By Meg Sinnott

This October 11th marks the Tenth Annual Day of the Girl Child, a day created by the United Nations General Assembly to highlight girls’ empowerment and promotion of their rights as well as to address challenges to gender equity. As outlined by the OECD, investing in women economically and socially benefits everybody. Investing in girls is an investment in the women of the future, and thus in the future itself. 

Girls can face a distinct set of gender inequitable challenges including child marriage, exclusion from education, gender-based violence, and harmful practices like female genital cutting (FGC). As advocates against FGC, the core of Sahiyo’s mission is to work with the community to ensure girls’ bodily integrity and protect them from harm. Read further to learn about Sahiyo's work and how we meet this mission. 

What is Sahiyo doing?

Connecticut Coalition to End FGM/C

In 2013, the Population Reference Bureau estimated that 2,658 women and girls in Connecticut (CT) were at risk of undergoing - or having already undergone - female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Sahiyo, a founding member of the Connecticut Coalition to End FGM/C, is building a survivor-led coalition of FGM/C activists, organizations, researchers, policymakers, foundations, healthcare providers, and others dedicated to protecting girls by bringing an end to FGM/C in Connecticut. Connecticut remains one of the last ten states in the U.S. without any such legal protection. The coalition is proposing a bill that aims to:

• Build partnerships between Connecticut’s state departments and agencies to prevent FGM/C and to protect and provide assistance to survivors
• Educate health service providers to provide culturally responsive services to survivors
• Ensure state agencies partner with community-based experts who are working with survivors to create training, materials, and other support services for survivors 

For the past two years, the coalition has met with stakeholders and legislators to educate them on FGC and the need for a holistic bill protecting future generations of girls from this harm. Learn more at http://endfgmcinct.com. 

Increasing Capacity to Support FGC Survivors

In January 2022, Sahiyo began working with Asian Women’s Shelter (AWS), a domestic violence organization based in San Francisco, CA, on a three-year project funded by the Department of Justice - Office of Victims of Crime to increase the capacity of care for survivors of FGC in the United States. For eight months, Sahiyo has provided a series of in-depth, interactive trainings to AWS staff, volunteers, and crisis line volunteers about FGC, the mental and physical health consequences of this harmful practice, and how to best support survivors. As a result, AWS was able to expand the capacity of its crisis line to include supporting survivors of FGC in August 2022.  

How can you support Sahiyo?  

To support the valuable work that Sahiyo does to protect the bodily integrity of girls and women, we invite you to participate in Sahiyo's first-ever virtual fundraising event, Sahiyo’s International Women’s Day Celebration & Silent Auction, from  March 8-12, 2023. During this five-day event, we’ll celebrate women's voices with video spotlights, stories, and entertainment. For more information about the event, donating auction items, participating in the program, volunteering on the planning committee, or sponsoring this event, please contact Sahiyo Development Coordinator, Michelle Taylor at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Jessica is a Ph.D. candidate at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, and an instructor for Field Studies in Public Health at Northwestern University. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Loyola University and a Master of Public Health from DePaul University. Jessica’s research interests are in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and gender-based violence. She volunteers as a writer and researcher for Sahiyo, serves on the steering committee for the WE STOP FGM/C Chicago initiative, and volunteers with Chi Alpha Campus Ministries at Northwestern and Loyola Universities. She is married to her best friend, who now finds himself talking about (female genital cutting) FGC with strangers on airplanes.

What was your experience of learning about FGC for the first time like?

Difficult. I grew up in Northern Nigeria, where I knew child brides, escaped religious wars, and survived typhoid and malaria several times. So it was shocking to realize I had missed something so persistent in my country. I learned about it through an article I read in a college course at Loyola University in Chicago. I was initially upset because I thought it was just another Western publication writing about how terrible an African country was. Then I realized it was written by scholars from the state I grew up in. Further conversations with my parents, aunts, and uncles confirmed that I had friends who experienced FGC. They were just too ashamed to talk about it on the playground. I decided from that time to work to create a safe space for survivors to thrive and for those at risk to grow in safety.

When and how did you first get involved with Sahiyo?

I connected with Sahiyo earlier this year while sending several cold emails to anyone in anti-FGC work who could help with my dissertation. Several pointed me to Mariya and copied her email address in their responses. Poor Mariya was bombarded with emails introducing her to me. :) It was inevitable. 

