Female Genital Mutilation Remains a Hidden Issue in Minnesota’s Somali Community

More than half a million women and girls in the United States live with the physical and psychological scars of female genital mutilation (FGM), with significant numbers in Minnesota’s large Somali community. Despite a state law making the practice a felony, Minnesota has never secured a single criminal prosecution, raising serious questions about enforcement and detection.

Female genital mutilation involves cutting or removing parts of female genitalia for cultural rather than medical reasons. The practice is irreversible and often conducted in secrecy within tight-knit communities.

“It’s hidden — it’s a cultural practice, and who is doing the cutting could be a family member or a doctor who is also in that same culture,” explained Minnesota Republican State Representative Mary Franson. This secrecy makes detection and enforcement exceptionally difficult.

For survivors within Minnesota’s Somali community, the issue revolves around private silence rather than public crime statistics. The practice persists in secrecy, shame, and fear, according to those who have experienced it firsthand.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than half a million FGM survivors live in the United States, based on their most recent national analysis published in 2016. In Somalia, United Nations data indicates approximately 98% of women have undergone the procedure, creating particular concern for Minnesota’s Somali population.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born activist and FGM survivor, described the lasting trauma she endured. “Female genital mutilation is violence against the most vulnerable — children,” Hirsi Ali told Fox News Digital. “It causes infection, incontinence, unbearable pain during childbirth and deep physical and emotional scars that never heal.”

Hirsi Ali, who founded the AHA Foundation to combat FGM, emphasized that only legal accountability can help reduce the overwhelming pressure placed on parents in communities where the practice is customary.

Zahra Abdalla, a Minnesota-based Somali survivor, shared her traumatic experience. She was between six and seven years old when forcibly restrained in a Kenyan refugee camp while women in her community performed the procedure without anesthesia using a razor blade.

“They tied my hands and my legs,” Abdalla recalled. “I remember being held down. I remember the pain — and knowing I could not escape.” The damage followed her into adulthood, requiring surgery and potentially contributing to multiple miscarriages.

Abdalla, now executive director of the Somaliweyn Relief Agency, explained that the practice is often driven by marriage expectations. “It’s tied to dowry. It’s tied to marriage,” she said. “It’s tied to what men expect. Families believe it protects a girl’s value.”

She believes some Minnesota families take girls back to Somalia during school breaks for the procedure, though she cannot confirm specific cases. This mirrors how some of the only known U.S. cases have surfaced.

In a high-profile federal case in Michigan in 2017, prosecutors alleged two young girls were taken from Minnesota to undergo FGM. The case collapsed when a judge ruled Congress lacked constitutional authority for federal prosecution. This prompted Congress to strengthen the statute under the Stop FGM Act in 2021, which expanded federal jurisdiction for cases involving interstate or international travel.

Minnesota criminalized FGM in 1994, yet a review of court records, enforcement announcements, and professional licensing disciplinary actions found no documented prosecutions or sanctions. The Minnesota Department of Health does not track specific data on FGM, highlighting the difficulty in monitoring the practice.

Medical experts say FGM can cause chronic pain, severe bleeding, infections, urinary problems, sexual dysfunction, childbirth complications and, in some cases, death. Because it permanently alters genital tissue, the harm cannot be undone.

Critics say the enforcement gap is fueled by silence. Survivors rarely report the practice due to fear, stigma, family pressure, or concerns about involving authorities. Medical professionals, particularly OB-GYNs, are often the first to encounter adult survivors, placing clinicians at the center of potential enforcement efforts.

Some Minnesota lawmakers have introduced legislation this session to establish a “task force on prevention of female genital mutilation.” The bill’s chief author is Democratic Representative Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley, of Kenyan heritage, with bipartisan support including Representative Franson.

At the federal level, Congress criminalized FGM in 1996 and expanded federal jurisdiction in 2018. Despite these laws, prosecutions nationwide remain rare, with Georgia recording the only widely cited state-level conviction in 2006.

With laws established and a documented survivor population in Minnesota, a critical question remains: who is responsible for enforcing the ban, and why have prosecutions not followed?