Excerpt:
Hopes of a landmark first British prosecution for the female genital mutilation of a child were dealt a blow today, after the number of suspected "cutting" cases over which no charges will be brought rose to double figures.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it had decided that "no further action" could be taken in 10 out of 12 cases referred to it by police, and only two files were still being considered for possible criminal charges.
It said that reasons for vetoing prosecution included the reluctance of one victim to testify against a 35-year-old suspect from London. A gap in the 1985 law banning FGM in England and Wales made it impossible to prosecute a Somali woman aged 40 who allegedly subjected her daughter to mutilation during a holiday in her homeland.