A Year of Triumphs and Setbacks Charts a Pathway for a Bold 2030 Vision
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A YEAR OF TRIUMPHS AND SETBACKS CHARTS A PATHWAY FOR A BOLD 2030 VISION ANNUAL REPORT 2018 Photo: ©Mike Myers BREAKING THE SILENCE | PROTECTING LIBERTY | CELEBRATING DIGNITY AHA Foundation Annual Report | 2018 BREAKING THE SILENCE At AHA Foundation, we are steadfast in our commitment to breaking the silence and bringing ideas worth fghting for to forefront of public discourse. Our founder, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, refused to stay silent in the face of Islamism and traditional practices that oppress and abuse women and girls. She risked life and limb to give voice to the millions of women and girls subjected to OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS, AHA FOUNDATION has laid the groundwork for strong, results-driven culturally-induced injustices and to combat the malicious forces programs that fght oppression and protect the rights of women and girls in the U.S. In that threaten Enlightenment ideals. 2018, we set a pathway for expanding our work and amplifying the life-saving impact of our eforts. AHA Foundation possesses that same heartfelt commitment to ideas that afrm the freedom, rights, and security of women and Both our accomplishments and setbacks in 2018 refect AHA Foundation’s commitment girls. We are breaking the silence for all people who desire to to the ambitious goals we have set for 2030. Our experiences this year are a testament live a life of respect and self-determination. Through our media to the hard work that must be undertaken in order to achieve our vision. None of this campaigns and educational outreach, AHA Foundation and would have been possible without the engagement and loyalty of our supporters. Ayaan Hirsi Ali are breaking the silence on FGM, honor violence, forced and child marriage, and Islamism. In 2018, our messaging We envision the United States as a country where, by 2030, all states have laws that reached hundreds of thousands. protect girls from female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, and strong federal provisions add a further layer of security. We envision a nation where each girl or woman facing abuse in the name of culture or religion can fnd an empathetic ear and a path to safety. We look towards a future where dangerous ideologies that endorse persecution and violence are relegated to the past. BREAKING THE SILENCE THROUGH MEDIA In 2018, we continued, state-by-state and on a national level, to break the silence CAMPAIGNS on abuses caused by harmful traditional practices that are alive and well in the U.S. Through our speaking engagements across the country, we exposed the dangerous This year, AHA Foundation and its trends that threaten free speech and ideological diversity in public discourse. We fought founder, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, published a for liberty by empowering students to nurture critical thinking in their universities. We number of articles and op-eds in major celebrated dignity by fghting for laws that protect the rights of women and girls facing media publications, including PBS, the oppression and supported individuals in their quest to live a life free from brutality. New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, and the Hoover Institution online journal, Defning Ideas. We will continue to do this work Through our 2018 media campaigns, until that future we envision is reality. hundreds of thousands learned about the issues of FGM, child marriage, Islamism, and the ongoing threats to women’s Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Firing Line with Margaret Hoover rights around the world. Our hard-hitting message is pivotal in the Business Standard, ABC News, USA AHA Foundation released its report, “Why bringing truth to the public at large Today, and The New York Times. Overall, we hesitate to protect girls from FGM and we remain dedicated to bringing this release, combined with social media in the United States,” which provides our causes to the forefront of public commentary, resulted in more than 33 a grading scale analyzing each state’s consciousness and debate on all sides of pieces of national and international anti-FGM legislation and calls for zero the political spectrum. media reporting across print, online and tolerance of FGM. The report reached over broadcast channels. 330,000 people on social media alone and Our Voices are Stronger Together: Representative Tom Murt and FGM survivor F.A. Cole After a district court judge ruled that has been cited throughout the year by with Executive Director George Zarubin and former Program and Policy Associate Alex Still while they educate lawmakers in Pennsylvania about FGM the federal law criminalizing FGM was Ayaan’s tweets responding to the news government ofcials, organizations, and unconstitutional, AHA Foundation’s swift received attention from tens of thousands legislators seeking to end the practice of denunciation of the decision was issued of supporters and, over just a two-week FGM in the U.S. in November, and featured in multiple period, AHA Foundation’s social media news outlets including, The Guardian, reached 30% more users online than the Associated Press, The Detroit News, normal. 