What does your work with Sahiyo involve?

So far, I am doing some writing and helping with the Critical Intersections research project, which seeks to explore how systemic racism has negatively impacted both the global movement to end FGM/C and the support that FGM/C survivors have access to.

How has your involvement with Sahiyo impacted your life?

It has given me another avenue to exercise my thoughts on FGC and a space to talk about the subject without looking like a unicorn. 

What words of wisdom would you like to share with others who may be interested in supporting Sahiyo and the movement against FGC?

Even if you know the world is ending tomorrow, plant a tree today. If no one lived to eat the fruit of your tree, at least the leaves gave a little oxygen to someone who needed to breathe. 

By Dr. Alifya

In the past year, while making arduous efforts to obtain ethical approval for my research, I have come to understand the answer I was continuously receiving. “No.”  My colleague and I, both doctors, sought out to survey Indian healthcare workers on their knowledge, attitudes, and practices about female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C). This simple cross-sectional study involved a questionnaire being sent out to Indian healthcare professionals via Google forms. It did not involve speaking to FGM/C survivors or providing any type of intervention; it simply served as a survey-based study to understand what Indian healthcare workers already knew or didn’t know about FGM/C. However, in trying to obtain ethical approval, we encountered unanticipated challenges. 

Being a healthcare worker and a survivor of FGM/C, I was searching for ways I could contribute to ending this practice. In our curriculum, there was not even a single mention of FGM/C. If a healthcare practitioner is unaware about the problem, how can they treat and assist? Healthcare professionals play a significant role in the prevention of FGM/C and can support and educate patients and communities about the advantages of ending the practice. Since very little research has been done in India on this topic thus far, I believed this would be a good starting point to pave the way for more research on FGM/C. Data from this research would also help create further awareness among healthcare workers. My colleague and I enthusiastically approached my father's acquaintance, a gynecologist, with this idea. However, he attempted to dissuade us instead of guiding us. He claimed no one would discuss this subject; “Why not try something less contentious and simple?” Though discouraged, we weren't prepared to give up.

Next, we approached several committees in Mumbai for ethical clearance, including the ethics committee of our respective places of employment. However, no one responded. We eventually changed our jobs and approached these new institutes as well. Unfortunately, we got a similar response. "The topic is too sensitive. Try something simple.” Our research which started in Mumbai turned out to be extremely challenging. We met many people who loved the idea and were ready to guide us and be a participant in the research. However, they were not ready to publicly attach their or their institute's name to it.

After so many unsuccessful attempts, we decided to approach our parent institute, from where we graduated, in a small town in Maharashtra. Not many were aware of the practice. Despite this, we talked to our professors, and they were happy to assist us. The head of the ethics committee was eager to help us out as well, until she sat down and read our proposal. To our dismay, she echoed what we had been hearing for so long. “This topic is too sensitive. We cannot attach our institute's name to it.”

We have approached several committees over the past year and met with people who discouraged us, scared us, or pushed us into doing something else. But we are not giving up yet. We have emailed several independent committees all over India and are waiting for a response. Hopefully, someone will be able to help us. This journey has been challenging and difficult, but it has given us courage to keep finding new ways and not to give up. On our journey, we met a lot of new, encouraging, and supportive people. We are hopeful that some years down the line, the current situation will change. Becoming involved in this research and working to make changes has helped me emotionally deal with having had FGM/C.

September 28, 2022 Update: I'm really happy to share the wonderful news that, finally, a Hyderabad-based independent committee has given its approval to our research. We found this independent committee through a business named Quinary Research Pvt Ltd. Though they had certain reservations, such as not including religion and naming Bohras as a practicing community, they were not as opposed to our research topic because we only included healthcare professionals and utilized a standardized World Health Organization (WHO) questionnaire. The fact that this independent committee lacked knowledge about the practice of FGM/C, and that it occured in India, is the major reason we believe they were willing to let us conduct the research; this lack of knowledge only goes to show how crucial conducting this study on healthcare providers’ knowledge on FGM/C is. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but we have a start. Sahiyo has agreed to assist us with our project by providing funds and advice. We are grateful beyond words for Sahiyo’s unwavering support and encouragement in our work to end FGM/C.

