Monthly Archive

2017

Welcome to our Archives page. On this page you will find a total of 93 of our articles broken down into Months and Years.

We must find culturally sensitive methods to end FGC and protect girls from further trauma

08 May

News & Blog

Sahiyo

We must find culturally sensitive methods to end FGC and protect girls from further trauma

Picture an innocent, 7-year-old girl being led to an unfamiliar room. She is made to lie down, her underpants are removed, and a piece of her is cut away; familiar hands around her upholding an ... read more..

Female Genital Cutting: Religion has nothing to do with it

05 May

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Female Genital Cutting: Religion has nothing to do with it

By: Anonymous Country: United States Age: 34 Around the age of seven, unbeknownst to me at the time, extended family members asked my parents when they would be taking me to have khatna done. In the c... read more..

FGM/C is neither beneficial nor relevant to modern times. Let’s end it

03 May

News & Blog

Sahiyo

FGM/C is neither beneficial nor relevant to modern times. Let’s end it

By Ali Asghar Akhtar Country: Canada Age: 33 I recently came to know about something very prehistoric (I am not being overdramatic, it was truly shocking for me). We are living in a digital, global, m... read more..

03 May

Resources

Sahiyo

FGC in the United States

2024 Upgraded charges in child torture case Implementing Survivor-Led FGM Law In Washington State Coalition against female genital mutilation supports victims in Washington state ... read more..

Thaal Pe Charcha: A Sahiyo flagship event where Bohra women bonded over food

30 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Thaal Pe Charcha: A Sahiyo flagship event where Bohra women bonded over food

In February, Sahiyo held an event titled Thaal Pe Charcha (loosely translated as ‘discussions over food’), in which 16 Bohra women from Mumbai came together to discuss – for the first time – the ... read more..

Four American survivors of FGC speak out

28 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Four American survivors of FGC speak out

Four American survivors of Female Genital Cutting have broken the culture of silence around the issue through a new video. These women, from diverse backgrounds, illustrate that FGC is not restri... read more..

Law alone cannot end the practice of Female Genital Cutting

26 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Law alone cannot end the practice of Female Genital Cutting

By Sabiha Basrai Country: California, United StatesAge: 34 years old It is important that the issue of FGC or Khatna, as known to the Bohra community, is brought out from the shadows and discussed ope... read more..

Let us not vilify the Detroit doctor as we work to end Female Genital Cutting

24 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Let us not vilify the Detroit doctor as we work to end Female Genital Cutting

By: Anonymous Country: United StatesAge: 34 Shortly after my seventh birthday, I went to visit my grandmother in New York. My mother told me this visit was going to be special because I turned seven a... read more..

22 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Detroit FGM/C case: Why two more arrests have left me feeling bittersweet

By: Anonymous Country: United Kingdom Age: 32 Today is a bittersweet day. The news of two more arrests linked to the first FGM case in the US has left me torn between elation and sadness; while a... read more..

Engendering Progress Event Honours Sahiyo Co-founder

22 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Engendering Progress Event Honours Sahiyo Co-founder

The Manhattan Young Democrats (MYD) held their 8th annual Engender Progress event honoring women thought-leaders, activists, entrepreneurs, and businesswomen on March 30th. This ev... read more..

16 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

#NIMBY Reactions to Detroit

By: Anonymous Age: 32 Country: United States (Please note #NIMBY – Not In My Backyard) For over ten years, I have been famously or infamously known for speaking up about a taboo practice within the Da... read more..

Detroit arrest: It is time for Bohras to get serious about ending Female Genital Cutting

14 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Detroit arrest: It is time for Bohras to get serious about ending Female Genital Cutting

Sahiyo is shocked and truly saddened by the news that a Bohra doctor in Detroit, USA, has been arrested on charges of performing Female Genital Cutting (FGC) on minor girls in the community. While the... read more..

What do Australian Bohras feel about Khatna today?

11 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

What do Australian Bohras feel about Khatna today?

By: Anonymous Age: 32 Country: Australia Khatna is not a topic discussed very often amongst Bohras. Maybe because there is no reason to ever bring it up. However, since the case in Sydney, Australia, ... read more..

I underwent Khatna but did not let it happen to my daughters

04 Apr

News & Blog

Sahiyo

I underwent Khatna but did not let it happen to my daughters

By: Anonymous Country of Current Residence: United StatesCountry of Birth: IndiaAge: 57 It was a day in June, 1966, in India. I was seven years old and sitting with my mother, listening to a story sh... read more..

Memories of a cry: A Bohra woman’s poem on her Khatna

29 Mar

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Memories of a cry: A Bohra woman’s poem on her Khatna

by Sunera SadicaliCountry: Portugal / Spain Memories of a cry When I was eightwas too young to complaintoo old to forget. Went on a family tripKarachi was warm, humid, overwhelming, tasty, spicy.Had l... read more..

