There have been a few media reports showcasing that ‘80% of Bohra women who took a survey on khatna were circumcised’. This statistic does come from Sahiyo’s online survey. However, we request that media representatives please first get in touch with Sahiyo before quoting or mentioning this statistic in any article, TV or radio interview.

The statistic is a preliminary result and Sahiyo is concerned that this figure is being shared out of context from the rest of the online survey. A final report of the survey will be available in May 2016. For more information, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

(Article originally posted in Scroll.in on Feb 11, 2016) 

By Aarefa Johari

Three months after a group of Dawoodi Bohras was held guilty for female genital mutilation in a landmark verdict by an Australian court, community authorities have issued a notice to all Bohras in Australia asking them to obey the law of the land and stop the practice of khatna or female circumcision.

The notice has drawn cheers from Bohra activists campaigning to bring an end to the ancient ritual of female genital mutilation that is meant to moderate a woman’s sexual urges.

In November 2015, the Supreme Court of New South Wales found a Bohra mother, a retired nurse and a senior clergy member called Shabbir Vaziri guilty of carrying out genital cutting on two minor sisters between 2010 and 2012, when the girls were six and seven years old respectively.

The three people could face a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. Hearings to determine the quantum of punishment began on February 5 and are expected to go on for a while.

The Bohra ritual of khatna involves snipping off the tip of a young girl’s clitoris, which is defined by the World Health Organisation as Type I FGM. Even though female genital mutilation has been illegal in Australia since 1997, the Bohra case is the first to actually make it to the nation’s courtrooms.

It is also the first instance of anyone being arrested for khatna in the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, whose members predominantly hail from Gujarat in India. The Bohras are the only community known to practice female genital cutting in India, and so far, many have continued to cut their girls even when they migrate to other countries where female genital mutilation is illegal.

The notice issued to Australian community members on February 9, however, could significantly alter this trend.

Obey the law of the land

The notice, emailed to all Australian Bohras in the form a resolution letter, came a day after the Anjuman-e-Burhani (Sydney) – a trust managing Bohra affairs in Australia – held a meeting to discuss khatna.

The letter begins by quoting a hadith (text comprising the teachings of Prophet Mohammed) which states that “love for the land of abode is part of faith”, making it part of Islamic tradition to “remain loyal to the country of abode and to be law abiding and contributory citizens”.

The letter goes on to state:

If the community follows the instructions of this notice, it would mean that Bohra girls in Australia will henceforth escape a painful ritual that has been practiced in the community for centuries. It could also mean that Bohra authorities might issue similar notices in other countries where female genital mutilation is illegal, including the US, UK and Canada.

No law in India yet

The notice has come at a time when a judge presiding over the female genital mutilation case pointed out, during a sentencing hearing on February 5, that the convicted mother and retired nurse have not expressed any remorse about performing genital cutting on the girls. They have not, he said, made any statement indicating that they now reject the practice or would be willing to speak out against it in their community.

The notice could also be seen as a reaction to the growing negative media attention to the practice of khatna among Bohras in the past year, as more and more women from the community have come forward to demand an end to the erstwhile secret ritual. In December, 17 Bohra women from around the world (disclosure: this reporter is among them) launched an online petition asking the Indian government to act against female genital cutting, which is not yet illegal in India. The petition has garnered more than 44,000 signatures so far.

‘A small victory’

Community members, particularly those in Australia, have welcomed the notice and are now eager to see the rest of the Bohra population around the world follow suit.

Zarine Hashim, a hospital administrator from Melbourne, reacted to the notice with a mix of emotions. “I felt happiness and elation as it was a small victory in the whole scheme of things, but also anger that it has taken a court case to make this happen,” said Hashim. “I really feel that the community, worldwide, needs to take this as an example and reassess the legal, physical and mental health consequences of the practice before performing it.”

To read the original article, click here. 

(Trigger Warning: The story here is another woman’s experience of FGC. We thank her for being brave enough to share it with us.)

By Insiya Lokhandwala

Age: 33

Country: Mumbai, India

I remember going to Pune for vacation when I was seven. Once there, my eldest masi (aunt) took me to a building where there was an old woman who asked me to lay down and open my legs. I remember being scared. Then I saw a razor in her hand and I screamed at her to let me go. My aunt and mom pinned me down on the ground and said, “It will be over in a minute”. I remember the unbearable pain and then the old woman bandaged me down there and told me that I would be OK in a day or two. On our way home my aunt bought me a balloon and ice cream. She told me not to mention what had to me to my brothers who were around my age. Honestly, I have hated balloons since then and I don’t think I can forgive what they did to me.

No religion in the world can ask mothers to put their little girls through this pain. I wonder how so many mothers can do this to their own girl children. No matter the consequences of what might happen to me for telling my story, this practice must be stopped. The practice was a way of controlling women in ancient times. I think our community has advanced enough to know what’s right and what’s wrong. Khatna is wrong. What happened to me can’t be undone, but we can stop this from happening to future girls. Let our children be children without trauma. Don’t tarnish their childhood memories by having girls undergo unforgiving situations. They say jannat lies at the foot of a mother, but if this practice continues, no child will be able to trust in this saying.

In 2012, Sahiyo Cofounder, Priya Goswami released the documentary, “A Pinch of Skin”, which has become a national award-winning documentary on female genital mutilation, in India.

Voices against the practice of female genital cutting in the Bohra community seem to be getting louder and more numerous. The latest to speak out is an anonymous Bohra woman from the United Kingdom who was subjected to khatna as a child and remembers it as a traumatic incident. She has now launched a petition under the pseudonym “Luv Shabbir”, asking Nicky Morgan, a Member of Parliament in the UK, to do more to stop Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the Bohra community.

This is the third online petition started by women from within the community to demand a ban on khatna for girls. The first was by the anonymous ‘Tasleem’ in 2011; the second, ongoing petition by 17 women from ‘Speak Out on FGM’ has already gained almost 30,000 supporters. Both these petitions emerged from India, where there is no law against female genital cutting and where Bohras are the only known group following the practice.

In the United Kingdom, where several expat communities from Africa, the Middle-East and Asia follow various forms of FGC, the practice has been illegal since 1985. In recent years, the British government ahs been making concerted efforts to crack down on the practice. In this context, this latest petition by “Luv Shabbir” is indicative of two things: One, there is a growing desire among Bohra women to break the silence around khatna and speak out against it. Two, even in countries where there are laws against FGC, we have a long way to go before the practice meets its end.

To support the UK petition, sign here.