MARQUETTE, Mich.—Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a human rights activist and best-selling author of Infidel, will speak at Northern Michigan University on Wednesday, March 31. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the Great Lakes Rooms of the University Center. 

            Hirsi Ali was born in Magadishu, Somalia, and is now a U.S. resident. She is committed to raising awareness of violence against women, including female genital mutilation—a practice she was subjected to as a young child—and honor killings. Hirsi Ali also defends the rights of Muslim women. She had embraced Islam as a child, but later questioned and ultimately abandoned her faith.

After fleeing to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage as a young adult, she received a master’s degree in political science from the University of Leiden and served as an elected member of the Dutch parliament from 2003-06. She worked to integrate non-Western immigrants into Dutch society.         

Now a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., Hirsi Ali is researching the relationship between the West and Islam. She was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2005 and Reader’s Digest’s European of the Year for the same year. She has published three books: a collection of essays titled The Caged Virgin; her memoir, Infidel; and the second volume of her autobiography, Nomad.

This event is free with an NMU ID and $2 for the general public. No backpacks are allowed. Platform Personalities is sponsoring her appearance.