Sahiyo U.S. is excited to announce the publication of Examining Intersections Between Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting And Social Oppressions: A Mixed Methods Study, the second of three reports from our Critical Intersections Research Project. Inspired by our 2021 webinar, and building upon themes derived from our initial body of work released in 2023, this new report is based on original research from a mixed-methods survey with over 100 respondents, including individuals and organization that work within and beyond the FGM/C sphere. We are proud to share this report on February 6th, International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM/C, as part of our survivor and advocate-led original research project. 

The report examines two main forms of oppressions intersecting with FGM/C: systemic forces, including discrimination within institutions, as well as interpersonal and communcal factors, such as discrimination within practicing communities and the anti-FGM/C movement itself. This body of work also identifies challenges and opportunities for cross-collaboration with other social justice movements and provides recommendations for how to implement this intersectional work.

This research is meant to support advocates working in FGM/C to better understand how these intersecting oppressions affect the movement to end FGM/C, and connect fellow activists and social change makers to understand the larger forms of inequity at play and unite in ending these universally oppressive systems. We aim to strengthen anti-FGM/C efforts by addressing the roots of inequity and inequality and to create stronger collaborative movements across various human rights issues. 

Read the report here. 

Learn more about the Critical Intersections Research Project here.

WASHINGTON, DC - (February 6, 2024) - The Milken Institute School of Public Health alongside its community partners announced today they received a $300,000 grant from the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to provide training and technical assistance focused on the prevention and response to female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) to community-based organizations across the United States working to end violence.

“Two hundred million women worldwide have experienced FGM/C, with 3-4 million girls affected every year,” said Karen A. McDonnell, Associate Professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. “That’s only in the countries we know about. In the United States, over a half-million girls and women are affected by, or at risk for, FGM/C and it is important that FGM/C is recognized as a prevalent form of gender-based violence worldwide.” Dr. McDonnell will serve as the principal investigator on the project.

The team assembled to address this project is a cooperative of partners that includes: The U.S. End FGM/C Network, the Global Woman PEACE Foundation, Sahiyo US, and the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. 

“It is significant that the OVW is recognizing the importance of addressing FGM/C in the United States, and that understanding its intersections with other forms of violence against women is crucial,” said Caitlin LeMay, the Executive Director of the U.S. End FGM/C Network.

Sahiyo co-founder Mariya Taher —who has been recognized by L’Oreal Paris as a 2023 Women of Worth and a leading advocate in the field of FGM/C — shared her own excitement about the partnership.

“FGM/C is an issue I’ve known about my entire life having grown up in a community in which it was practiced. This partnership between our various organizations highlights something as a child I never thought possible, a public recognition that FGM/C is a concern in the U.S., and that for us to prevent the next generation from undergoing it, we have to work in a multisectoral way that partners the government with community-based organizations, with the advocates and the survivors who have the expertise on how to address this issue.” 

Throughout the project, the team will conduct listening sessions, provide training and technical assistance, and coordinate on the creation of online resources that can be utilized to increase the capacity of care given to FGM/C by other community service providers across the U.S.  

These resources will help victim service organizations and allied stakeholders recognize and address FGM/C in their provision of services.

“We will explore how we can best meet the needs and build upon the strengths of service providers who may not even realize that the people they seek to help have experienced this trauma,” Angela Peabody, the Executive Director and Founder of the Global Woman PEACE Foundation.

By Aries Nuño 

In participating in Sahiyo's Voices to End FGM/C digital storytelling workshop, I chose to share a story that examined my journey toward understanding women’s health. This journey was not just a personal quest, but a response to a disquieting cultural reality: the pervasive silence among generations of women about their own bodies. Such silence, I discovered, often culminates in uncomfortable encounters within healthcare settings. My narrative serves as both a reflection and a critique of this phenomenon, extending its scope to spotlight the unique challenges faced by those who have undergone FGM/C when interacting with healthcare systems.

I hope my story serves as an eye-opener for healthcare professionals and the general public. Healthcare providers should strive for empathy and cultural sensitivity, as well as an understanding of how negative interactions in a healthcare setting can exacerbate an already traumatic experience for survivors of FGM/C. For the public, I would like my narrative to be both an invitation to engage in an open dialogue about women's health and an encouragement for conversations across generations — from grandmothers to mothers to daughters. 

By weaving these elements of storytelling together, I aim to not only bring individual experiences into a larger discussion, but also to contribute to a more nuanced, empathetic, and effective approach to public health. In doing so, I hope to be a part of breaking the cycle of silence and to help initiate lasting social change, one story at a time.

Aries Nuño is a public health professional interested in the sociocultural influences on an individual’s experience with sexual and reproductive healthcare. In her diverse public health career, she has contributed to projects including human-centered design to address female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Ebonyi, Nigeria, and expanding web-based access to self-administered STI and HIV testing for Indigenous populations across the U.S. She began volunteering with Sahiyo in 2021, and now joins the team as the Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator. She looks forward to leveraging her public health background to facilitate educational opportunities to promote more sustainable approaches to end FGM/C.

By Faizneen Bharmal

Growing up in a progressive and well-educated Dawoodi Bohra family, the topic of Khatna, commonly known as female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) around the world, was always shrouded in silence. The subject was rarely broached unless one became a parent, at which point it became relevant. For the majority of my life, I remained oblivious to its existence.

Within the Dawoodi Bohra community, FGM/C Type 1 is predominantly practiced. In the majority of cases, this involves part of the prepuce or the clitoral hood being cut.

