Last month, we hosted our first meeting for the Massachusetts Community Healthy and Healthy Aging project. The meeting, which took place at Birdhouse in Amesbury Massachusetts, marked the beginning of a collaboration between Sahiyo, The US End FGM/C Network, and UMass Chan Medical School, and was held to discuss project aims, goals, and timeline for the first year of project implementation.
Through the funding provided by The Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging project, our team will work towards building a comprehensive network of stakeholders and service providers who can implement a coordinated, systems-based approach to addressing FGM/C over the course of five years. Our goal is to improve health outcomes for survivors of FGM/C, with a special focus on survivors who are people of color. Additionally, we will work to prevent FGM/C among future generations by increasing resources to overcome obstacles we often face, such as lack of awareness among service providers regarding FGM/C.
Along with our partner organizations we’re grateful to The Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds for their support of this critical issue.
After I had my daughter, I was introduced to a support group with other survivors of FGC. I found a YouTube video where a survivor was speaking about her experience undergoing the practice and the impact it’s had on her life. It was at this point that I began to understand more about what had happened. In the support group, we talked about a variety of different topics like the impact of FGC, how to talk about the practice to other people who may not know what FGC is, and how FGC impacts motherhood. It was in the support group that I also began to learn about clitoral restoration surgery and the benefits of the procedure. I had my surgery done in California with Dr. Bowers, for which I will forever be grateful.
After finding out about the support group, being welcomed with open arms, and being offered a safe space, I found the courage to talk about my story. When the opportunity to open up about my story with Sahiyo came up, I was up for it and willing to share my story again. I wanted to speak out and raise awareness about the surgery. I wanted my fellow sisters to know that there is a surgery out there and that anything is possible no matter what you’ve gone through. It's not where you’ve been but where you’re going. I was also excited about coming together with my fellow survivors and sharing our stories, as well as bonding with them over our shared experiences.
When I went through FGC, something was taken away and I was determined to find a solution. The surgery has had a huge impact on my healing journey; it has allowed me to feel more confident, made it easier for me to speak out about my experience, and made me determined to tell others about it and its benefits.
In addition to sharing stories, what I most enjoyed during the workshop was bonding with my fellow survivors. I really enjoyed the dinner that fellow storytellers, Rufo, LP, and I went to at an Indian restaurant. The food was really great and I learned a thing or two about India. Also, I enjoyed the workshop itself – everybody coming together, talking to one another, and shedding some tears about our experiences. I enjoyed working with the Sahiyo, Silence Speaks, and Asian Women’s Shelter staff, too; they were amazing, assisting us through our storytelling and editing process.
I want to raise awareness and help end this harmful practice. I want my story to give my fellow survivors the courage to speak out about their experiences so they too can start the process of healing. That is the only way I believe change will happen. I wholeheartedly believe that one day this practice will come to an end.
Sinnah Bangura, a dedicated Generation Hope Scholar, a nonprofit organization that advocate for student parents nationally & help teen parents thrive in college. A wife, and parent from Sierra Leone, is currently pursuing her Associate in Education. With three children—Romeo, Layla, and Omar— she balances her studies while looking forward to transferring to university for a degree in Education. Sinnah is driven by a passion to share her story with the world, aiming to raise awareness and help end harmful practices. She is particularly eager to discuss her journey, including her surgery, with fellow survivors, offering hope and information about available options. Sinnah finds joy in creativity, especially through music and dance, and she approaches life with a strong enthusiasm for continuous learning.
Why did you want to attend the workshop and share your story?
So, to me it was a natural next step when I was given the opportunity to be part of the Voices Workshop. I've worked in gender based violence my whole life and as a survivor myself it’s important to share my story. I wanted to take my advocacy forward, and while I’ve been vocal about FGC in writing and in closed circles, never have I shared this story quite so publicly, in a video format. It was also a way to share my story with more people in a bite-sized way.
Another reason why I wanted to share my story and attend the workshop was because I wanted to meet more people who were doing the same type of work I was. I met a lot of people that I wouldn’t have, had I not attended the workshop. That was a huge driving force for me to attend.
