by Insia Dariwala

On July 23, 2016, Sahiyo was felicitated with the very prestigious ‘Daughter of Maharashtra’ award for our continuous efforts in addressing FGM/C in India. Sahiyo co-founder Insia Dariwala, who received the award on behalf of Sahiyo at the ceremony in Pune, shares her experience here:

The award, a brainchild of Nari Samata Manch, was given away by celebrated filmmaker Nagraj Manjule, of ‘Sairat’ fame. One of the oldest organisations in Pune, Nari Samta Manch has zealously been fighting for the cause of gender issues and Women’s Rights for the past 30 years.

The ‘Daughter of Maharashtra’ award originated as a documented project through a book, and then went on to felicitate real life heroes, with not just a memento, but also a cash prize of Rs 10,000. It was also an honour to learn that Sahiyo was the last recipient of this award.

The venue at ILS Law College was teeming with women from different walks of life, and rightly so, since the other recipient of this award was Chhaya Tamchekar, a brave woman who left a deep impact on me.

Chhaya was awarded for her bravery in challenging the archaic laws of the ‘Jaat Panchayats’ (caste courts) in her village.  Widowed at a very young age, Chhaya was declared a “characterless” woman, so that her property could be usurped by her in-laws. But that was not all. The Panchayat had ruled that Chhaya would have to take a test to prove her chastity, which involved walking naked in the village, with hot flour balls being thrown at her. Instead, she refused and fled the village with her two kids, took her case to the media and police, and finally with the help of an organisation fighting against superstitions, she was able to shut down 17 such kangaroo courts, and get justice for her and her children.

Chhaya’s triumphs are worth celebrating as it resonates with the millions of women who have been brave enough to battle many such sadistic rituals, and traditions, in their part of the world.  

Today, Sahiyo is proud to be counted amongst those women, and we are grateful to an organisation like Nari Samta Manch, that recognises and applauds such efforts.

Thank You Nari Samta Manch!

Nari Samata Manch has been working on gender issues for last 30 years. Gender-based violence is the core area of Nari Samata Manch work. The organization has institutionalized an award ‘Daughter of Maharashtra’ to honor women who have contributed significantly for the cause of gender equality.

The name of the award is a byproduct of a documentary project that Nari Samata Manch undertook titled, ‘Daughters of Maharashtra’ which captured the contributions of women of Maharashtra in different fields. The Maharashtra Foundation funded the project and so this award was named after the foundation and the documentary.

This year, Nari Smata Manch has felicitated ‘Sahiyo’ for its contributions to build a dialogue around the practice of khatna or FGC.

From July 12 to July 21st, Shaheeda and Mariya attended Tostan’s Training Center (TTC) in Senegal. The TTC is an international training course designed to teach participants about its human rights-based approach to community-led development, which the NGO has developed and updated in response to feedback from thousands of communities in different socio-cultural African contexts over the past 20 years.  

During this third training session hosted by Tostan, participants came from fifteen countries and included community activists, members of local, national and international organizations, of governments, as well as representatives from academia and the media.

The training focuses on using a participatory, learner-centered approach that draws its strengths from the expertise of trainers with extensive experience in rural Africa, implementing the Tostan Community Empowerment Program and is designed to serve individuals and groups who share a commitment to human dignity, transformative learning, holistic empowerment, and collective action.

Mariya and Shaheeda attended the TTC as Orchid Project Fellows. The Orchid Project is a UK based NGO that advocates for a world free of FGC. As fellows, Mariya and Shaheeda were asked to keep video journals of their experience. To learn more about their experience, click on the links below:

• TTC Day 3

• TTC Day 7

You can also take a look at Gbosa – Tostan Training Center’s July 2016 English Cohort Storify transcript for more details.

 In the following months, Mariya and Shaheeda will be writing several articles detailing their experience and learnings from the TTC as well.

See also Sahiyo heads to Senegal for Tostan Training Centre.

On July 7, 2016, we at Sahiyo hosted our first Twitter chat on Female Genital Cutting (FGC) from our Twitter handle, @sahiyo2016.

The need for an online debate on this subject evolved for various reasons. For the past several months, Dawoodi Bohras on social media have been increasingly vocal about their varied views on female khatna. Then in May, a 17-year-old girl died in Egypt because of excessive bleeding caused by circumcision – a tragic reminder of the dangers of FGC even among cultures not known to practice severe forms of cutting. Finally, the controversy over khatna intensified in June, when prestigious news magazine The Economist published a shocking, irresponsible editorial advocating for the allowance of milder, medicalised forms of FGC.

Bohras, who predominantly practice Type 1 FGC – removal of the clitoral hood – were clearly divided on this issue and the time seemed ripe to have a debate on khatna on a platform as public and democratic as Twitter.

We used the hashtag #NoMoreKhatna for the Twitter chat, inviting anyone and everyone to participate – and overall, we can say that the chat was a success. A large number of individuals and prominent organisations joined in to make their voices heard, and we are thankful to all of them.

Most importantly, the chat included the voices of several Dawoodi Bohras who believe khatna must be practiced. Many of them took the trouble of creating new Twitter accounts to participate in this discussion, and their voices helped to showcase the challenges involved in changing social norms around khatna.

We began the chat with a set of basic questions: What is FGC? What are its types? What have you experienced or heard about Bohra khatna? What are the health consequences of FGC? The responses that emerged also led to other discussions.

