Women With Vaginal Piercings To Be Classed As Having Suffered Female Genital Mutilation

Women with vaginal piercings are to be classed as victims of female genital mutilation (FGM), health chiefs have said.

Under new NHS rules to be introduced next month, any woman whose labia or clitoris has been pierced must be recorded as suffering FGM, a procedure which is illegal in the UK. 

The mandatory reporting regulations were sent to medical staff by the Department of Health, which said it is would start classifying the piercings 'within an abusive context'.