What story did you choose to tell and turn into a digital story?
I chose to focus on the aspect of sexual pleasure and your relationship with your body and how FGC affects those things. When I was younger, the impact was immensely emotional and psychological, but during my journey as I learned more I realized how the practice impacts the way you feel not just emotionally but sexually, physically, and physiologically too.
I talked about having to accept that your body is different, and that you’ll never really know what and how it could’ve been if you weren’t cut. I was always told that FGM/C was done to curb women’s pleasure. I learned from the Activists Retreat that you actually can go to a doctor in the United States and ask them to tell you what's different, how your body has changed, and that was a wild possibility to me. Women’s bodies and sexuality have been and are being controlled and repressed for centuries, and the fact that so many communities practice FGC to uphold that misogynistic ideology is gut wrenching and needs to stop!
What have you learned or most enjoyed during what workshop by meeting others who also share their stories?
The thing I enjoyed the most was being able to be present in the same space with the other participants and be in-person with them. I really enjoyed the pre-sessions where we all got to meet each other and talk beforehand. I think that made me feel more comfortable –to be able to share my story in that space with people I had a common understanding with was really powerful. We all became close friends through the workshop, getting to work on our stories and videos together throughout the process, and then getting to watch them together at the end – I think that was the highlight for me, I felt like I didn’t have to work in isolation.
A crucial part of advocacy is solidarity. I’ve always had allies in my close friends and some family but to have a whole group of people who truly understand your journey because they have a story too and are vulnerable enough to share it with you is just beyond powerful and heartwarming. You feel heard, safe, understood, and held. I feel immensely grateful to share space with those I met at the workshop.
What kind of impact would you like your story to have?
I’m interested in sharing my digital story with my wider circle. I usually don’t send people my articles and things like that, unless it’s to my parents or close friends. But this I want everyone to see, and I want to be loud about it.
I hope that once I show it to people it makes them want to be loud about FGC, women's rights, and sexual pleasure too. I hope it inspires people to really think about their relationship with their own body and their sexual well-being. I also hope it inspires people to speak out against FGC.
Is there anything in your digital story that you would like to share?
I want to highlight that as a child and a young survivor we deserve protection because we did not know better. And only now as grown women we are using our voices to try and stop these terrible things from happening. So I want people to know that.
Lubaina Plumber is passionate about driving social change through public policy and human rights law work. Outside of work, she loves spending time with interesting people, uncovering hidden gems while traveling, diving into gripping books and podcasts, and nurturing her garden.
Why did you want to attend the workshop and share your story?
I was interested in attending the workshop as it was the first one that I had come across that focused on survivors of FGM/C. I wanted to connect with other survivors and hear their stories, while also being able to share my own story with other survivors as well. I felt like it was going to be a journey for my healing process, which is still ongoing.
I wanted to share my story with the world so people can start to understand how this practice can affect a person both physically and mentally, I also wanted to share my story to help others. I've been an activist for years and had spoken against other topics, like arranged marriages for young girls and other horrible things, but never about FGM/C – never my personal story. Many of the young girls I try to help don’t always understand that I was in a similar situation to them and that I really know how they feel. That's another reason why I wanted to speak out – to make the young girls I help feel seen and heard.
What story did you choose to tell and create into a digital story?
I spoke about my experience with FGM/C and how I went through it unknowingly.
I was around 12 or 13 years old when it happened. I spoke about the process of it – the pain of it, and the embarrassment of being exposed as a teenager to a group of adult women like that. Then later the misplaced excitement as my community told me that being cut was something to be proud of.
It would not be until much later in my life that I would realize what was taken from me, that I would fully understand the scope and depth of my trauma. It felt embarrassing to speak about it for many years. Due to the fact that I was just beginning to come to terms with what had happened and because I was fearful of reactions from my community. I knew that if I spoke out against FGM/C, I would be criticized by both my community and those outside of it who did not understand the complexity of FGM/C.
I was living in denial really, of what happened to me, and I came to this realization that if I kept it inside, I would never heal from it. So that's [another reason] why I decided to share my story –to ensure that I get some healing.
