International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGC

Zero Tolerance Must Mean Zero Fear

By Zeinab Eyega, Founder & Executive Director

Every year on February 6, the world observes the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Cutting (FGC), a reminder that no tradition, belief, or culture justifies violence against girls. This year’s global theme, “Towards 2030: No End to FGM Without Sustained Commitment and Investment,” calls for renewed resolve. In the United States, this means confronting an urgent and complex question: do our current immigration policies protect girls—or place them at greater risk?

FGC is a severe human rights violation affecting more than 230 million women and girls worldwide, including hundreds of thousands living in the United States. Survivors endure lifelong physical and psychological harm. Ending FGC requires more than laws on books; it requires trust. Girls must feel safe to speak. Families must feel safe to seek help. Communities must feel safe to engage in prevention without fear that reaching out will trigger detention or deportation. When fear takes hold, prevention fails.

That trust and safety is eroding. Heightened immigration enforcement and anti-immigrant rhetoric have pushed many immigrant families further into the shadows. Across the country, mothers are delaying or avoiding healthcare, schools, and social services. Survivors are canceling counseling and legal appointments. Community leaders, many of them survivors themselves, are reporting that years of progress breaking silence and stigma are unraveling as families fear that any interaction with institutions could carry consequences.

Zero tolerance for FGC cannot coexist with zero tolerance for immigrant communities.

There is painful irony in claiming to protect girls while advancing policies that make them less safe. FGC is already illegal in the United States. The problem is not a lack of law; it is a lack of access. Girls need schools that can recognize warning signs and organizations that families can trust to intervene early with supportive services and resources. Immigration enforcement that blurs the line between essential services and surveillance erodes these safeguards.

Prevention works when it is community-led. Immigrant woman- and youth-led organizations, faith leaders, educators, and advocates have shown that open dialogue, education, and culturally responsive services can change norms and protect girls. But these efforts depend on community trust, and policies that encourage engagement—not punishment.

Ending FGC requires sustained commitment and investment. That means protecting access to resources, community education, and supportive social services regardless of immigration status, and investing in survivor-led, culturally specific organizations that have earned community trust and credibility.

On this International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGC, the message should be clear: you cannot end violence against girls by threatening their families. Girls’ bodies are not battlegrounds. Their safety should never be collateral damage.

Zeinab Eyega is the founder and executive director of Sauti Yetu Center for African Women, a New York–based organization serving immigrant survivors of gender-based violence and their families.

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