On November 9th, Sahiyo co-founder Mariya Taher participated as a speaker in the World Bank-hosted Webinar “Intersectionality: Female Genital Mutilation and Racism.” 

The webinar was an event of the GFLJD Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Legal Working Group. The panel of speakers was composed of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) experts and activists from around the world, who explored the ways in which inherent underlying racism is preventing the effective protection of every women and girls while leaving no-one behind; the ways in which FGM and racism’s consequences on health, education, wellbeing, social and economic development are similar and cumulative; the idea that special laws criminalizing FGM/C are tinted with discrimination when every country already has applicable general laws on bodily harm, injuries, mutilation, VAWG and femicide; and the idea that development actors’ general reluctance to address FGM/C directly can to some extent result from a span of underlying racial and gender biases.

In July of 2021, Sahiyo hosted a similar webinar: “Critical Intersections: Anti-Racism and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C).” The event included thoughtful commentary from advocates and survivors of FGM/C on the overlap between racism, oppression, culture, and FGM/C. The speakers also shared the struggles theyhave faced while working to bring an end to this harmful practice globally. You can watch Sahiyo’s webinar here, and read the transcript of the webinar here.

On November 9th, Sahiyo team members volunteer Zahra Qaiyumi, Programs Intern Sarah Boudreau, and Programs Coordinator Cate Cox led a training for Massachusetts based Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs). SANEs are registered nurses who have completed additional training and education to provide comprehensive healthcare to those who have experienced sexual assault. As an extreme form of gender-based violence, knowledge about and awareness of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is integral to the care that SANEs provide. 

During the event, Sahiyo provided much needed education to over 200 participants in virtual attendance. Topics discussed included defining FGM/C and its clinical consequences, the legal context of FGM/C both locally and nationally, and an interactive discussion about best practices for providing healthcare to survivors utilizing the Voices to End FGM/C digital storytelling project.

Participants were active in the discussion, recounting times when they encountered survivors of FGM/C in a clinical setting and how those interactions could have been improved. They also self-identified gaps in their own knowledge of the practice, including timing of deinfibulation in pregnancy and how to perform a pelvic exam on someone who has experienced infibulation. 

Cultural humility-based training of healthcare workers who come in to direct contact with FGM/C survivors has the potential to improve the quality of life of survivors, improve access to appropriate healthcare and potentially prevent the practice in future generations. We also shared some of Sahiyo’s resources, including our Trauma Series Blogs and the Mumkin app. 

As an organization, Sahiyo hopes to participate in more events like this and continue to evolve training content to fit the needs of survivors and the individuals providing them care.

On November 25th, the first day of 16 Days of Activism, Sahiyo will launch  part one of their ‘Scenarios by Sahiyo’ project. Created and illustrated by Kamakshi Arora and written by Beth Fotheringham (both interns with Sahiyo), ‘Scenarios by Sahiyo’ will feature short comic strips based on real life stories by activists, advocates and allies working to end female genital cutting (FGC). 

The project aims to portray particularly personal interactions, ones that are often the hardest to conduct, that end in a positive outcome, such as a breakthrough in communication or a change in perspective. It is designed to build on Sahiyo’s mission of empowering South Asian communities through storytelling, with the visual art style accompanying the stories as an effective aid.

The first comic follows the story of Rahat and Areefa, a daughter and mother who disagree about the practice of khatna (the word for FGC in the Bohra community), who must then talk about their respective trauma and guilt together to reach a place of understanding and forgiveness.

The second part of the ‘Scenarios by Sahiyo’ project is due to be posted on December 10th, the last day of 16 Days of Activism. The comic strip will depict the story of a brother and sister, Zoeb and Zara, and their experience discussing female genital cutting; this will highlight the necessity of breaking down barriers between men and women to communicate about such issues.

Read Scenarios by Sahiyo Part 2 here.

Sahiyo was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Donald Strong, a true male ally in the work to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), whose advocacy provided energy towards propelling the Stop FGM Act of 2020 into law. As Director of Research Coordination and a Practicum Director in the Department of Prevention and Community Health with George Washington University, Mr. Strong worked closely with nonprofit organizations, health departments, and healthcare providers serving the African immigrant community in the DMV, in the work to eliminate the practice of FGM/C. 

