To our Sahiyo community,

We realize that the past few weeks have been stressful to say the least. With the new administration’s slew of Executive Orders targeting the most vulnerable and the dismantlement of DEI programs at various organizations, we acknowledge that fear and trepidation are on the rise. If you’re in need of support, please check out the resources at the end of this blog.

We admit: we’re also concerned. It’s disturbing watching the Trump administration blatantly conflate FGC and gender-affirming care. As we explained in a recent blog, this not only endangers trans and LGBTQ+ youth but also survivors of FGM/C. 

Additionally, we know that the recent attempt to freeze federal funding has worried many of you given the potential it has to impact critical programs and resources for our community. We want to assure all of you that Sahiyo is working to secure more funding and continue our programing to support survivors.

We’re also working hard on no longer relying as much on government funding given it’s not a reliable source these days. To do that, though, we need your help. We understand these are hard times for everybody, but any kind of monetary donation would help us continue our work during the Trump era. Please, if you can, donate here.

In the meantime, we hope you are all taking care of yourselves and each other, and know that we will get through this together.

With love and in solidarity,

Sahiyo

Helpful resources:

• Our partner, the Asian Women’s Shelter, has a helpful crisis line for FGC survivors (1-877-751-0880)
• Rape / Sexual Abuse / Incest National Hotline (RAIN): 800-656-4673
• Members of the LGBTQ community can call 1-866-488-7386 or visit www.thetrevorproject.org 
• The South Asian Network provides a variety of health and wellbeing resources along with useful information to help immigrants protect themselves
• BlackLine Crisis Call Line: 1-800-604-5841 
• The National Hispanic Family Health Helpline, Su Familia: 1-866-783-2645
• Dial 988 or visit www.988lifeline.org if you or somebody you know are in a crisis or experiencing thoughts of suicide 
• Psychology Today is a large directory connecting you with therapists, support groups, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals in your area or virtually
• The ACLU provides information on your rights if you come into contact with or are questioned by immigration officers

Hartford, CT – In Honor of International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGMC), State Representative Jillian Gilchrest and State Representative Nicole Klarides-Ditria along with the Connecticut Coalition to End FGMC will hold a press conference to raise awareness about this critical issue, discuss ongoing advocacy efforts, and highlight House Bill 6596: An Act Concerning The Prevention Of Female Genital Mutilation, a proposed bill to prohibit the practice of FGM/C in Connecticut. Connecticut remains one of only nine states without legislation banning this harmful practice.

An art installation visually representing the number of women and girls who have undergone or are at risk of FGM/C in Connecticut will be installed on the lawn of the State Capitol before the press conference and will be available for viewing all day.

Event Details:

• When: Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at 10:00 AM
• Where: Hall of Flags, Connecticut State Capitol

Agenda Highlights: 

• Opening Remarks: Representative Jillian Gilchrest & Representative Nicole Klarides-Ditria will welcome attendees and outline current legislative efforts to pass a law protecting all girls from FGM/C in Connecticut
• Remarks from the Lieutenant Governor: Susan Bysiewicz will read the Governors proclamation and make a few comments
• Survivor Testimonies: Hear from survivors Zehra Patwa and Mariya Taher, who will share their lived experiences and perspectives
• Medical Expertise: Dr. Kate McKenzie, Director of the Yale Center for Asylum Medicine, will provide insights into the medical and psychological impacts of FGM/C
• Legislative Call to Action: Bipartisan leaders will discuss the importance of uniting to enact protective legislation
• Q&A Session: Media representatives will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage directly with speakers

Why This Matters: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting is a grave violation of human rights, with devastating health consequences for millions of girls and women worldwide. Despite its global recognition as a harmful practice, FGM/C remains a concern that demands urgent attention and action.

Members of the press, advocates, and the public are invited to attend this critical event to learn more about the fight against FGM/C and how Connecticut is taking a stand.

For additional information or to schedule interviews:

• Rep. Jillian Gilchrest (D-18 district) Phone: 860-240-0492 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria (R-105 district) Phone: 860-240-8700 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
• Rosemary Lopez, CWCSEO Women’s Legislative Policy Analyst Phone: 959-900-5805 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Join us in standing for a future free from FGM/C in Connecticut. Together, we can make zero tolerance a reality.

