Thoughts on Tostan’s Training Center Experience
From July 12 to July 21st, Shaheeda and Mariya attended Tostan’s Training Center (TTC) in Senegal. The TTC is an international training course designed to teach participants about its human rights-based approach to community-led development, which the NGO has developed and updated in response to feedback from thousands of communities in different socio-cultural African contexts over […]
Tips on Writing a Letter to Your Legislator or Government Official
Sahiyo has been seeing an increase in the number of individuals sending letters to their legislators or government officials regarding their concern that FGC or khatna is occurring in their community. These letters, written by Bohra women anonymously or with their name, have been circulating the social media streams, particularly on Whatsapp. Sahiyo would […]
Sahiyo Receives ‘Daughter of Maharashtra’ Award from Nari Samata Manch
Nari Samata Manch has been working on gender issues for last 30 years. Gender-based violence is the core area of Nari Samata Manch work. The organization has institutionalized an award ‘Daughter of Maharashtra’ to honor women who have contributed significantly for the cause of gender equality. The name of the award is a byproduct of a […]
#NoMoreKhatna: Highlights from Sahiyo’s animated Twitter chat on FGC
On July 7, 2016, we at Sahiyo hosted our first Twitter chat on Female Genital Cutting (FGC) from our Twitter handle, @sahiyo2016. The need for an online debate on this subject evolved for various reasons. For the past several months, Dawoodi Bohras on social media have been increasingly vocal about their varied views on female khatna. Then in […]
Sahiyo heads to Senegal for Tostan Training Centre
Sahiyo is pleased to announce that Mariya and Shaheeda will be attending the upcoming Tostan Training Centre (TTC) in Senegal this July as Orchid Project Fellows. Over the past 25 years, Tostan has witnessed positive social transformation in thousands of communities in eight African countries. Although contributing to the abandonment of FGC was not one […]
#NoMoreKhatna – Join Sahiyo on a Twitter Chat about FGC!
Sahiyo will be hosting a Twitter Conversation on Female Genital Cutting (FGC) to be held on Thursday, July 7th from 6:00- 8:00 PM IST for India; 2:30-4.30 PM for Egypt; 8:30-10:30 AM EST for the United States. We will be moderating the discussion from the Sahiyo Twitter handle (@sahiyo2016) and will be using the hashtag #NoMoreKhatna […]
Sahiyo receives IAWRT grant to conduct media workshop in Mumbai
Sahiyo is delighted to announce that our organization was awarded a grant by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television ( IAWRT, www.iawrt.org) to conduct a media training workshop in Mumbai, this August. Media has played crucial role in informing people at large about the practice of female genital cutting or khatna […]
Sahiyo Receives Grant from Wallace Global Fund!
Sahiyo is excited to announce that the Wallace Global Fund has awarded a $30,000 grant to Orchid Project, as support for the organizational setup of Sahiyo. The Orchid Project has a vision of a world free from FGC and Sahiyo is a transnational organization with the mission to empower Dawoodi Bohra and other Asian communities […]
Underground in America: Female Genital Cutting
On June 22, 2016, Sahiyo’s cofounder, Mariya Taher came out on camera to discuss FGC in the United States and the work she has been doing to support other women and girls who are at-risk or who have undergone FGC and are living in this country. Her work into this area of gender violence began […]
No, even ‘symbolic’ or ‘mild’ female genital cutting is NOT okay
Should mild forms of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) be legalised? Should supposedly “harmless” nicking or slicing of clitoral tissue be medicalised, simply because getting communities to completely stop FGC happens to be a very difficult task? There has always been some support for mild, medicalised FGC, chiefly from communities that claim to practice female “circumcision” […]