Some of us at Sahiyo were lucky enough to work with him directly on this effort; co-founder Mariya Taher collaborated with Don on the GW Dean's Seminar Series: Addressing Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C) in the DMV. Sahiyo U.S. Advisory Board Member Maryum Saifee recognizes Don as someone who “really laid the groundwork for GW’s role in becoming a leader in the anti FGM/C advocacy efforts in the United States.”

Sahiyo would like to commemorate him through a spotlight with our Bhaiyo initiative (something Don was really excited about), which aims to create a space where male allies can come together to collaborate, spark dialogue, and spread information about this form of gender-based violence and it’s harmful impacts. 

There is perhaps no one better to commemorate Don than those who knew him best. We’ve asked some of his colleagues, and those who were lucky enough to know him personally, to provide reflections on his legacy.

Don Strong, a connector, a cheerleader, a community activist, and confidant. When he walked into any meeting, within five minutes, he made sure everyone knew one another and how we were all connected. I remember we were giving a presentation at the UN about FGM/C, and the storytelling we were engaging in was getting emotionally heavy. Don, sensing the tension, stood up and started engaging with the room. The participants didn’t know one another when they entered the room, but Don was connecting people, connecting lives, and within minutes had the entire room, standing up and sharing their stories. By the end of the session Don had us all exchanging contact information and taking group photos. He was incredibly humble and wouldn’t let us tell people that it was his advocacy, his storytelling that put the Stop FGM ACT of 2020 into action. As one of our community partners stated "It was easy to see that Don was an advocate to his core. His motivation to end FGM/C, and to get men involved in the process, was inspiring and contagious. I know he will be dearly missed by GW, the field, and most of all his family." 

Don, my friend, I’m going to miss you. May you rest in peace and may your power be instilled in each of us to continue your mission. 

-Karen A. McDonnell

Don was a colleague, a friend, and an advocate against FGM/C. He worked quietly in support of organizations in the nonprofit community. 

Don was partly responsible for the relationship GWPF has with George Washington University today. He had called my office in search of information on FGM/C, and we ended up chatting for a while. At the end of our conversation, he invited me to meet with Dr. Karen McDonnell, Dr. Ghada Khan, and him. On a bitterly cold February morning in 2017, I met with Don, Karen, and Ghada for the first time. That meeting was the birth of the current relationship GWPF has with George Washington University.

I admired the passion Don possessed for this work. He was passionate about young men becoming involved in the work against FGM/C. He will always be remembered, and most definitely missed. May his soul find rest and peace.

-Angela Peabody

I met Don a few years ago, and since that day he has inspired me everyday with his immense passion and dedication to ending FGM/C. His ability to foster connections was simply unparalleled. His energy and charisma would light up every room he walked into and liven every conversation he had. Anyone who met him could immediately tell that he was such a radiant and incredible human being. He always cheered me on and I will be forever thankful for his friendship and mentorship through the years. Along with our GW community, and his friends and family, I will miss him so much. But, his legacy will live on. Rest in power, Don.

-Krishna Patel

I first met Don in 2015 when he and his colleague, Karen McDonnell, were thinking through the process of building a strategy to counter Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the US. I remember sharing both my personal story as a survivor, but also my experiences as a policymaker trying to move the needle on addressing the issue globally. I told him how important it was that we focus on FGM — filling the data and research gaps domestically— to have the credibility and moral authority to advocate for the same calls to action with counterparts overseas.

I was struck by Don’s kindness during the meeting and over the many years, the strength of his conviction to keep pushing and elevating an issue that is frankly still taboo and squeamish for many to absorb. That took courage and his bravery has made a difference in the lives of so many of us, both in the present moment and future generations, carrying his legacy forward.  I am forever grateful to have been blessed with the opportunity to partner and learn from such a powerful advocate for human rights and gender equity.

