Parents will face prosecution if they fail to stop their daughters undergoing female genital mutilation, or F-G-M, under new measures being announced.
Prime Minister David Cameron is unveiling a 2.4 million US dollars prevention program aimed at ending the practice at a global summit in London.
It is estimated that up to 170,000 women and girls living in England and Wales could have undergone F-G-M.
The Girl Summit will also look at ways to end forced marriage.
Hosted by the UK government and children’s charity Unicef, the summit will be attended by international politicians, campaigners including the Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, and women who have undergone F-G-M.
Speaking ahead of the conference, Mr. Cameron said all girls have the right to live free from violence and coercion, without being forced into marriage or the lifelong physical and psychological effects of female genital mutilation.
“Abhorrent practices like these, no matter how deeply rooted in societies, violate the rights of girls and women across the world, including here in the UK,” said the PM.
The situation is improving but many girls remain at risk, the BBC quoted the executive director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
She said the fact that 30 million girls are at risk of being cut in the coming years clearly means that we have a big challenge on our hands.