What have you learned or most enjoyed during the workshop and by meeting others who have shared their stories?
It was one of the best workshops I've had in several years. I've gone to other workshops where people just meet and they share powerful stories, but these ones were really impactful to me. The fact that these women have been deprived of their rights, but are still standing strong and coming out against the practice. It gave me a lot of strength and courage. Being able to mingle and talk with these women and create a bond of love and sisterhood between us was one of the most powerful parts of the workshop for me.
I think the workshop has [also] helped me be more open to sharing my story with others. Before the workshop, I would just speak up against other forms of gender-based violence, even though I knew that FGM/C was wrong. Now after the workshop and speaking with other survivors, I feel more comfortable speaking on the topic.
However I’m still on my healing journey. I’m not 100% comfortable sharing my experience with everyone, particularly my brother and my community. Sometimes I worry about how they will react to my story once it’s out there – what will they say? But I also know that the more I tell the story, the easier it will get. That’s why I hope that the digital story will help me [explore] other platforms and connect me to other organizations also fighting this practice.
What kind of impact would you like your story to have?
I want my story to open up the eyes of communities that still practice FGM/C and [shed light on] the effects and how traumatizing practice can be. When people look at us, we [seem] physically okay. We are driving, we are doctors, we are whatever…but something deep inside has been affected, been taken, and we need to acknowledge that.
When you get to sit down with a woman that has gone through FGM/C, she may just burst out into tears when she tells you what she’s gone through because it has been buried deep within. So I would love my story to expose the emotional harm of the practice, and to give others an idea of how FGM/C affects a survivor for the rest of their lives. For example, going through the practice can make it difficult to form connections and relationships, because of embarrassment, sexual discomfort. In some cases, FGM/C makes it diffcult for women to have children.
I will always feel that FGM/C took away my voice. It made me feel like I could not speak up boldly anymore. Now that I have shared my story, I feel more confident in helping others who have been through the practice. I would want my story to empower people out there to speak up as well.
Is there anything from your digital story that you would like to share here?
Yes, I would like to talk about the person who is the reason for me being able to share my story in the first place– my partner. He’s always been very supportive of me and my work, [and] he’s been a really positive force in my life. So when I heard about the workshop I told him about it. I was a little hesitant to attend, but he really convinced me to go and he encouraged me to speak up without fear. If I didn’t have his reassurance and support, I’m so sure that I would never have felt brave enough to speak about my experience.
Emily Lerosion is a Samburu Indigenous woman leader originally from Laikipia North, Kenya, now based in Washington State. In addition to her roles as a wife and mother, she is a dedicated development worker and a passionate human rights activist, focusing her advocacy on the rights of women, girls, and vulnerable children. She proudly represents several prestigious organizations, including CIVICUS World Alliance, the UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, and the Universal Periodic Review Kenya team, while also contributing as a member of the Women and Gender Constituency. Her academic background includes graduating from the Deep Democracy Institute as a Trainer of Trainers and completing the 8th edition of the FIMI Global Leadership School, along with a degree in Advocacy and Human Rights from Columbia University. She has started a new role as an Advisory Committee Member for the Washington State FGM/C Project. She firmly believes in the transformative power of collective action, emphasizing that “Women can make a real difference, only if they team up, stand up for their voices, and act.”
In this digital short film, “What Not to Say”, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about the experiences and conversations I had with my community members around the time I gave birth to my two wonderful daughters. To some, these experiences would not necessarily qualify as microaggressions, nor are they typical cases of gender-based violence, but these discourses warrant a much needed conversation and intervention within the Pakistani and South Asian community at large, where misogyny and patriarchal norms are alive and well.
In this film I discuss the discomfort I felt when some friends or distant relatives made comments about my second child being yet another daughter. “Do you think it’s going to be a boy this time?” and “Are you going to try for a boy next time?” were questions passed to me very nonchalantly, and although they were meant to be and might even seem like harmless little exchanges, in reality they have the potential for some far reaching and serious implications for women and girls already living in a world laden with gender-based violence. These casual conversations that dismiss the birth of one’s daughter have even bigger impacts in South Asian communities, where the normalization of such denigrating language against an already marginalized group can worsen their conditions, if not change them for the better.