-Maryum Saifee

After an ALIGN literature review revealed a lack of research on how broadcast media contributes positively to gender norm change, Faria A. Nasruddin has developed a series of case studies for the ALIGN platform that draw on the experiences from individuals and organisations in three key sectors: (1) education-entertainment, (2) commercial media, and (3) news media and journalism. Participating organisations include: Population Media Center, BBC Media Action, the Geena Davis Institute, the Representation Project, Sahiyo, Sancharika Samuha, and the Global Media Monitoring Project. These case studies, although varied, all revolve around the question: How can organisations mobilize broadcast media to effect positive gender norm change? What are the most effective strategies, and what are their results?  

To launch the case studies, ALIGN hosted a webinar with media practitioners, journalists, and researchers from South Asia to dialogue about the state of the South Asian media industry in terms of gender representation and how to tap into the transformative potential of broadcast media. Topics discussed varied from the effect of the #MeToo movement on the media industry to how to make education-entertainment engaging and effective. The diverse panel of speakers both highlighted the progress of those leading the way in changing the broadcast media industry and prompted key questions that the case studies address in greater depth.

On October 22nd, the Biden-Harris Administration issued the first-ever national gender strategy to advance the full participation of all people – including women and girls – in the United States and around the world. The National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality incorporates female genital cutting (FGC) as a form of gender-based violence needing attention, clearly labeling it a “human rights abuse” and planning several courses of action to work towards ending it.

The Strategy recognizes that millions of women and girls are at risk of FGC, and that these human rights abuses occur domestically and abroad, which poses a global security issue. he Administration plans to “collaborate with state officials to prevent and address harmful practices that undermine human rights,” and “work with a broad array of leaders to promote programs that address harmful practices that undermine human rights.” Sahiyo commends the Biden-Harris Administration's important acknowledgement of this harmful practice, and looks forward to seeing how the strategy will be implemented through collaboration with domestic and international leaders to create change.

On November 1st Sahiyo partnered with The Massachusetts Healthy Youth Consortium (MAHYC) to hold a training for K-12 teachers about the importance of using education as a means of preventing female genital cutting (FGC) and how they can become advocates against this practice. The goal of MAHYC is for educators, health professionals, policymakers, and other advocates to work collaboratively towards helping to pass The Healthy Youth Act which would ensure that comprehensive curricula are taught in public schools that choose to offer sex education. Massachusetts ranks 12th in the nation for at-risk populations, with nearly 15,000 girls at risk, with the largest at-risk areas being Boston, Newton, and Cambridge. FGC is often rooted in secrecy and isolation, and girls at risk are often taught never to speak of what they experienced. Sahiyo believes that education can be a powerful tool to break this silence and bring some clarity to the myths surrounding female genital cutting.

Watch the training here.

પ્રિય માસી એ એક કોલમ છે, જે સેક્સ અને સંબંધ વિષેની એવી બધી બાબતો પર ભાર મૂકે છે, જેને પૂછવામાં તમને ડર લાગતો હોય! આ કોલમ સહિયો અને WeSpeakOut વચ્ચેની એક ભાગીદારી છે. તે આપણા બધા માટે છે, જેમને ફીમેલ જેનિટલ કટિંગ (એફ.જી.સી.) અથવા ખતના અને તેની આપણા શરીર, મન, સેક્સ્યુઆલિટી અને સંબંધો પર કેવી અસર પડે છે તે વિષે પ્રશ્નો હોય. બોહરીઓમાં, માસી એટલે તમારી મમ્મીની બહેન. અમે તમને અહિયાં તમારા પ્રશ્નો મોકલવા માટે આવકારીયે છીએ. જો તમને કોઇ સંકોચ થાય તો, મહેરબાની કરીને ઉપનામનો ઉપયોગ કરી શકો છો (તમારું સાચું નામ વાપર્યા વિના).