I've often heard rationalizations for the practice, from women in my community: "We only remove a tiny, inconsequential part. Most girls hardly even notice it." "It's done under the supervision of a medical practitioner, ensuring hygiene and safety." However, my story and experience prompts me to pose some critical questions to those who persist in this harmful practice.

Does the severity of trauma a child endures become acceptable just because it involves removing a tiny part? A child who can remember when the act was performed on them? Are you so resolute in your beliefs that you're willing to deprive your child of what they rightfully deserve? Does your religious duty and the societal pressure of community membership outweigh the lifelong trauma that a child must endure?

For far too long, Khatna, as it's referred to in the Bohra community, remained a closely guarded secret—a taboo subject that was never up for discussion. What perplexes me is that it contradicts everything I know about my community: A community that prides itself on being educated, forward-thinking, and modern. My story isn't merely about the personal trauma I endured, but also about the immense pressure the community exerts on each generation to uphold this tradition. A tradition, it seems, is a beast that's not easily slain, even if it causes them to sacrifice the well-being of young girls.

When I made the decision to share my story, I engaged in a profound conversation with my mother. I'm grateful that she understood my perspective and is willing to support me in my mission to educate women of her generation and those younger so that the burden of this practice is not passed down to their daughters and daughters-in-law.

Faizneen is a communications professional with 12+ years of experience working to inspire action and meaningful engagement via content creation, storytelling, and media in humanitarian crises situations, rural transformation, public health, human rights, women's rights, literacy, and poverty alleviation.

Sahiyo U.S. is excited to announce the publication of Examining Intersections Between Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting And Social Oppressions: A Mixed Methods Study, the second of three reports from our Critical Intersections Research Project. Inspired by our 2021 webinar, and building upon themes derived from our initial body of work released in 2023, this new report is based on original research from a mixed-methods survey with over 100 respondents, including individuals and organization working within and beyond the FGM/C sphere. We are proud to publish this report, as part of a survivor and advocate-led original research project, on February 6th, International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM/C.

The report examines two main forms of oppressions intersecting with FGM/C:

Systemic forces, such as discrimination within systems and institutions, included intersections between several forms of oppression such as xenophobia and racism with institutions like law enforcement. Many survey participants identified fear of the criminal justice system as a challenge for survivors and the end FGM/C movement; interestingly, a majority of every group reported to work with the legal system and law enforcement (in and beyond the FGM/C sphere).

Interpersonal and communal forces, such as discrimination from within practicing communities and the movement to end FGM/C, introduced complexities for survivors and activists alike. Interestingly, individuals working in the FGM/C sphere most commonly identified interpersonal challenges (rather than systemic forces) such as gender discrimination and other forms of gender-based violence as challenges that girls and women in FGM/C-practicing communities face. Additonally, a strong discord around the framing of FGM/C (‘mutilation’ vs. ‘cutting’) suggested a significant barrier to collaborating within the FGM/C sphere and beyond.

Lastly, the study examined the potential for cross-collaboration between the anti-FGM/C sphere and other social justice movements. Though participants reported an overwhelming desire for cross-collaboration across the demographic groups, they also identified many significant challenges for meaningful cross-collaboration. Participants also provided opportunities for collaboration. 

From the various challenges, opportunities, and intersections of oppressions, eight recommendations for cross-sector collaboration and intersectional work involving how to work toward ending FGM/C were gathered. 

This research is meant to support advocates working in FGM/C to better understand how these intersecting oppressions affect the movement to end FGM/C, and connect fellow activists and social change makers to understand the larger forms of inequity at play and unite in ending these universally oppressive systems. We aim to strengthen anti-FGM/C efforts by addressing the roots of inequity and inequality and creating stronger collaborative movements across various human rights issues. 

A special thank you to the Wallace Global Fund for funding this project!

Read the full report here.

Why did you want to attend the workshop and share your story? 

I wanted to attend this workshop because I wanted to get a sense of the process of storytelling from a survivor’s and advocate's perspective. I am keeping in my heart hundreds of stories that survivors from my community have shared with me.

What story did you choose to tell and create into a digital story?

I chose to tell the story of medical complications caused by FGM/C and the cry for help from hundreds of women who shared their stories with me.

What have you learned or most enjoyed during the workshop and by meeting others who shared their stories? 

The camaraderie and the shared lived experiences cannot be replicated. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that was divinely orchestrated with the right mix of participants present.

What kind of impact would you like your story to have? 

I hope that my story will be a clarion call for folks to help me bring to light the need for medical care for hundreds of thousands of women who need help locally, nationally, and globally.

Is there anything in your digital story that you would like to share? 

My digital story connects trauma, healing, and resilience to drawing strength from our ancestors. Our healing journey is incomplete without acknowledging their pain and their untold stories.

Doris Mukangu, MPH, is the Founder and Executive Director of the Amani Women Center, a comprehensive culturally tailored community center that provides comprehensive services that empower and contribute to the economic security and well-being of refugee and immigrant women and their families. As a graduate of Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, and Harvard Kennedy School of Non-Profit Management, Mukangu has over eighteen years of experience serving in leadership roles with non-profit organizations on refugee affairs and health promotion and education. Mukangu has served as a technical expert on programs initiating and implementing culturally appropriate, trauma-informed equitable methods of training, program planning, evaluation, and dissemination. With a strong commitment to prompting wellbeing, advocacy, and empowerment to the most vulnerable populations, Mukangu founded Johari Africa; a women's economic empowerment program, served as vice president of the board of Tapestri Inc, ending violence and oppression in refugee and immigrant communities, and serves on the steering committee of US End FGM/C Network https://endfgmnetwork.org/.