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New Federal Law Strengthens Protections Against FGM:

The AHA Foundation Supports the Transport for Female
Genital Mutilation Act
Posted on Thu, Jan 10, 2013 @ 02:53 PM

Since its inception, the AHA Foundation has worked to prevent

female genital mutilation (FGM) through advocacy, education
and legislative reform. Last week, President Obama
significantly advanced these efforts when he signed into law
the Transport for Female Genital Mutilation Act, which was
passed as an amendment to the National Defense
Authorization Act. While FGM has been illegal in the United
States since 1996, the Act strengthens the existing federal
FGM ban by adding an extraterritoriality component, making
it illegal to knowingly transport a girl out of the country for the
purpose of undergoing the procedure. This amendment was
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designed to address the all-too-common practice of vacation

cutting, in which girls living in the United States are taken to
their parents country of origin during school breaks to
undergo the procedure. Those found guilty under the new
legislation will be sentenced to up to five years imprisonment
(the same penalty imposed on those who commit FGM within
the United States).
Senator Harry Reid and Representatives Joseph Crowley and
Mary Bono Mack -- three legislators with a demonstrated
commitment to womens issues -- spearheaded the Transport
for Female Genital Mutilation Act. The AHA Foundation
commends their efforts, and applauds the President for signing
this bill into law.
FGM is a traditional practice that involves the partial or
complete removal of female genitalia and causes lifelong
physical and psychological harm. The World Health
Organization estimates that between 100 and 140 million girls
and women have been subjected to FGM worldwide.
According to research conducted by the African Womens
Health Center at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, MA,
approximately 228,000 women and girls living in the United
States have undergone or are at risk of undergoing FGM.
The AHA Foundation has consistently advocated for the
expansion of FGM legislation to include procedures performed
abroad. For the past several years, we have lobbied for
extraterritorial FGM bans to be enacted on both the state and
federal levels. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, founder of the AHA Foundation,
and our Executive Director specifically consulted with
Representative Crowley on the issue of vacation cutting, and
expressed our support for the language contained in the new
Bill.
"The AHA Foundation and organisations like it are the first line
of defence for victims of these horrific behaviours. They need
the tools to do their job and any law that protects victims is
welcome. FGM is an attack on womanhood, it's a terrible
indictment of man and his attempt to control a woman or a
girl's behaviour. It cannot be allowed to go unchallenged," said
Nazir Afzal OBE, Director of the UK's Crown Prosecution
Service.
While the AHA Foundation believes that the five-year maximum
sentence is too lenient, we regard the Transport for Female
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Genital Mutilation Act as an important development in the

ongoing struggle against FGM. In response to the passage
of the Bill, Hirsi Ali acknowledged the work that is yet to be
done, saying "As we celebrate this victory we know that this
Bill is only a first step." The Act sends a strong deterrent
message to parents considering taking their daughters
overseas for FGM, and reflects the global condemnation of
FGM as a human rights violation and form of gender-based
violence. We acknowledge, however, that legislation alone will
not eradicate this practice. If we are truly committed to
ending FGM, sufficient resources must be allocated to
investigating and prosecuting instances of FGM, educating atrisk populations, and ensuring that victims have access to
adequate support and assistance within their communities.
In the words of Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "I will not accept little girls in
my country to be forced into marriage, or their genitals to be
cut, for them to be pulled out of school, for them to be
condemned to a life of submission or violence or death through
an honor killing. What you want for that girl is what you want
for your own little girl.

Tags: women's rights, The AHA Foundation, Ayaan Hirsi Ali,

female genital mutilation, female genital cutting, FGM, female
circumcision, Nazir Afzal, the AHA Foundation