Female genital mutilation (FGM) involves procedures which include the partial or total removal of the external female genital organs for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons. FGM has been a specific criminal offence in the UK since the passage of the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 repealed and re-enacted the provisions of the 1985 Act, gave them extra-territorial effect and increased the maximum penalty for FGM.
Like the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, this Act of Scottish Parliament repeals and re-enacts for Scotland the provisions of the 1985 Act, gives extra-territorial effect to those provisions and increases the maximum penalty for FGM in Scotland from 5 to 14 years' imprisonment.