Date: Sep 29, 2022

Time: 1 PM to 2:30 PM EST (90 mins)

Registration Link: bit.ly/MovingCTAhead

In partnership with the Connecticut Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity and The Connecticut Coalition to End Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), Sahiyo will be hosting “Moving Connecticut Ahead: Protecting Girls FGM/C. 

In 2013, the Population Reference Bureau estimated that 2,658 women and girls in Connecticut (CT) were at risk of undergoing - or having already undergone - female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). FGM/C is a harmful social norm practiced worldwide and the United Nations has declared it a human rights violation. In Connecticut, many other human rights violations stemming from social norms have been addressed through legislation such as human trafficking, child marriage, and conversion therapy. However, Connecticut has yet to address the issue of FGM/C and remains one of 10 U.S. states without any state-level law protecting future generations from this harm. This webinar will explore how Connecticut can move forward to address this issue through legislation to better protect its women and girls from FGM/C. 

Get to know the panel! 

Moderator: Steven Hernández 

Steven Hernández, Esq 
Executive Director 
CT Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity 
CT General Assembly 

Steven Hernández, Esq. is the Executive Director of the CT Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity, a non-partisan agency of the Connecticut General Assembly.  At the Commission, Mr. Hernández serves as the legislative lead for the State's 2GEN initiative, an approach that puts family at the center of improved community outcomes, and as drivers of long-term economic success. Mr. Hernández proudly serves on several volunteer boards and commissions rooted in public service. He previously served the CT state legislature as Director of Public Policy and Research for the Connecticut Commission on Children.  Prior to joining the Commission, Mr. Hernández served seven years as legislative and budget director in the office of Washington, D.C., Council member Jim Graham. Mr. Hernández served as a clerk to two judges in the District’s Court of Appeals and as a consultant to the Washington law firm Baker & Miller, PLLC. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Bennington College in Vermont in 1995 and a Juris Doctor Degree from the Washington College of Law at American University.

Speakers:  

Zehra Patwa 

Zehra Patwa is the Co-Founder and US Lead of WeSpeakOut, an organization that strives to work for equal rights for Bohra women in all spheres of life, specifically, on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) or khafz.

She grew up in London and was educated at the University of Bradford Management Centre in the UK and the Université de Montpellier in France. 

Zehra serves on several Boards, including Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Sahiyo US Advisory Board.

After discovering well into adulthood, that khatna or khafz (type 1 FGM/C) was practiced in her community and that she, too, had been subjected to it, she decided she could no longer keep silent. Although she has no recollection of the practice being done to her, she is vehemently opposed to it and has been working with WeSpeakOut to expose the practice within, and outside, the community.

She currently works in Digital Customer Delivery for the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, Connecticut.

Faith Vos Winkel

Before Faith's recent retirement from Government, Faith Vos Winkel began her work with the Office of the Child Advocate in July 2001 and assists the Child Advocate to fulfill her statutory mandates including overseeing the systems of care and protection for children in Connecticut and advocating for their well-being. Faith’s primary responsibilities focus on the review of all unexpected and unexplained child deaths in Connecticut. She is responsible for preparing child fatality cases and conducting comprehensive investigations. Faith represents the Child Advocate on a variety of statewide policy committees including the Suicide Advisory Board, CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee, and the Governor’s Task Force on Justice for Abused Children. Ms. Vos Winkel has an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and a Masters of Social Work from the University Of Connecticut.

Martine Dherte

Martine Dherteis the Program Manager for refugee services at the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants. She uses her platform to educate newly arrived refugees resettled by her organization in Bridgeport. She would like her programs, which currently includes GBV services to address FGM and become a stronger advocate in the field. She is passionate about protecting women and girls from all forms of abuse.

Michelle Dumas Keuler 

Michelle Dumas Keuler is the Managing Director of the Housing, Training and Appeals divisions of the Legal Division and Commission Counsel with the State of Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (“CHRO”). Founded in 1943, the CHRO is the nation’s oldest state based civil rights organization. The Commission is charged with investigating and prosecuting cases of employment, housing, public accommodation and credit discrimination. As a Managing Director, Ms. Dumas Keuler represents the agency in its prosecution of employment, housing and public accommodation discrimination cases before agency Human Rights Referees, in state court, and federal court. Ms. Dumas Keuler has extensive experience training in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodation discrimination, employer best practices and sexual harassment discrimination. She has trained countless landlords, tenants, housing authorities, state and municipal employees and employers regarding discrimination statutes and their enforcement by the CHRO. Ms. Dumas Keuler also works on policy for the Commission and is active in promoting the legislative initiatives of the agency.

