You might be shocked to learn that one of the most brutal practices imaginable, the female genital mutilation (FGM) of little girls, is an Alabama problem. I was born into a world where FGM 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. Although the percentage of Alabamian girls cut is much smaller, the two counties with the highest impacted population in the Southeast U.S. are in Alabama: Jefferson and Madison Counties.
I did not escape FGM, nor did anyone else in my community. I cannot keep quiet as girls in Alabama suffer the same fate.
Female genital mutilation is violence against the most vulnerable. It causes lifelong complications and leaves scars that never heal. For far too long, the world has looked the other way.
Since I founded my organization, AHA Foundation, nearly 20 years ago, one of its core missions has been to expose this cruelty and prevent it in the U.S.
Yet, to our shame, the U.S. has failed to adequately protect and support nearly 600,000 girls and women whose families and communities still engage in this oppressive and completely unnecessary practice.
That’s why I’ve called on President Donald Trump to sign an executive order to make ending FGM a national priority. But Alabama doesn't have to wait for action in D.C. We are working to criminalize female genital mutilation in all 50 states specifically. So far, the District of Columbia and 41 states have explicitly outlawed the practice.
Alabama is not one of them.
That means Alabama is one of just nine states without a specific FGM ban, and the costs of that inaction are real. According to a groundbreaking study published by the AHA Foundation in 2023, 19,615 women and girls in the Southeast U.S. have ancestral ties to countries where FGM is practiced. Of these, approximately 4,761 are at high risk of being cut or already living with FGM and 431 are living with Type III FGM, the most severe form, in which the genital area is sewn almost completely closed. The highest percentage (36%) of this population is living in Alabama. These survivors face chronic pain, complications during childbirth, and lifelong trauma — often without access to medical care or emotional support.
FGM is a federal crime under the STOP FGM Act of 2020, signed by President Trump. But federal law alone cannot protect every girl. Local prosecutors, law enforcement, and service providers need a state law that gives them the tools to intervene before it’s too late.
At the bare minimum, an Alabama law should do three things, although AHA Foundation recommends including additional provisions: Explicitly criminalize FGM as a felony offense; provide education and prevention programs for frontline professionals and the impacted community; and ensure support for survivors, including specialized medical and psychological care.
Passing such a law is not about targeting any culture — it is about protecting children from harm. Even so, we must say this clearly: Cultural practices that deliberately harm children must be confronted. No tradition can justify torture. A girl’s body does not belong to her father, her family or her community. It 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. Alabama lawmakers have the power to stop it.
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.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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