June newsletter: Arkansas passes one of the most comprehensive anti-FGM bills, Is your state’s FGM ban effective?, Pennsylvania moves to become the 34th state to ban FGM

Because of supporters like you, the movement against female genital mutilation (FGM) in the U.S. keeps on growing!

After failing to pass an FGM ban for five years in a row, Pennsylvania legislators voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill that will protect 19,480 girls in the state. We are so grateful for Representative Tom Murt who sponsored the bill every year, and never gave up on protecting women and girls in his state from FGM. The bill will now go to Governor Wolf’s desk, and we are hopeful that he will sign it into law.

In the first half of this year, six states (including Pennsylvania) have passed new anti-FGM bills where previously there were none. Arkansas is one of them, thanks to newly-elected Senator Breanne Davis who sponsored and helped pass one of the most comprehensive anti-FGM laws in the country. Find out here what drives Senator Davis to protect girls from FGM.

Did you know that even though 33 states have adopted anti-FGM laws, 30 of these states have weak and inadequate legislation that leaves thousands of girls unprotected? In this blog we share what makes state legislation strong. You can check the status and strength of your state’s FGM ban and what you can do about it here.

Our Critical Thinking Fellowship (CTF) campus program advocates for freedom of speech on campuses and in public debate. Last month , our CTF fellow shared with you his experience with a student-led protest that targeted the event he organized at the University of Rochester. One of the event speakers and the Director of Policy Research at the Ayn Rand Institute, Elan Journo, inquired into reasons behind the student pushback and offered his reflections in “Why Students Protested Event Analyzing Islamism” in the New Ideal. Read it here.

You have made the momentum in the fight against FGM in the U.S. possible. Please help us continue this life-saving work. We must not stop until every girl in the U.S. is safe from this child abuse!

With gratitude,

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Founder