LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Healthcare professionals and teachers in England and Wales who fail to report cases of female genital mutilation in children could be fired under a new law which campaigners said was vital to protect girls at risk.

Doctors, nurses, social workers and teachers will have to report cases of FGM in girls under the age of 18 to police within a month of discovering them, under proposed legislation expected to be passed before a general election on May 7.

Those who fail to do so will face internal disciplinary measures or be referred to their professional regulator, and could be fired and barred from practicing.

An estimated 137,000 women and girls in England and Wales have undergone FGM, the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons, which can cause serious physical and psychological problems and complications in childbirth.

The traditional practice is widespread in Africa and found in parts of the Middle East and Asia.

"It will send a clear message to perpetrators that they will be held responsible for their actions and help prevent this appalling crime from happening," Crime Prevention Minister Lynne Featherstone said in a statement.

The law will give professionals the confidence to confront FGM, help police investigations and increase the number of perpetrators caught and prosecuted, she said.

It will apply in all cases of known FGM in under 18s, whether disclosed by the victim or seen by the professional.

Mary Wandia, FGM programme manager at women's rights organization Equality Now, said the law was urgently needed to better equip frontline professionals who meet girls at risk.

"This approach is not about sending people to prison, it's about knowing how to best protect girls who need us to stand with them," Wandia said in a statement.

Tanya Barron, chief executive of children's charity Plan UK, said it was crucial that authorities had the right policies and procedures in place to protect girls at risk of FGM and support those affected.

Identifying victims is an important part of this process, Barron said.

The proposed law follows controversy over Britain's first FGM prosecution earlier this month, which ended in the acquittal of the defendants amid claims they had been made scapegoats in a show trial.

The case, which centered on the way a doctor had stitched a woman after delivering her baby, drew fury from medics who warned that doctors would now be afraid to help women with FGM.

FGM has been a criminal offence in Britain since 1985, but new legislation in 2003 introduced a maximum prison sentence of 14 years and made it an offence for British citizens to carry out or procure FGM abroad, even in countries where it is legal.