Related:

• Interview with Zehra Patwa of the Connecticut Coalition to End FGM/C
• The Connecticut Coalition to End FGM/C Interview Series: Caitlin LeMay

At Sahiyo, we are disheartened and frustrated by the harmful conflation between female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and gender-affirming care made in a recent Executive Order issued by the Trump Administration. While this is unfortunately not the first attempt made by government officials to co-opt anti-FGM/C legislation to criminalize gender-affirming care for transgender and non-binary youth, the use of the Presidential platform to uplift discriminatory rhetoric and instill fear is shameful and must be addressed. 

FGM/C comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice has no health benefits for girls and women, and causes severe bleeding, problems urinating, as well as cysts, infections, and complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths, to name a few negative outcomes. The STOP FGM Act of 2020 made it clear that FGM/C was illegal in the United States.

These hard-fought legal protections for FGM/C survivors and those at-risk at the federal level must be preserved by calling out the Trump Administration’s inflammatory rhetoric for what it is: an attempt to dilute the protections already in place to protect survivors of FGM/C, and those at-risk of undergoing FGM/C to harm and discriminate against another vulnerable community. 

Sahiyo stands with survivors of FGM/C, some of whom also identify as transgender and non-binary, and who have prompted Sahiyo over the years to create programming that can better support their intersectional realities. In fact, Sahiyo studied the intersection between FGM/C and LGBTQIA+ issues in our Critical Intersections Research Project.

From our work with survivors, our research, and our experiences, we recognize that there are several key differences between FGM/C and gender-affirming care, namely the fundamental issues of consent and bodily autonomy. FGM/C is a human rights violation performed without consent that compromises the bodily autonomy of children and has negative physical and mental effects that can last a lifetime. Gender-affirming care is a medically necessary form of care that includes a diverse array of interventions to align one’s identity with their sexual characteristics; this care is only provided with the consent of the individual. Research has also shown that these treatments lead to decreased rates of depression, improvement in psychosocial functioning, and minimal long-term side effects.

In other words, FGM/C takes away bodily autonomy, while gender-affirming care preserves the bodily autonomy of the individual.

For additional information and research, we encourage you to read When Protecting Girls Is Twisted Into Attacking Trans Youth: FGM/C Survivors Fight Back Against Transphobic Right-Wing Narratives.

In Solidarity,

Sahiyo

Recently Sahiyo’s Editorial Assistant Megan Seaver sat down with 2022 Voices to End FGM/C Alum Ibtisam  to discuss the screening of her Voices digital story at the 2024 Trauma-Informed Film Festival, Leeds, UK.

Voices to End FGM/C is a collabortive project between Sahiyo and Silence Speaks mobilizing a critical mass of storytellers and activists from across the globe by bringing people together to share and heal from their experiences of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), connect and grow as leaders in their communities, and create short videos calling for an end to this harmful practice. Below Ibtisam speaks about her experience at the screening, and how sharing her story has opened her up to new forms of activism and change.

1. Why did you feel compelled to submit your digital story to this film festival?

I felt my piece was a perfect match with the festival's theme because it is about a trauma that I went through. But most importantly, I wanted to submit my video to this festival because FGM/C is just something that’s not on people’s radar. There’s very little awareness, and so I wanted to shine a light on the issue by submitting my film.

2. How was your experience at the screening and what was it like sharing your story in that format?

It felt really surreal. I’m a big film buff, so to see my own film to be projected in the cinema hall – I just don’t have words for it. Also, to see what I had shot on my little iPhone in the Ingleborough caves – to be put up on a huge screen with all the other films – was amazing. 

To be sitting in the audience with no one else knowing that it was my film up there, but I could hear people's response, like the gasps, It felt larger than life. It also brought back memories of when I made the film. I felt that I had gotten some distance from it over the years. Suddenly, it felt up close and big, reminding me of the impact that the experience had on me. Seeing it in the big dark cinema hall made the impact of the film even greater for me. 

