By Hiromi Nishida

My name is Hiromi Nishida and I am a Policy Intern with Sahiyo. I began my position in July 2025, and this week marks the end of my six month internship with Sahiyo. I am so grateful for the trust of the Sahiyo team, as well as the members of the Hawaii and California Coalitions. It has been such an incredible privilege, and has taught me so much about human rights advocacy and policy. Learning from dedicated professionals and survivors has changed me forever, and I am overwhelmed by their strength, passion, and empathy. 

When I started this internship, I had just graduated from my undergraduate program with a B.A. in Sociology and minor in Medical Anthropology. I knew that I was passionate about understanding the ways that social systems and health systems interacted, but I had very little experience in policy work. I was a bit nervous initially that I would find myself having a difficult time adjusting, given my lack of knowledge about the legislative world. However, Sahiyo was very supportive as I found my bearings and learned throughout the process. 

Something that I was most surprised by was the power of coalition building/work in legislative action. For example, Hawaii is one of the nine states in America that currently doesn’t have a law criminalizing FGM/C. In response, the Hawaii Coalition has been working tirelessly to not only publicize the issue to media and local organizations, but also to draft, edit, and garner support to ultimately submit a bill for legislative consideration. 

I also enjoyed working with the California Coalition. Existing state law is in need of key amendments, and so the coalition works with local organizations, researches who could potentially support a bill based on prior history of sponsorship, drafts the provision texts, and works with members to edit the bill. This experience has provided such an insight into how specific the legal process function and what can help/hinder the passing of legislative action. Coalitions are such an instrumental part of making legitimate change in policy, largely because of the intense passion and drive of those involved. I am so inspired by the collaborative, determined, and hardworking spirit of the coalition members who I’ve interacted with during my time at Sahiyo. 

Additionally, a few weeks ago, I completed the capstone project of this internship, which was conducted in the form of a listening session surrounding the experiences of FGM/C survivors who have partaken in policy work. I didn’t know what to expect going into the session, but I left feeling very emotional. Learning about the challenges that survivors have faced when trying to make the world better, as well as how they still have found the courage to continue to advocate and tell their stories was moving, though that world truly doesn’t even begin to cover it. These people owe nobody their stories, but choose to use their voices to advocate for others. I am so incredibly humbled by everyone I met, and their bravery and spirit. 

I am very grateful for my time with Sahiyo, the support of my supervisors, coalition members, and other interns, and the trust of the community of survivors I have worked with. Thank you to everyone who made my time here so wonderful!