Across the globe, girls struggle with access to education, proper nutrition, legal rights and much more. And the most unfortunate among them become victims of one of the most brutal practices imaginable — female genital mutilation.
I was born into a world where the mutilation of little girls was not an exception but the norm. In Somalia, where I grew up, the chance that a girl will be cut is almost a certainty — 98 out of every 100 are. It is not a question of whether but of when.
I did not escape that fate, and neither did my family, friends, classmates, neighbors or anyone else in our community.
To end this practice, we must first name it for what is. Female genital mutilation is violence against the most vulnerable — children. It causes infection, incontinence, unbearable pain during childbirth and leaves scars that never heal. For far too long, the world has looked the other way, dismissing it as “tradition” or a “private matter.” But there is nothing private about savagery.
When I first came to the West, I remember speaking to Dutch organizations about what had happened to girls like me. I watched shock spread across their faces. That shock turned into anger, and anger became a call to raise awareness.
Yet hundreds of thousands of little girls across Europe remain at risk of being cut. Given the size and prevalence of the communities that practice female genital mutilation, this reality sadly comes as no surprise.
But when I immigrated to the U.S. and proudly became a citizen, I believed I had left that nightmare behind. Imagine my disbelief when I discovered that American girls were suffering the very same abuse I had fled.
When I founded my organization nearly 20 years ago, one of its core missions was clear from the beginning: to expose this cruelty and fight for its abolition. Our goal was to educate Americans about this horrific practice and to urge them to ensure it never takes root in the U.S.
Yet, to our shame, the U.S. has failed to adequately protect and support nearly 600,000 young girls whose families and communities still engage in this brutal, dehumanizing, and completely unnecessary practice. That is why I am calling on President Trump to take the next bold step: to sign an executive order that makes ending female genital mutilation in America a true national priority.
We are working to criminalize female genital mutilation in all 50 states. Yet the effort is too often met with endless debates and endless excuses. So far, 41 states and the District of Columbia have explicitly outlawed the practice.
Thanks to the tireless work of activists and survivors, Congress passed the Stop FGM Act of 2020, which President Trump signed into law during his first term. This was a turning point, sending a clear message to those who promote this practice that advocates for vulnerable girls had not abandoned them to their fates.
But an executive order could go further. It could close existing loopholes and empower federal agencies to investigate, pursue, and prosecute those who would subject little girls to this practice.
Because female genital mutilation leaves deep physical and emotional scars, such an executive order could also help to direct resources toward providing survivors with medical and psychological support they need.
We also must establish a detection and enforcement mechanism to deter the practice and identify victims who are silenced by family and cultural pressure. This could include incorporating screenings into routine pediatric visits.
Some may argue that criminalizing the practice may stigmatize certain communities, such as the Somali community responsible for my own experience. There are others too, where the prevalence is universal, including Egyptians and Sudanese communities.
The pressure placed on parents in these groups and the risk it poses to girls is overwhelming. Only legal accountability can help reduce that risk.
Even so, we must say this clearly: Religious or cultural practices that deliberately and cruelly harm children must be confronted. No tradition can ever justify torture. A girl’s body does not belong to her father, her family or her community. Her integrity is not a token for tradition, not an ornament for family honor and not a site for control. It belongs to her alone.
I survived female genital mutilation, and I carry its scars with me. But I refuse to accept that another girl in America must endure what I did in Somalia.
Trump has the power to stop it. He has already acted where others hesitated. By signing an executive order, he can finish the job and be remembered as the leader who made seeking justice and ending female genital mutilation in America part of his legacy.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the founder of the AHA Foundation and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. She was born in Somalia before becoming a U.S. citizen.
