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.