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2014-03-25.

To ask the Attorney General, if he will make it his policy to introduce the option of anonymity for victims of female genital mutilation in court trials.

Oliver Heald

The Crown Prosecution Service recognises that more needs to be done to encourage victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) to come forward. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has said that the introduction of anonymity for victims of FGM should be considered to encourage more victims to come forward as, given the very personal nature of the offence, very few do so. However, any change of law on anonymity is a matter for the Ministry of Justice.