3. FGM, exploitation and what to do today

Female genital mutilation

Health professionals in England and Wales have a mandatory reporting duty to the police if they are told by a girl under 18 that she has had FGM, or if they see physical signs in a girl under 18 with no medical reason. Know your local pathway. Do not examine genitals in a dental surgery. Share concerns about risk (travel, family history) with the lead even if mandatory reporting does not yet apply.

Sexual exploitation, trafficking, radicalisation

You are not expected to run a specialist assessment. You are expected to share if a child or young person describes being moved, controlled, given gifts for sex, or targeted online, or if something a parent says about “camps” or isolation does not sit right. Use the designated lead and local procedures (including Prevent where that is the agreed route).

If a child tells you

Listen, open questions, no secrecy promise, record their words, tell the lead the same day. Immediate danger: 999.

Module 2 covers adults, capacity and domestic abuse. Module 3 covers referral mechanics, LADO and records.

Follow current Working Together / your nation’s equivalent and local partnership procedures.