My brain decides who I sleep with, not my clitoris

22 Mar

News & Blog

Sahiyo

My brain decides who I sleep with, not my clitoris

by Sabahat Jahan Age: 24Country: India I am sitting in a cafe and thinking about whether I would ever make my daughter go through the painful ritual of genital mutilation, the way my mother did it to ... read more..

14 Mar

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Mariya joins Young Philanthropist Responding to Gender-Based Violence Panel

On February 1st, the Board of Directors for Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts statewide coalition against domestic & sexual violence organized their first young philanthropist event that included a... read more..

Sahiyo teams up with Feminist Challenge 2K17

14 Mar

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Sahiyo teams up with Feminist Challenge 2K17

During the week of February 6th, Sahiyo connected with Feminist Challenge to create a challenge around the topic of FGC. Feminist Challenge is an online newsletter created to encourage men to ap... read more..

Khatna among Suleimanis, from the perspective of an 'outsider'

11 Mar

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Khatna among Suleimanis, from the perspective of an 'outsider'

by Koen Van den BrandeAge: 55Country: India More than ten years ago, in a nikah ceremony in Karachi, I became a Muslim when I married a member of the Suleimani community. I was an ‘outsider’, born in ... read more..

A conversation on Khatna with Suleimani Bohras

10 Mar

News & Blog

Sahiyo

A conversation on Khatna with Suleimani Bohras

Sahiyo co-founder Shaheeda Tavawalla-Kirtane talks to Shabnam Muqbil and her husband, Koen Van den Brande, who give us an introduction to the Suleimanis and throw light on the practice of ‘khatna’ amo... read more..

Is there only a little piece of flesh between ‘good’ and ‘bad’, asks a Suleimani Bohra

09 Mar

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Is there only a little piece of flesh between ‘good’ and ‘bad’, asks a Suleimani Bohra

by Shabnam Muqbil Age: 52 Country: India It has happened to me too………. When I was 6 years old, I came from abroad to India with my mother to spend a two-month long summer vacation in Badr Bagh, ... read more..

Female Genital Cutting exists to preserve patriarchy: A Bohra survivor speaks out

08 Mar

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Female Genital Cutting exists to preserve patriarchy: A Bohra survivor speaks out

by Mubaraka MotiwalaAge: 18Country: India (This essay was first published on the Safe City blog on January 22, 2017) Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting&nbs... read more..

Sahiyo blog post wins a Laadli Media Award

23 Feb

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Sahiyo blog post wins a Laadli Media Award

A Bohra woman’s personal essay about her experience of Female Genital Cutting, published on Sahiyo’s blog last year, has won the prestigious Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity 2015-16. The essa... read more..

Telling one’s personal Khatna story can lead to another’s not continuing FGM/C too

21 Feb

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Telling one’s personal Khatna story can lead to another’s not continuing FGM/C too

By Alifya Sulemanji Country: United States In the past few years, we have seen an increase in the awareness of FGM/C in the Dawoodi Bohra community, and it has led to many discussions amongst communit... read more..

From birth to motherhood, a Singaporean Malay’s experience of Female Genital Cutting

13 Feb

News & Blog

Sahiyo

From birth to motherhood, a Singaporean Malay’s experience of Female Genital Cutting

By: Anonymous Country: Singapore Community: Malay Muslim Growing up: I was told as a child, that every girl had to go through it. There is basically NOBODY that you know who hasn’t gone through it. An... read more..

81% want Khatna to end: results of Sahiyo’s online survey of Bohra women

06 Feb

News & Blog

Sahiyo

81% want Khatna to end: results of Sahiyo’s online survey of Bohra women

On the occasion of International Zero Tolerance Day for Female Genital Cutting, Sahiyo is proud to present the complete findings of the first large-scale, global research study on the subject of Khatn... read more..

06 Feb

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Sahiyo has a new look!

On International Zero Tolerance on FGC/M Day 2017, Sahiyo is very happy to share it’s new look, with it’s new identity: We have reinvented the Sahiyo logo in colors of peach and purple in solid,... read more..

Sahiyo launches special toolkit to help the media report sensitively on Female Genital Cutting

05 Feb

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Sahiyo launches special toolkit to help the media report sensitively on Female Genital Cutting

On the eve of International Zero Tolerance Day for Female Genital Cutting 2017, Sahiyo is proud to launch its first media toolkit developed to promote sensitive and effective depiction of Female ... read more..

Deen and Duniya (Religion and the World) a film by Alisha Bhagat

04 Feb

News & Blog

Sahiyo

Deen and Duniya (Religion and the World) a film by Alisha Bhagat

By Alisha Bhagat Country: United States & India I made Deen and Duniya in 2004 before my senior year in college. I received a Vira Heinz grant for women in leadership and thought it would be inter... read more..

My daughter is the joy of my life. There was no way I could have her cut.

30 Jan

News & Blog

Sahiyo

My daughter is the joy of my life. There was no way I could have her cut.

by Ashraf Engineer Age: 41Country: India Picture this if you can without your heart racing and eyes welling up. A girl, let’s say she’s seven years old, is dressed up by her mother and told she’s bein... read more..