2 AHA Foundation Annual Report | 2018 AHA Foundation Annual Report | 2018 3 BREAKING THE SILENCE BREAKING THE SILENCE In the report, our team reviewed distinction between Islam, a spiritual legislation in each U.S. state and assigned belief system, and Islamism, a repressive them a grade based on the strength of political ideology. Ayaan wrote an op-ed for the New York Post calling for the feminist movement their FGM legislation. Over half of the to stand up to FGM, child and forced “Ayaan is a lone voice standing up for states received a failing grade and only In her Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Will marriage, and honor violence the rights of women and girls, calling one earned an A. Saudi Arabia Free Its Women?” Ayaan brings to light the struggles women for them to be protected from FGM, The report also counters the growing encounter in Saudi Arabia. Though the acceptance of “ritual nicks,” as a solution new crown prince, Mohammed bin forced marriage, and other crimes that to ending FGM. At AHA Foundation, we Salman, has promised modernization should not be tolerated in the U.S. We call for zero tolerance of this harmful of the country, namely the expansion of practice because the “nicking option” women’s rights, Ayaan warns that none are committed to supporting Ayaan’s may still cause harmful physical and of these rights will have real meaning if psychological consequences, and its Ayaan Hirsi Ali with Dr. Zuhdi Jasser (right) and Alan Dershowitz at a symposium hosted by the Gatestone Institute Saudi Arabia’s guardianship laws are still voice on college campuses across the underlying reasoning – to control in place. country and in the media.‘’ the sexuality of women and girls – is unacceptable no matter the scope of AHA Foundation’s Senior Director, — Suzie Kovner, inficted damage. AHA Foundation works with survivors Ayaan appeared on three podcasts Amanda Parker, was featured in a PBS AHA Foundation published a report Former Board Chair at AHA Foundation who wish for their stories to be heard in including The Jamie Weinstein Show, The Frontline article titled “Florida Moves exposing the reality of FGM in the U.S. and calling on states to criminalize FGM Following the publication of our FGM order to bring the issues of FGM and child Femsplainers, and The Hoover Institution to Ban Marriage Before the Age of 17,” report, our founder, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, was marriage to the public. Interviews and Fellow Talks. where she discusses Florida’s attempts featured on Firing Line with Margaret articles are periodically published on our to end child marriage. Although Florida Hoover. In this interview, Ayaan revealed website that feature brave women who In these podcasts, Ayaan described her legislators did limit child marriage in the the harsh reality of FGM in the U.S. and are determined to raise awareness with childhood experiences in countries state, Amanda criticizes the legislation spoke about ways the American legal their own stories of endurance. where female subjugation is rampant, because it leaves a large segment of the system can better protect girls from and raised awareness about FGM in the at-risk population, namely 17-year-old this harmful cultural practice. Ayaan AHA Foundation published a blog by U.S., an abuse she survived as a child. girls, at risk of child marriage. compared the movement to end FGM to Sheriece Hooks, a doctoral student in She also called for a reformation in Islam the #MeToo movement and spoke about clinical psychology, where she calls fostered by critical thought and open Ayaan wrote an op-ed for the New York the similarities and diferences between attention to gaps in psychology programs dialogue. Post titled “The anti-woman violence the two. involving culturally-motivated violence. feminists are afraid to confront.” In it, Sheriece points out that traumatic Ayaan wrote an article titled “The she praises the #MeToo movement for In May this year, Ayaan and Dr. Zuhdi experiences such as FGM, honor violence, ‘No Platform’ Brigade” in the Hoover cutting across party lines and focusing Jasser, a Muslim activist and American and forced marriages have all been Institution journal, Defning Ideas. In on exposing all inappropriate behavior physician, had the opportunity to omitted in academic discussions as it, Ayaan condemned the increasing regardless of political afliation. She also debate Alan Dershowitz, a renowned U.S. sources of trauma for women and girls. tendency, particularly on college points out, however, that this inclusivity attorney, on FGM criminality in the U.S. A professor that read the article reacted campuses, to silence Muslim dissidents does not extend to other women’s issues and the argument for zero-tolerance of positively and proceeded to incorporate and critics of Islam.