To the Editor:

I was deeply moved by Tonny Onyulo’s article, “The unlikely defenders of girls facing genital mutilation in Kenya” (June 24, 2025). It is inspiring to witness members within the Samburu community — particularly the morans, who once enforced harmful traditions — now leading the charge to protect their sisters and daughters from genital mutilation. True progress often comes not from external pressure, but from courageous individuals within a culture who challenge entrenched norms out of compassion and moral clarity.

As an American and as the founder of Intact Global, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to protect children from medically unnecessary genital cutting, I am compelled to point out that this same courage is urgently needed within our own culture. While we rightly condemn female genital mutilation (FGM) when it occurs abroad, we often fail to confront a similar form of non-consensual genital cutting routinely performed on male infants in the United States.

Our organization, Intact Global, is actively supporting constitutional challenges in Oregon, with plans to expand into Illinois and my home state of Massachusetts. We believe that all children — regardless of sex — deserve the same legal protections for their bodies. Genital autonomy is not a privilege reserved for one gender, race, or culture; it is a fundamental human right.

It is easy to point to traditions in Africa and condemn them as primitive or violent, while ignoring the normalized violence against infants in our own hospitals. We owe it to ourselves, and to our children, to confront the uncomfortable reality that the violation of bodily autonomy transcends geography and cultural differences.

I applaud the bravery of the Samburu morans. May their example inspire us to reflect honestly on our own practices — and to finally protect all children, regardless of gender, from unnecessary and irreversible harm.