The British government condemned the "painful and unacceptable" practice of female genital mutilation Wednesday as new laws came into force to prevent young girls being sent abroad for circumcision.
Speaking after talks with a support group for victims of genital mutilation -- where part or all of the female genitals are cut off, often without anaesthetic -- Home Secretary David Blunkett said he was determined to eradicate it.
"Female genital mutilation is a very harmful practice that is already rightly illegal in this country," he said. "No cultural, medical or other reason can ever justify a practice that causes so much pain and suffering."
Britain outlawed female genital mutilation in 1985 but families of immigrant communities who still favor the practice are known to be taking their daughters abroad to have the procedure carried out before returning to Britain.
Support groups and campaigners say the practice is still common in Somali, Egyptian, Eritrean, Nigerian and many other African immigrant groups and is usually carried out on girls aged between four and 13. Some cases have been found where newborn baby girls have had their genitals mutilated.
Many reasons are cited for carrying out the procedure, including tradition, custom, religion, family honor and the prevention of promiscuity.
Britain's new legislation reinforces existing laws by making it illegal to take girls abroad for genital mutilation, whether or not it is legal in the country they visit.
It will also increase the maximum penalty for either performing or procuring female genital mutilation from five to 14 years in prison.
According to the World Health Organization, some 138 million women around the world have undergone genital mutilation. Of those, around 74,000 are immigrant women now living in Britain.
Human rights group Amnesty International says female circumcision is practiced in 28 African countries and is particularly widespread in Egypt, where 97 percent of married women aged 15 to 49 have undergone the procedure.
It also says a further two million young girls a year around the world are at risk of suffering genital mutilation.
Ann Clywd -- a British member of parliament who first proposed the new law -- said she hoped it would send a powerful message that genital mutilation violates basic human rights.
"Many victims of female genital mutilation are often young and vulnerable. They suffer enormous physical and psychological harm throughout their lives, yet too often they suffer in silence. We cannot condone this," she said in a statement.