3. What was the reaction to your story at the screening?

Well, I didn’t know anyone in the audience, I don’t have a specific memory of people's reactions. What I do remember is that after everyone's films were shown, they called us up on stage and I remember I did not want to go up as I was quite shy. But there was another participant, a transgender man who had shared his film, who was very confident and he said, “What, I am going up alone? No one is with me?” and immediately after he said that I thought to myself, “Ok, I’m just going to do it. I’m going up there.” And then all of us followed him up onto the stage together!

All of us standing up there, it made me feel like we were healing our trauma collectively. That it does not have to be one person's voice, but many who stand together against trauma.

4. How was the process of submitting your digital story to this festival? Would you recommend it to other Voices alumni?

I think if people are comfortable with it, and if the opportunity comes, trust your gut and take it. I think I did a bit of both, I didn’t overthink it, but at the same time I was mindful of what I was getting myself into. I was also showing my film in a setting that spoke about trauma and the audience understood that. We were in a curated safe place, so I would just say to anyone wanting to do this —just make sure you're sharing in a safe space.

Sharing my story at the film festival gave me the courage to speak out about FGM/C more in my life. I always say that courage needs encouragement. In order to be open about this, we need support.

5. What do you hope people learn from your story?

First of all, I hope my story provides more awareness around FGM/C, because for most people it’s not even known. Also, my story will be included in the film festivals program at other screenings, so it’s going to reach even more people hopefully and it will take on its own life and journey.

When I made this short film two and half years ago, I never would have thought that something like this would happen. The whole process of creating this film was amazing as well. In a lot of ways, I feel that the caves called to me and that I was meant to include them in my story. I just can’t believe the ways in which this story has come to life. When I was first submitting this project, I was asked whether or not I wanted to include my name, and I decided that I was ready for that – I was ready to own my story.

6. Is there anything else you would like to add?

I just wanted to say that all of this is a part of the journey. In any movement you may feel that there are times when you have “done your bit”, and then you take a backseat, but there will come a time when something else pushes you to be more involved. I also want to congratulate the founders of Sahiyo, as they continue to do this work and the advocates and activists, who are doing this work in different ways. 

I also want to highlight how this experience has changed my perspective on my story. Before submitting it to the film festival I had a lot of time away from the video. I hadn’t watched it since the release, so seeing the film again made me realize that for myself, some parts of me had been healed, others had been revealed, and some parts of me got exposed. It made me see that trauma has almost this beauty to it, because understanding your trauma can, in a way, help you to better understand yourself. I don’t wish trauma on anyone, but if you have trauma you need to understand it in order to know who you are. I didn’t become a therapist because of FGM/C. I became a therapist because I wanted to give others the space and safety that was denied to me. For me, it’s about the shame around traumas. We know that for shame to exist there has to be three parts: secrecy, silence, and self-criticism. We can’t solve all three at once. I may have conquered the silence, but I’m still dealing with the secrecy and the self-criticism.

I want people to know that FGM/C is just one aspect of the larger, collective trauma of gender-based violence  we're talking about in the world, and that is what I would lend my voice to. Sharing my story and my voice is about something so much bigger than just me.

Connecticut legislatures have recently introduced House Bill 6596 to protect girls and women from female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Connecticut is one of only nine states without legislation protecting children from FGM/C. FGM/C is a human rights violation and an extreme form of gender-based violence which causes severe physical and psychological damage. 

The introduction of this bill is a result of countless hours of advocacy from survivors and activists alike. The work, however, is not done!

Connecticut has not yet made it clear that FGM/C is an intolerable criminal offense in the state. Right now, in Connecticut alone, at least 2,658 women and girls have been subjected to or are at-risk of undergoing FGM/C. Surrounding states, such as New York and Massachusetts, have already banned FGM/C, potentially making Connecticut a refuge for those seeking to continue the harmful practice. It is up to the residents of Connecticut to demand that their state legislators prioritize the passage of this bill - which also would seek to create community education and outreach programs to address the human rights violations in the broader public.

Want to help us make Connecticut the 42nd state to protect women and girls from FGM/C by encouraging and supporting the passing of this bill? Sign our Call to Action and urge your state representatives to ban FGM/C. 

