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2. Newly Recorded women and girls with FGM are those who have had their FGM information collected in the FGM Enhanced Dataset for the first time. This will include those identified as having FGM and those having treatment for their FGM. 'Newly recorded' does not necessarily mean that the attendance is the woman or girl's first attendance for FGM.
3. Data completeness varies from 24 to 100 per cent in the items discussed (see below). Data completeness also varies by submitter. Overall completeness for variables discussed: Date of Birth - 100 per cent known. Country of birth - 46 per cent known. FGM type - 44 per cent known. Deinfibulation undertaken - 38 per cent known. Age range when FGM was undertaken - 24 per cent known. Country where FGM was undertaken - 31 per cent known.
4. Total Attendances refers to all attendances in the reporting period where FGM was identified or a procedure for FGM was undertaken. Women and girls may have one or more attendances in the reporting period. This category includes both newly recorded and previously identified women and girls.
5. Figures for FGM Type 4 are rounded to the nearest 5 to prevent disclosure. For the remainder of UK cases, numbers were suppressed and include unknown categories and Type 4 cases of an unspecified kind.
6. The four FGM Types defined by the World Health Organisation (https://www.who.int/) are: Type 1: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the prepuce (clitoridectomy). Type 2: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (excision). Type 3: Narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris (infibulation). Type 4: All other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, including pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization. While adult women may choose to have genital piercings, in some communities' girls are forced to have them. The World Health Organisation currently defines all female genital piercings as a form of FGM. The data item FGM Type 4 Qualifier allows users to specify that the FGM was a piercing. The FGM Enhanced Dataset includes two additional categories relating to FGM Type 3 and an Unknown value: History of Type 3: Current state where a woman or girl had FGM Type 3, but has since been deinfibulated. Type 3 - Reinfibulation Identified: Current state where a woman or girl has been closed previously, opened and is currently closed again. Unknown: When the FGM category could not be ascertained. It is acknowledged that even for experienced healthcare workers who frequently see women and girls with FGM it can still often be difficult to determine the type of FGM that had been undertaken.
7. Categories are based on the United Nations Statistical Division: Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings (revised 31 October 2013). https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm.
8. Deinfibulation is the surgical procedure to open up the closed vagina of a woman or girl with FGM Type 3.
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