We know that the preference for male children throughout societies in the international community stems from various religious, cultural, socio-economic realities, but the progress made over the years in the women’s right to work which gave them financial autonomy is shifting the tide and conversation around son-preference, somewhat, as I’ve noticed in my close circle and amongst families of my relatives in Pakistan. A completely accurate analysis of the current global trends in this practice could only be assessed through an in-depth qualitative and quantitative study that I’d love to undertake one day. Yet, despite the progress made in women and girls’ conditions around the world, cultural practices like son-preference remain deep-rooted, difficult to eradicate and have grave consequences for women and girls.
I believe that the first step to protecting women and girls can begin at home, where we can disrupt the slightest, subtle conversations that give preferential treatment to male children and men. The opportunity to participate in this storytelling workshop allowed me to discuss this topic that may not seem harmful at the outset, but is in fact part and parcel of the larger problem of gender-based violence. I am lucky to have grown-up in a family where my sister and I were loved and treated equally as our brother, and so was the case for my cousins and friends. But growing up within a South Asian community, I could not ignore the prayers and blessings women gave to expectant mothers about giving birth to a son. I had heard of secret abortions of girl children that took place in India and Pakistan, but a women and gender studies course that looked at an in-depth study of sex-selective abortions among college educated Indian American women in the U.S. blew my mind. Of course I had seen gut-wrenching documentaries with the disturbing stats on the number of girls missing from the world due to the infanticide and femicide epidemic across rural populations. But this revelation of educated women’s preference for sons due to whatever socio-economic backdrops and discourses around feminist agency reasoning was eye-opening.
So during my second pregnancy, I wasn’t surprised when some educated women around me casually asked whether I would try for a boy next time. I’ve learned through these exchanges that degrees from institutions do little to disrupt archaic ideas through which practices like gender-based abortions, or female genital cutting are allowed to continue. Instead, community education and public awareness can bring incremental change and eventually end them. This workshop allowed me to do just that and hopefully will raise awareness about an issue through a storytelling medium that truly has a transformative potential and one I love so much.
Samman Masud serves as the Community Engagement Coordinator at Sahiyo, where her responsibilities include overseeing the Activists Retreat Program and spearheading the male engagement initiative focused on educating and raising community awareness about female genital cutting. Her background features extensive engagement in human rights advocacy, including roles within the strategic communications department and participation in human rights for youth campaigns at Amnesty International USA. Samman holds a B.A. in Political Science and a Master’s in Human Rights and Women & Gender Studies, reflecting her deep academic and practical interest in advancing gender equality and human rights.
Being an Anole Sisters member, I am an FGM/C survivor. For the past four decades, I have lived with this experience. Since 2015, I have been advocating for and raising awareness about FGM/C along with other survivors, women, and girls at risk. However, I had never shared my story publicly until I joined the Sahiyo Voices to End FGM/C workshop in 2024.
At the workshop, I created a video and shared a story from my childhood that had been buried deep within me. This act of sharing not only inspired me but also resonated with many in the audience, breaking a long-held silence. Now, I feel much more empowered to encourage others to share their stories, to let go, and to continue advocating against FGM/C. I used to be nervous about sharing my story with other people, but not anymore. I love my story, that's why I chose to tell it and attend the workshop.
I also wanted to attend the workshop so that I could hear other people's stories, and so that we could learn from each other. I want my story to bring awareness to the issue and to the community. I also want people who don’t know about the practice to learn more about FGM/C, so more people might share stories that are similar to mine. In this workshop, I really enjoyed learning, and listening to all the stories of the other participants, each of which are different and important.
My advocacy is something that will never stop. We still have a lot of sisters who have been through this practice. I want to help them speak about that and encourage others to share their experiences too, so that people can learn about FGM/C. I also want to continue my advocacy because I want this program to continue. There are a lot of sisters back home who have never shared their stories and it’s very important for them to come together and learn from each other.
My story is my own, and no one can hold me back from sharing it.
