The Government has made it mandatory for all NHS hospitals to provide information on patients who have undergone female genital mutilation. Ministers estimate 66,000 women have undergone the brutal practice and 20,000 girls are at risk every year.
Doctors are still failing to report suspected cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) to the police, a senior Scotland Yard officer has warned.
Detective Superintendent Jason Ashwood, head of Scotland Yard's FGM team, told The Times that young girls who are at risk of or are recovering from cutting are being let down because "professionals" in the public sector are not safeguarding children.
The latest figures suggest that as many as 66,000 women in England and Wales have undergone FGM and 23,000 girls under the age of 15 are "at risk".
His calls for tougher action mark the United Nation's annual day of zero tolerance to FGM.
ITV News Central has been told girls from the UK are being taken abroad to be genitally mutilated - a practice which is against the law.
Here, female genital mutilation victims, working to end the practice, share their stories.
ITV News has learned that the government will announce plans to tackle female genital mutilation in Britain.