Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist, feminist, and author. She is best known for her advocacy for women’s rights in the Muslim world, including speaking out against female genital mutilation and honor killings. She has received several awards for her work, including the Moral Courage Award from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Dutch Freedom Award.
Born in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1969, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her family fled the country in 1981 to escape the civil war. Initially, they sought refuge in Saudi Arabia, but eventually relocated to Ethiopia, then Kenya. Ayaan Hirsi Ali was raised in a conservative Muslim family; she experienced a difficult childhood, and at the age of five, she was subjected to female genital mutilation.
At the age of 22, Ayaan Hirsi Ali left her family and moved to the Netherlands. While there, she studied political science at the University of Leiden and worked as an interpreter for Somali refugees. In 2002, she was elected to the Dutch Parliament, where she worked to raise awareness of the rights of women in Muslim communities and to advocate for the integration of immigrants into the Netherlands.
In 2004, Ayaan Hirsi Ali co-wrote the short film, Submission, which was critical of Islam’s treatment of women. The film caused a great deal of controversy and resulted in death threats against her. She was forced to go into hiding and eventually resigned from the Dutch Parliament and moved to the United States.
In the United States, Ayaan Hirsi Ali continued to fight for the rights of women in the Muslim world. She wrote two books, Infidel and Nomad, which detail her experiences growing up in a conservative Muslim family and the struggles she faced in the Netherlands. In 2007, she founded the AHA Foundation, which works to protect and defend the rights of women in the United States and abroad.
Throughout her career, Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been an outspoken advocate for women’s rights and progressive social change. Her work has been recognized by a number of organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union which awarded her the Women’s Rights Award in 2011. In 2018, she was appointed to the Board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, where she works to promote a greater understanding of human rights and democracy.
