Professional Practice

You have a formal duty

Before stating a duty, identify the issue, jurisdiction, role, age, facts and the source of the obligation.

England & WalesFGM example

Section 5B of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 creates a specific reporting duty for defined known FGM cases involving under-18s identified by specified professionals in their professional work. Suspected or at-risk cases do not fall under that specific duty but remain within wider safeguarding responsibilities.

Do not generalise this example to every profession, age group or jurisdiction. Follow current role-specific policy and official guidance.

Open maintained FGM law record