Dear Editor,

I read with great interest and concern your recent article, "When Gambia Banned Female Genital Cutting, a Defiant 96-Year-Old Resisted" (Sept. 5, 2024). It highlights the critical need to protect girls from the harm of female genital mutilation (FGM), a deeply rooted practice that continues to violate their rights.

As president of Intact Global Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to ending all forms of genital mutilation, I believe we must extend these protections to boys in the United States. Medically unnecessary circumcision is still routinely performed on infant boys, often without consent or medical justification. Like FGM, it is a violation of bodily autonomy.

While progress has been made in outlawing FGM globally, it’s time we recognize that all children, regardless of gender, deserve the right to decide what happens to their bodies when they are capable of consent.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to human rights, and I urge the New York Times to continue the conversation about protecting every child from unnecessary genital cutting.

Sincerely,