They say that prosecuting professionals for "so-called FGM" in such circumstances distracts people from tackling the real issues, which are girls being sent abroad for FGM or having it done in the UK and combatting cultural attitudes in countries where it is endemic.
I set up an FGM prevention society and people would come to me a lot.
I was raised in Britain within a Somali family and, within my understanding, the vast majority of Somali families who settle here abandon FGM.
Apart from raising awareness, Dirie has helped implement measures to eradicate this abuse of women, including the setting up of medical centres to help women who have suffered FGM.
Prosecutions are important, says one activist, but by the time you are in court "you have already lost", because the girl has already suffered FGM.
The prosecution of Dharmesana, from Essex and Hasan Mohamed, 40, from north London, had been seen as an important milestone for the CPS in the fight against FGM, given that no one had previously been charged despite FGM having been criminalised in England and Wales in 1985 when the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 was passed.
In a letter to the Guardian, the group of consultant obstetricians and gynaecologists, all of whom have treated or are currently looking after women who have suffered FGM, say that there is "a world of difference between FGM and repairing cuts necessary to allow a baby's delivery".
It was alleged that after a patient gave birth in November 2012, he repaired an FGM that had previously been performed on the patient and carried out FGM himself.
When I was an intern at Croydon I worked with young people to raise awareness and discovered that some members of staff and students had undergone FGM themselves.
Some teachers thought that FGM was only practiced in Africa and others have told me that their families have now changed their attitude to it, so it's worked really well.
Officially, Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood claimed they opposed FGM, but prominent members and allies of the group expressed support for it.