Dates: Wednesday, March 08 - Sunday, March 12, 2023

Website Link: https://sahiyo.org/get-involved/events/sahiyo-silent-auction.html

Item Donation Link: https://forms.gle/b7cHAALDU8QemtSi6 

Sahiyo is planning our first ever virtual silent auction fundraising event to raise $15K in support of our work to end female genital cutting (FGC). The auction will open on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 and close on Sunday, March 12, 2023. During this 5-day event, we will celebrate women's voices with video spotlights, stories, and entertainment. 

Do you have an item you’d like to donate or would you like to participate in our program? We are looking for silent auction items to help raise funds to end female genital cutting as well as some incredible women to celebrate during the event including artists, poets, authors, singers, activists, etc. 

If you are interested in joining us for this celebration, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to sign up.

Sahiyo’s Giving Circle is a community of donors committed to providing dialogue, education, and collaboration to end female genital cutting all year long through a monthly donation.

Monthly giving is a simple but effective way to increase your overall impact through a planned, recurring donation. Much like paying any household expense automatically, you can easily set up a monthly donation to Sahiyo U.S. through our secure donation page.

Every single gift is one step toward ending female genital cutting.

Click here to join Sahiyo’s Giving Circle

Date: September 16th, 2022

Time: 9 am EST

Register here today: https://bit.ly/AnEmergencyWithinAnEmergency 

It is an understood global reality that women and girls are facing the harshest impacts of climate change, and activists across the world continue to fight for the inclusion of women and girls in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Yet, too little is being done to address the multitude of ways in which climate change disproportionately impacts women and girls. 

One of the common, but often overlooked, impacts of climate change is on female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Defined by the WHO as any procedure that involves the removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons, FGM/C is internationally recognized as a human rights violation. For many girls across the globe, climate change has only served to make them more vulnerable to this form of harm. 

Join the Global Platform for Action to End FGM/C on September 16th at 9 am EST as we explore the impact of climate change on female genital mutilation/cutting and hear from the activists themselves who are working to uplift girls in their communities about what can be done. For this event, we will be joined by world-famous activists Eva Komba and Domtila Chesang alongside award-winning journalist Neha Wadekar as they explore their work and experience with this growing issue. This panel will also be moderated by Sahiyo co-founder and passionate activist against FGM/C Mariya Taher.

Mariya Taher has worked in gender-based violence for over a decade in the areas of teaching, research, policy, program development, and direct service. In 2018, Mariya received the Human Rights Storytellers Award from the Muslim American Leadership Alliance. In 2020, she was recognized as one of the six inaugural grant recipients for the Crave Foundation for Women. Since 2015, she has collaborated with the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association to pass legislation to protect girls from FGC. After starting a Change.org petition and gathering over 400,000 signatures, Massachusetts became the 39th state in the U.S. to do so. She also sits on the steering committee for the US End FGM/C Network. As of 2021, Mariya serves as an expert consultant for the Department Of Justice Addressing Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting technical assistance project.  

Eva Komba is an experienced development professional in the area of international gender and development expert with 10 years of experience. She has major competencies in matters of Public Policy Formulation and Research, Access to gender justice, Sex and Gender Based Violence Programming and Implementation, Ending Harmful Traditional Practises and Combating Trafficking of Women and Girls in Africa. She is also skilled in the area of Monitoring and Evaluation, Gender Responsive Budgeting, Gender Mainstreaming as well as Women Empowerment.

Domtila Chesang is a champion fighting to end FGM, child marriage and other harmful cultural practices. She has been advocating for girls and women’s rights since 2014 through various initiatives. As a full time women’s rights advocate, she founded the I_Rep Foundation, which is a community based organization that she uses as a vehicle to create awareness around these issues and provides platforms at the community levels for learning and dialogue. Because of her fearless campaigns and passion for girls and women’s rights protection and empowerment in her community, she has received a number of recognitions both locally and internationally. In 2017, she was among three Kenyans to receive the prestigious Queens Young Leaders Award presented by the Queen of England in Buckingham Palace. In 2018, she was recognized as the African Youth Leader of the year. She was nominated as the Human Rights Defender of the year in 2019. She is also a founding member of the African Women’s Rights Advocate.

