On March 8, the world will celebrate International Women’s Day under this year’s theme, “Give to Gain.” The phrase is aspirational; a call to invest in women and girls so that societies, economies, and nations grow stronger in return.
But if we are serious about giving in order to gain, then we must confront an uncomfortable truth: female genital mutilation (FGM) is happening in the U.S. and it’s not being given the attention it deserves, and we are losing ground because of this failure.
International Women’s Day commemorates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women while urging accelerated action toward gender equality. Yet gender equality is not possible while ambiguity surrounds a practice that targets girls precisely because they are girls, and profoundly impacts their development as women.
FGM is a specific harmful cultural practice involving the partial or total removal of, or other injury to, the external female genitalia, for non-medical reasons. It has no health benefits. It can cause lifelong physical and psychological harm. It is rooted in gender inequality and the control of female sexuality.
FGM is often performed by traditional cutters with no medical training, and antiseptics and anesthetics are often not used. Girls, typically between 0 and 15 years of age, are forcibly restrained and their healthy genital tissue is cut off with such objects as knives, kitchen scissors, razor blades and even pieces of sharpened glass. It is internationally recognized as a human rights violation. Sometimes medical professionals will break all medical ethics and standards and commit this crime, including here in the U.S., as famously documented in the failed federal prosecution U.S. vs. Nagarwala.
FGM should not be conflated with other issues, like gender transitioning for minors, which leads to further confusion and a weakening of FGM protections in order to tailor existing FGM laws to fit other circumstances. There is current legislation pending in Congress that does just that, and in the process, would dismantle our current federal FGM law and leave thousands of girls in jeopardy if passed.
At present, the U.S. has a strong federal law addressing FGM, the STOP FGM Act of 2020. But in nine states, Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, and New Mexico, FGM is not specifically outlawed in state statute. That gap is not symbolic. It is structural. And structural gaps cost real girls real safety.
While FGM can be prosecuted under general child abuse and battery laws and must be reported like other forms of child abuse, specificity matters, especially considering the lack of awareness on this issue in the U.S. It is simple: you cannot effectively prosecute, prevent, track, or deter what you refuse to name.
Even if based on misperception, lack of specific laws here in the U.S. leads to ambiguity in understanding, which then leads to weakened enforcement. It unnecessarily complicates responses by front line professionals. It muddies data collection. It creates hesitation in communities and institutions unsure how aggressively to intervene. And it leaves girls vulnerable depending on their ZIP code. Protection should not depend on geography.
Importantly, state laws can provide resources to impacted communities and survivors. This is not about stigmatizing communities. It is about ensuring uniform child protection and survivor resources across all fifty states and U.S. territories. Clear statutes also protect families through deterrence, by providing them notice of the consequences of subjecting their girls to FGM.
International Women’s Day is not merely a celebration; it is a reminder that rights require reinforcement. And reinforcement requires prioritization.
That is why an Executive Order prioritizing the prevention and eradication of FGM should be a national priority in 2026.
An Executive Order would not create new crimes. It would create coordination.
It could provide incentives and technical support to states to pass and enforce their own FGM laws, closing protection gaps. It could direct the Department of Justice to work more closely with state prosecutors. It could instruct the Department of Health and Human Services to improve survivor support services. It could mandate better interagency data tracking. It could prioritize prevention efforts and clarify protocols to prevent “vacation cutting,” in which girls are taken abroad to undergo the procedure.
Right now, enforcement on FGM exists, but it is fragmented. Fragmentation leads to inconsistency. Inconsistency leads to gaps. Gaps lead to harm.
If we truly believe in “Give to Gain,” then the federal government must give this issue sustained, visible, strategic priority.
Because here is what we gain when we do.
We gain credibility in global human rights leadership. The United States regularly urges other countries to protect women and girls. That message carries more weight when our own legal landscape is airtight.
We gain stronger public health outcomes. FGM can lead to severe medical complications that require long-term care. Prevention reduces both human suffering and public health costs.
We gain economic stability. Survivors often face physical and psychological trauma that affects educational attainment and workforce participation. Protecting girls protects future economic contributors.
We gain clarity for educators, doctors, social workers, and law enforcement professionals who should never have to wonder whether the law is on their side when protecting a child.
And perhaps most importantly, we gain moral coherence.
Gender equality cannot be selective. It cannot celebrate women’s leadership in boardrooms while hesitating to protect girls in their most vulnerable years. It cannot champion reproductive autonomy while ignoring a practice that removes it.
Some policymakers hesitate to engage forcefully on FGM out of fear of cultural insensitivity. But child protection is not cultural condemnation. It is a universal principle. Every culture evolves. Every society sets guardrails around harm. Laws against domestic violence were once controversial. Clear laws did not demonize communities, they empowered victims and reformers within them. Besides, FGM is illegal in the majority of countries where it is practiced.
Survivors of FGM in the U.S. have repeatedly said that silence is its own form of complicity. Many have become advocates not because they seek to shame their communities, but because they want to protect the next generation.
International Women’s Day should amplify those voices.
In nine states, legislatures have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to enact explicit FGM prohibitions. Doing so does not duplicate federal law; it strengthens it. State statutes are often the first line of enforcement. And to the legislators who think they can ignore this issue because FGM isn’t really an issue in their state: you are wrong, and we have the data. Regardless, rather than making your state a safe haven for child abuse, the time to make your state inhospitable to it is before it becomes an entrenched problem.
Meanwhile, the White House has the opportunity to demonstrate that protecting girls is not a niche issue but a national one. An Executive Order prioritizing FGM prevention would elevate coordination, signal urgency, and ensure that no agency treats the issue as peripheral.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that over 500,00 women and girls are impacted by FGM in the U.S. Critics may still argue that FGM is relatively rare in the U.S. Even if that were fully accurate, rarity is not a reason for inaction. Child exploitation is statistically rare relative to the population, yet we dedicate enormous resources to preventing it. Terrorism is rare, yet we coordinate entire federal infrastructures around prevention.
When the harm is severe and irreversible, prevention is the only acceptable standard.
“Give to Gain” is more than a slogan. It is a policy framework.
Give girls protection.
Gain girls’ potential.
Give federal agencies clear marching orders.
Gain coordination.
Give survivors visibility and services.
Gain healing.
Give front line professionals clarity.
Gain deterrence.
Give prosecutors tools.
Gain justice.
Give the issue priority.
Gain consistency.
International Women’s Day should not be confined to celebration panels and corporate campaigns. It should be a checkpoint. A moment to ask where rhetoric outpaces reality.
In a nation that prides itself on the rule of law, no girl’s bodily integrity should depend on legislative omission. No mandated reporter should hesitate because a statute is vague. No survivor should feel that her country lacked the moral clarity to defend her.
On this International Women’s Day, if we truly believe that investing in women and girls strengthens nations, then the path forward is clear. The U.S. can give leadership and gain integrity. And gain a future where every girl in every state is explicitly protected, not implicitly assumed to be.
That is what “Give to Gain” should mean.
Michele Hanash is the Director of Policy and Women’s Programs at the Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation.