We asked participants about the reasons given for the practice of FGC, and multiple points were brought up.

Unsurprisingly, the question of whether milder forms of FGC should be allowed – whether the practice should be treated as a medical procedure – sparked animated debate on the Twitter chat.

Another controversial aspect of the debate, of course, is the matter of a child’s consent and whether parents have the right to decide whether their daughter should be cut.

While these tweets are just excerpts from a much larger Twitter discussion held on July 7, you can read more about how the chat went by going through Sahiyo’s Twitter handle (@sahiyo2016) and the hashtag #NoMoreKhatna.

The chat helped us understand the challenges that lie ahead for all the women and men working to bring an end to khatna: even though any form of female genital cutting is non-consensual and a violation of a child’s universal human rights, the practice is steeped in faith and religion and there is a danger of khatna becoming medicalised in the Dawoodi Bohra community.

Fortunately, the Twitter discussion did not end after the two hours scheduled for the chat – it is encouraging to see that the debate continues even today!

To see the entire Twitter conversation on Storify, click here – https://storify.com/sahiyo2015/getting-started

Sahiyo has been seeing an increase in the number of individuals sending letters to their legislators or government officials regarding their concern that FGC or khatna is occurring in their community. These letters, written by Bohra women anonymously or with their name, have been circulating the social media streams, particularly on Whatsapp.  

Sahiyo would like to applaud these women for their brave efforts of informing and asking for help from the legal and political entities within their communities. Legislators highly value letters and emails from their constituents. Letters are a great way to express your personal connection to an issue while conveying your opinion.

To others out there who might be considering doing something similar, Sahiyo would like to provide some useful tips on how to write an impactful letter to a legislator or government official.

Tips:

• The Letter should be addressed to a specific individual

• State your name, profession, and how you are connected to the legislator (for instance, do you reside in their district?)

• State the aim or objective of the letter (for instance, are you opposing a bill?)

• Include a personal story showing your connection to the issue and how it might affect you, your family, and your community

• Include any statistics from reputable sources on the topic in the letter

• Make a particular request – what are you hoping your legislator will do? (for example, do you want them to vote yes or no on a bill?)

• Thank your legislator or government official

• Include your contact information – both your name and address on your letter and envelope

• Keep your letter to one page

• Use a reasoned and respectful tone in the letter

Below are some link to sample letters:

• LRAC: Sample Letter you can use to write your legislator

• United States: Writing to your legislator

• United States: The AHA Foundation

• United States, California: How to Lobby the California State Legislature

• How to Address a Letter to a Government Official

• Youth Central: Write a Letter to a Politician

• Amnesty International: Letter Writing Tips

If you have further questions or would like support in drafting your letters, please do e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Sahiyo is pleased to announce that Mariya and Shaheeda will be attending the upcoming Tostan Training Centre (TTC) in Senegal this July as Orchid Project Fellows.

Over the past 25 years, Tostan has witnessed positive social transformation in thousands of communities in eight African countries. Although contributing to the abandonment of FGC was not one of Tostan’s original goals, it has become a rallying point for social change. So far over 7,200 communities from Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Somalia, and The Gambia have publicly declared their decision to abandon both FGC and child/forced marriage. As Tostan has always explained and as their external evaluations have shown, public declarations are critical in the process for total abandonment and necessary for building critical mass, eventually leading FGC to becoming a thing of the past.

They are now offering individuals and organizations the opportunity to learn from their decades of experience in leading human rights-based education programs. The TTC  is designed to provide the theoretical and practical backing that people working in community development can use to reflect upon their own practices and better realize their communities’ aspiration

Their unique set of of trainings use a participatory, learner-centered approach that draws its strength from the expertise of trainers with extensive experience in rural Africa, implementing the Tostan Community Empowerment Program. Their trainings serve individuals and groups who share a commitment to human dignity, transformative learning, holistic empowerment, and collective action.

When asked about what learnings they hoped to gain from attending the TTC training, Mariya and Shaheeda provided the following replies:

 Mariya: I have spoken to Molly Melching about visiting Tostan to learn for years since I first earned of Tostan’s existence and since I first became interested in addressing FGC within the Dawoodi Borha community (the community I was raised in). On a personal level, it will feel like a huge accomplishment to finally witness how a successful program operates to end human rights violations. On a professional level, I hope that the training will help guide the direction that Sahiyo takes to form its own programs in India and amongst diaspora Indian communities. I also hope to be able to connect with other, more experienced, and knowledgeable individuals who can serve as mentors or advisors for Sahiyo as we plan the activities of our nascent organization.

Shaheeda: I am very interested in learning about the success of Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) in driving community-led change on human rights and gender-based violations. I want to understand how the CEP model employs diverse concepts of Health, Hygiene, Peace & Security, Problem-Solving, Literacy etc. for creating a holistic activities to engage with the local communities. From the research perspective, I am especially keen to explore and learn about the monitoring and evaluation methods for measuring program success and communication strategies employed by Tostan for creating a dialogue on change. Lastly, I want to understand the complexities that Tostan faces in terms of program implementation, as we would like to be able to predict and preempt similar problems that might arise during the course of Sahiyo’s work in India.

Sahiyo looks forward to hearing back from Mariya and Shaheeda after the training! Stay tuned to our blog to learn more about their experiences as well!