Earlier this week, a Muslim American rights activist brought up the issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) to Representative Ilhan Omar at the inaugural convening of the Muslim Collective for Equitable Democracy in DC. Ani Zonneveld, founder of Muslims for Progressive Values, asked a question regarding a recent case in…
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Let’s End Female Genital Mutilation Jennifer, a member of the evangelical community in Kentucky, shared her testimonial as a survivor of Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) earlier this week. Jennifer is a white, Christian, American – not the usual face of an issue that is often framed as a faraway cultural practice restricted to…
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In the first federal case on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in U.S. history, a district judge in Michigan recently ruled that the federal ban was unconstitutional. Nine girls were transported across state lines (from Minnesota and Illinois) to Michigan to be cut in a Detroit clinic, after-hours. They were tricked…
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We, Muslim organizations, FGM/C Survivors, Islamic scholars, and leaders, strongly condemn the remarks made in the video of Imam Shaker El Sayed where he clearly distinguishes between Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, and recommends the performance of female circumcision on young girls “when needed” to prevent…
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There is currently a conversation raging in the American Muslim community about female genital mutilation (FGM). First there were the arrests of Bohra Muslim doctors in Michigan accused of performing this procedure on young girls. Then came the public lecture, and online video of said lecture, of an imam talking…
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Last month, prosecutors brought charges against two Bohra physicians in Michigan for allegedly performing female genital mutilation on several young girls. Read more about the story here. altM’s, Samar Kaukab, shares her thoughts: Here is a well-known aphorism: It is hard to see that which is invisible. Take oxygen. It…
Read MoreWhen my mom told me that we were going out, I was thrilled, which was unlike me, given that I was a shy six-year-old who dreaded meeting new people. My mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin, Sahar, and I piled in the car and drove to the village clinic where my father would meet us. When we arrived at the brightly lit, cold “operation room” with its two hospital beds that sat only four feet apart, our parents ordered my cousin and I to lie down and remain still.
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