Shortly before leaving office in January 2021, President Donald Trump signed bipartisan legislation called the “Strengthening the Opposition to Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2020.” It was a proud day for those of us at Independent Women who had worked for years to put an end to this barbaric practice.
Female genital mutilation is the partial or total removal of female external genitalia for non-medical reasons. Held by certain cultures as a way to ensure young girls remain “pure” before they marry, the traumatic process causes extreme emotional and physical consequences and has no health benefits.
During my service as the director of the International Women’s Issues Office at the State Department, the suffering of young women and girls caused by female genital mutilation haunted me.
The STOP FGM Act increased penalties for committing this heinous practice, expanded the scope of punishable offenses, and required government agencies to submit an annual report to Congress that includes the estimated number of American women and girls who have undergone or are at risk of genital mutilation.
It is estimated that there are over 513,000 women and girls who have experienced or are at risk of genital mutilation in the United States. The STOP FGM Act did more than offer protection to these vulnerable young girls and women. It showed the world that in the United States, there will be no tolerance for this sort of human rights abuse.
Yet while westerners recoil at the idea that girls would be subjected to genital mutilation — irreversible harm under the guise of social or moral good — we enable a different form of abuse on our own girls.
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