પ્રિય માસી,

હું 26 વર્ષની છું અને હું અત્યાર સુધી ત્રણ સંબંધોમાં રહી છું (બે મરદ અને હાલમાં એક મહિલા સાથે). મને ગાઢ સંબંધ પસંદ છે, પરંતુ ઘણીવાર પેનિટ્રેશન (કોઇપણ પ્રકારનું) તકલીફ આપે છે. મેં ઘણીવાર સેક્સ કરવાનું જ ટાળ્યું છે અને તેના કારણે મારા સંબંધોમાં સમસ્યાઓ આવી છે. મેં ડૉક્ટરને બતાવ્યું હતું, પરંતુ તેમણે કહ્યું કે મારું ‘ગુપ્ત અંગ’ બરાબર છે તેમાં કોઇ સમસ્યા નથી, પરંતુ હું અસાધારણ મેહસુસ કરું છું.

મારું ખતના કરવામાં આવ્યું હતું અને મને લાગે છે કે મને તેની અસર થઇ હશે. પરંતુ તેમણે ફક્ત  મારૂં ક્લિટોરલ હૂડ કાપ્યું હતું – તેમણે મારા યોની ને કોઇ નુકશાન પહોંચાડ્યું નહોતું, બરાબર?

- ડરેલી ફાતિમા

પ્રિય ફાતિમા,

સૌ પહેલાં – તમે એ સમજી લો કે તમે જે બધી વાત કરી રહ્યાં છો તે એક સામાન્ય બાબત છે, કોઇ અસામાન્ય બાબત નથી.

પેનિટ્રેટિવ સેક્સમાં તકલીફ થવાના પાછળ ઘણા કારણો છે, જેમાં હોર્મોનને કારણે ત્વચા સુકાઇ જવી, વજાઇનલ ઇન્ફેક્શનો, ઇજાઓ અને પેલ્વિક ઇન્ફ્લેમેટરી ડિસીઝ, ફાઇબ્રોઇડ્સ અથવા એન્ડોમેટ્રિઓસિસ જેવી સ્થિતિઓ સમાવિષ્ટ છે.

તકલીફ થવા પાછળના બીજા સામાન્ય કારણો છે વજાઇનિસ્મસ (જેમાં પેનિટ્રેશન સમયે વજાઇનલ અથવા પેલ્વિક ફ્લોરના મસલ સંકોચાય છે અથવા દબાય છે) અથવા વેસ્ટિબ્યુલર વલ્વિટિસ (વજાઇનાના ઓપનિંગ આસપાસની નસોમાં બળતરા થવી). આ બાબતો ટ્રૉમા સાથે સંકળાયેલ હોય શકે છે. આ બાબત વિષે વધુ આગળ વાત કરીશું.

હું ભલામણ કરું છું કે તમે બીજી એક ડૉક્ટરનો અભિપ્રાય લઇ જુઓ. ઘણા ડૉક્ટરો સેક્સ્યુઆલિટીની બાબતમાં નિખાલસ હોતા નથી અને તેના પરિણામે તેઓ તેમના મૂલ્યાંકન પૂરતા ઉંડાણપૂર્વક કરતા નથી. એવા કોઇ ડૉક્ટરને મળો જેમને સેક્સ સંબંધી મુશ્કેલીઓનો અનુભવ ધરાવતા હોય. આ મુદ્દા વિષે વધુ જાણવા માટે હું Episode One of the Bodies Podcast ને સાંભળવાની ભારપૂર્વક ભલામણ કરું છું.

ખતના અને તમારી પીડા વચ્ચેની લિંક સંબંધી તમારા પ્રશ્નની વાત કરીએ તો, ખતનામાં વજાઇનાને બદલે ક્લિટોરલ હૂડને અને ક્યારે ક્લિટોરિસને પણ કટ કરવાનું સમાવિષ્ટ છે. તેમ છતાં, એવા સંશોધન છે જે સૂચવે છે કે આ કટની સેક્સ્યુઆલિટી પર અસર થાય છે: વર્ષ 2017માં સહિયો દ્વારા કરવામાં આવેલા એક સર્વેમાં 35% ઉત્તરદાતાઓએ જણાવ્યું હતું કે ખતના ની તેમના સેક્સ જીવન પર અસર પડી હતી, 87% લોકોએ એવું મેહસુસ કર્યું હતું કે તેની તેમના પર નકારાત્મક અસર પડી હતી. વર્ષ 2018ના WeSpeakOutના અભ્યાસમાં આશરે 33% ઉત્તરદાતાઓએ તેવી જ પ્રતિક્રિયા આપી હતી. તેમાં પીડા, ટ્રિગર અને ટ્રૉમાનું વર્ણન કરતા કેટલાક પ્રશ્નો (પેજ 47-60)ને વાંચવાની હું ભારપૂર્વક ભલામણ કરું છું – તે તમારી સમસ્યા સાથે સુસંગત હોય શકે છે.

