The unexpected gift of attending the U.S. Sahiyo Activist Retreat and connecting with other survivors

By Anonymous The Sahiyo U.S. Activist Retreat I attended in March of 2019 felt big to me. In the days after, I told people it blew me away, meaning that it occupied my thoughts as it was all I could talk about and think about for a while. There were...

How the Sahiyo Activist Retreat helped me gain perspective from other khatna survivors

By Anonymous Country of Residence: United States Age: 32 I felt a strong need to participate in the Sahiyo 2019 Activist Retreat because I hoped to heal from my experience of FGM/C and to gain perspective from other women who had been victims of khatna...

Activist Retreat Informational Session

Join us to learn more about Sahiyo's annual Activist Retreat! Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUodO2qqTorH9zqmBnRHmW1UlsNrJHHM5uW

Our History

of Public Health). Sahiyo India hosts Second Annual Activists’ Retreat in Mumbai Sahiyo U.S. hosts Second Annual Activist Retreat in New York Faces for Change photo campaign launched to highlight survivors of FGC Sahiyo is part of planning committee for...

My experience of healing by attending the 2019 Sahiyo Activist Retreat in the U.S.

By Farzana Doctor Country of Residence: Canada Age: 48 When the first emails circulated about last month’s Sahiyo retreat in New York City, I wasn’t sure why I wanted to register, only that I knew I had to. I felt anxious the week leading up to the...

Sahiyo Resources (Old)

against Female Genital Cutting (also known as Female Genital Mutilation) through digital and social media. U.S. Activist Retreat Report – January 2018 – A report summarizing the activities that occurred during the first U.S. Bohra Activist Retreat...

The experience of hosting my very own Thaal Pe Charcha

By Xenobia Country of Residence: India Earlier this year in January, I attended the Sahiyo’s Activist Retreat in Mumbai, where I met some brilliant, fantastic people from all walks of life. Women shared their experiences, stories and life-lessons, and...

Shifting terrains: Lessons learnt from the first U.S. Activists Retreat for Bohras against Female Genital Cutting

I and my fellow Sahiyo cofounders have been planning this retreat for the past year. (Sahiyo will also host an Activist Retreat in India in mid-February 2018). We planned both these retreats because we had recognized from our own experience, that being...

The U.S. Sahiyo retreat taught me there are different ways of being Bohri in America, and we can all end FGC

cultural practice can be very challenging, even if it is so clearly the right thing to do. Everyone at the Sahiyo activist retreat in New York was either a survivor of khatna or a close family member of a survivor. When we talk about the people in our...

Sahiyo's Silent Auction Donor Spotlight: Zehra Patwa

Board! Mariya [Taher] has been an incredible inspiration. She has really helped me develop as an activist, and the Activist Retreat in particular has helped me. I think the retreat has been one of the highlights for me personally in my activism, so,...

Volunteer Spotlight: Alisha Bhagat

their blog so I did a short write up of it, which you can read by clicking here. Most recently, I helped organize an activist retreat in New York for eleven activists associated with Sahiyo and working on FGC within the Bohra community. It took many...

‘I Hope my Story Helps other Women’: A Reflection on the Sahiyo Stories Workshop

Volunteer Spotlight: Mariam Sabir

with Sahiyo? This is actually a great story. I first heard about Sahiyo from a friend and was determined to attend the activist retreat. Alas, I had to work the very same weekend of the retreat and was terribly upset. I filled out a volunteer...

Sahiyo's Second Annual Retreat: A Space for Healing and Reflection

Photograph of Maryum Saifee at Activist Retreat By Maryum Saifee In late March, I participated in Sahiyo’s Second Annual Retreat for survivors and allies in the campaign to end female genital mutilation (FGM). Attendees from the first retreat commented...

Voices Series: Why I still speak up about FGM/C

child and her bodily integrity have been violated without much concern by the society. I have also attended the second Activist Retreat organized by Sahiyo, which took place in Mumbai where participants from various parts of India attended the retreat....

Digital advocacy on female genital cutting in the time of COVID-19

Mariya added. “We’re able to still connect with community members in that way, and we held our first ever digital activist retreat in April, which was supposed to be in New York in person. “It was an experiment and we also had men attending for the...

Sahiyo partners with FAWCO to lead an educational webinar on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in the United States

Mariya concluded her talk by discussing Sahiyo’s various otherprograms, such as Thaal Pe Charcha, Bhaiyo, Sahiyo Activist Retreat, and Community Education and Outreach, all of which have had substantial success in supporting FGC survivors and raising...

Sahiyo wins grant from Peace Development Fund

community based organizations on ways to support female genital cutting (FGC) survivors; planning for our next Annual Activist Retreat, where we train advocates to continue their work raising awareness against FGC; and conducting valuable research...

Sahiyo releases July 2021-June 2022 Annual Report

on FGC so that the overall capacity for care for FGC survivors can be increased We held our 5th annual U.S Bohra Activist Retreat with 13 participants, bringing the total number of advocates trained by Sahiyo to 74! We’ve hosted and participated in 40...

A reflection on Sahiyo’s virtual U.S. Activists Retreat

do somethingabout. Have you attended a Sahiyo retreat in the past, and, if so, what was it like to attend this virtual activist retreat in comparison to the in-person retreat? The virtual retreat went a lot better than I expected. It’s so easy to mute...