Neha Wadekar is an independent multimedia journalist reporting across the globe. She reports at the intersections of climate, gender, conflict, health, human rights, emerging democracies, and politics. Neha’s written and video work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, PBS NewsHour, the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Mother Jones, CNN, and others. She has received fellowships from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, the United Nations Foundation, the Fuller Project, the Overseas Press Club, the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the Groundtruth Project.

This International Women's Equality Day Sahiyo and Asian Women’s Shelter Launch Nations First Community-Based, Culturally Responsive Hotline to Support Survivors of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting!

Across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control estimates over half a million women and girls are impacted or at risk of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Yet, few resources exist to support survivors in their journey toward healing and protecting future generations from this practice. 

This past year, Sahiyo has collaborated with Asian Women’s Shelter (AWS) to expand AWS’s capacity to support survivors of FGM/C. Sahiyo has provided a number of trainings to AWS staff, volunteers, interpreters, and crisis line counselors on understanding the impact of FGM/C on individuals and families in the United States, supporting survivors and their loved ones, and navigating the landscape of limited resources supporting those affected by FGM/C.

AWS opened in 1988 with an emergency shelter and a 24/7 multilingual crisis line to support survivors and communities to navigate harms, hardships, and healing related to gender-based violence, particularly domestic violence in immigrant and refugee communities. From its beginnings, AWS has operated at and centered the intersection of culture, violence, language, gender, immigration, nationality, sexuality, and more. Since then, AWS has grown and deepened its commitment to preventing and intervening in gender-based violence. AWS is still a grassroots, culturally grounded organization that centers community engagement and holistic, trauma-informed, peer-based empowerment. 

The goal of this collaborative project between Sahiyo and AWS is to address gaps in resources for underrepresented populations of survivors in the U.S. in need of support services to reduce the harms of FGM/C. With that in mind, the AWS crisis line will be open to taking calls from FGM/C survivors and impacted communities starting this August 26th, 2022 in honor of Women's Equality Day.

Hotline Operator: San Francisco Asian Women’s Shelter

Number: 1-877-751-0880

Hours of Operation: 

Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM PST

“Unlike other crisis lines, this crisis line offers survivors and those from impacted communities the opportunity to discuss their questions, concerns, and needs surrounding FGM/C in a judgment-free space without automatically connecting them to law enforcement. The crisis line staff have been thoroughly trained on the physical, mental, and social impacts of FGM/C as well as how to best support survivors in their journey toward healing.” – Mariya Taher, Sahiyo Co-Founder and Executive Director  

“AWS respects you, your privacy, your experience, and your choices. If you’re wanting a confidential, language and culturally accessible place to talk with someone about the violence you’re experiencing, witnessing, anticipating, and/or trying to avoid or escape, please call whenever you’re ready. AWS will never share your personal information, and you will be in control of what you choose to share or not share. Culture and violence can interact in a way that can be doubly intimate and devastating. We are here to support you.” - Orchid Pusey, Asian Women’s Shelter Executive Director 

To learn more about the project and this new resource for FGM/C survivors, contact Mariya Taher, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

About the Collaborators: 

Sahiyo’s mission is to empower Asian and other communities to abandon the practice of FGM/C through education, collaboration, and dialogue based on community involvement. Founded in 2015, Sahiyo aims to enable a culture in which a woman/girl’s body and female sexuality is not feared or suppressed but embraced as normal. Sahiyo has 7-years of experience working with communities to empower people to end FGM/C and support survivors.  

Asian Women’s Shelter’s mission is to eliminate domestic violence by promoting the social, economic, and political self-determination of women and all survivors of violence and oppression. AWS was founded in 1988 to address the urgent and unmet needs of survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, especially those who are limited English proficient immigrant or refugee women, children, LGBTQ+/GNB people, and/or youth. 

This project was produced by Sahiyo and Asian Women’s Shelter under 15POVC-21-GG-00988-NONF, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.