ટ્રૉમા એ આ અનુભવનો સામનો કરવાની આપણી ક્ષમતા અને સમજને કચડી નાખતી માનસિક તણાવવાળી આ ઘટનાનું એક પરિણામ છે. મોટા ભાગના સર્વાઇવરો જણાવે છે કે ખતના એ એક માનસિક તણાવવાળો, ગૂંચવણભર્યો અને પીડાદાયક અનુભવ છે જેમાં ક્યારેક ઇનકાર, આ બાબત માટે આપણે પોતે જ જવાબદાર હોવાનો વિશ્વાસ અપાવવો અથવા આપણાં વડિલો, ભરોસાપાત્ર સંબંધીઓ દ્વારા ખોટું બોલવું એ નોંધપાત્ર રીતે સમાવિષ્ટ હોય છે.

હું કહીશ કે ખતના એ ટ્રૉમાની વ્યાખ્યામાં ફિટ થાય છે.

આપણાં મન અને શરીર ક્યારેક પરોક્ષ અથવા ગૂંચવણભરી રીતે ટ્રૉમાને પકડી રાખે છે. મારો કહેવાનો અર્થ શું છે તે જાણવા માટે આ કોમિકને જુઓ. મને લાગે છે કે આપણાં ગુપ્તઅંગ માં ખતનાને લીધે તાણ આવી શકે છે. આ રીતે ખતનાએ તમારા પર અસર કરી છે કે કેમ તે જાણવા માટે ટ્રૉમાનો અનુભવ ધરાવતા થેરાપિસ્ટ સાથે વાત કરો.

ફાતિમા, હું તમને જણાવવા માંગુ છું કે આ સમસ્યામાંથી બહાર નીકળવું અને સાજા થવું સંભવ છે. તમને આનંદદાયક સેક્સવાળુ જીવન જીવવાનો પૂરો અધિકાર છે!

- માસી

માસી ઉર્ફ ફરઝાના ડૉક્ટર

ફરઝાના એ એક નોવેલિસ્ટ અને પ્રાઇવેટ પ્રક્ટિસમાં સાયકોથેરાપિસ્ટ છે. તેણી WeSpeakOut અને ‘એન્ડ એફ.જી.એમ./સી. કેનેડા નેટવર્ક’ની એક સ્થાપક સભ્ય છે. તેણીને સંબંધો અને સેક્સ્યુઆલિટી વિષે વાત કરવી ગમે છે! તેણી વિષે તમે www.farzanadoctor.com પરથી વધુ માહિતી મેળવી શકો છો.

તેમની નવી નોવેલ સેવનને અહીં ઑર્ડર કરો, જેમાં દાઉદી બોહરા સમાજના સંદર્ભમાં બૈરાઓના સંબંધો, સેક્સ્યુઆલિટી, બેવફાઇ વિષે વાત કરવામાં આવી છે.

ઘોષણા: ફરઝાના સંપૂર્ણ રીતે સારી સલાહ આપતી હોય, તે છતાં આ કોલમ દરેક વ્યક્તિની અંગત ચિંતાઓનું સંબોધન કરશે નહીં અને તેનો વ્યાવસાયિક મેડિકલ અથવા સાયકોલોજિકલ સંભાળની અવેજી રૂપે ઉપયોગ કરવામાં આવવો જોઇએ નહીં.

Read the English version here, and the Hindi version here.