All you need to do is fill out your contact info and then hit send. The rest (what is in brackets) will automatically be filled out for you and sent to your legislator. Thank you for your support!

By Sophia Lynn Jones

As a Maine resident, I was surprised to learn that my state is one of nine left in the U.S. without any laws protecting children from female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Upon doing more research, I discovered Maine’s complicated history of attempting to pass anti-FGM/C legislation, as well as the intersectional issues surrounding the two bills and one ballot initiative, on FGM/C that had been introduced in the state. Both bills had bipartisan support, however, after the bills were introduced to the State Senate and House floors, the issue of passing the legislation addressing FGM/C became highly partisan. A large point of contention was whether there should be criminal consequences for any parent or guardian who knowingly consents to a minor undergoing FGM/C. 

Timeline of Proposed Legislation:

Bills 2017- LD 745,  and HP 525, were introduced in 2017. Both laws would have made it a Class B crime to, (a) perform FGM/C on a minor “for nonmedical purposes,” (b) for a parent or guardian to consent or permit FGM/C to be performed, and (c) for a parent or guardian to remove the minor from the state for the procedure. Despite a Senator attempting to bring an amendment to the floor that removed the language making it a crime to consent to the procedure, the bill did not pass by one vote and later died between the House and Senate.

Bills LD 1819, and HP 1261, were proposed in 2018 and sponsored by Representative Heather Sirocki & Cosponsored by Senator Mason. These bills would have made it a Class A crime to, (a) perform FGM/C on a minor, (b) knowingly transport a minor outside of the state for the procedure, and (c) knowingly consent to the procedure. The bill also called on the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to develop a program that includes: community-based education, outreach and provision of support service to victims, training for mandated reporters, and distribution of educational materials about the health risks, emotional risks, and legal prohibitions/penalties of FGM/C. Although this bill passed in the Senate, it later died in the House.

Another reason that led to the bill’s death, was that in 2018, emails were released that showed State Representative Heather Sirocki, was in contact with the national office and local chapter of ACT! For America, to garner support for an event she was hosting to promote her anti-FGM/C bill. ACT! For America, is an anti-Muslim hate group founded in 2007 that is known for promoting “anti-Sharia” legislation, pushing anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, and spreading fear of Islam within America. There were concerns that having ACT! For America presenting at an event promoting anti-FGM/C legislation would promote false stereotypes that FGM/C is connected to Islam, and target immigrant communities in Maine. A report by the American Immigration Council reported that in 2021, 3.8% of Maine’s population consisted of foreign-born individuals, and 1.4% of native-born Americans had at least one immigrant parent. 

Representative Sirocki denied reaching out to ACT! For America, claiming that the emails only show her responding to a request for information about the Bill. Sirocki also claimed to have anecdotal evidence that FGM/C was actively occurring in Maine. Then Governor Paul Lepage, stated during a press conference that the MaineCare health program paid out numerous claims for mutilation-related care, including treatment for children injured in Maine. The Maine DHHS refuted these claims stating that the treatments described were for conditions that wouldn’t likely be for children but rather for adult survivors of FGM/C. These controversies surrounding proposed FGM/C legislation in Maine and, overall, the intersectional nature of the issue of FGM/C, have made it challenging to move legislation forward. 

In addition to the two bills being introduced, a potential ballot initiative was introduced by petition to be included on a 2020 ballot that would have allowed citizens of Maine to vote on the issue, and if passed would have become a state statute. This approach was taken following the previous failed legislative initiatives, demonstrating the desire of citizens to pass this legislation. The 2020- Maine Crime of Female Genital Mutilation Ballot Initiative would have criminalized FGM/C being performed on a minor with a punishment of up to 30 years of incarceration and up to a $50,000 fine. However, the initiative did not even make it onto the ballot because the initial petition failed to gather enough signatures from Maine citizens to be considered by the ballot initiative deadline. 

Even with all these challenges, the initial bipartisan support that has been given to this issue in the past gives me hope that in time and with the right political climate, and with survivors pushing the way, Maine can eventually come up with agreed-upon language for a bill that addresses FGM/C holistically and comprehensively. One day, our state will join the 41 other U.S. states protecting girls and women from the harmful practice of FGM/C.