By Renee Bergstrom
In December 2025, Sahiyo and Dr. Leyla Hussein convened a small, in-person gathering of seven survivors and experts from Africa, Asia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The meeting created space to foster honest dialogue, promote healing in solidarity, and discuss how anti-racist narratives have impacted the FGM/C movement. Participants also explored how the movement might be reimagined to better center survivor expertise and embed anti-racism principles at its core.
As a survivor of FGM/C, I was invited to this convening.
Since my primary connection to Anti-FGM/C activism is through the survivor-led organization Sahiyo, I was surprised to hear that much of the movement is not led by survivors. It makes sense to me that the momentum to end the harmful practice should come from the women who experienced the most harm. These brave, dedicated women need ongoing support to accomplish the goal of ending female genital cutting in one generation.
After two days of discussion, someone noticed that sexual pleasure was not on our list of issues needing to be addressed. Limiting female sexual pleasure is the root cause of this human rights violation.
I was cut by a fundamentalist Christian doctor because I was masturbating at age three and his church considered it a sin. Today, some ultraconservative Christian churches in America tell women that all female sexual pleasure is sinful, and that their only purpose is to please males. Other cultures throughout the world cut girls to limit their sexual desire to make them marriageable and committed to one man. All these patriarchal ideas about female sexuality need to be exposed. The cut should have no part in any religion since God created the clitoris as the only human organ with pleasure as its purpose.
What fear do men believe controlling women will alleviate?
Wouldn’t partnering with a person who sees her for all that she is be much more satisfying?
Being a survivor is not the only part of our identity.
I was so impressed by the wealth of insights, skills, and organizational leadership convening in one room. I encourage all survivors to share their experiences using creative skills. Writing, visual arts, storytelling and any media with which you are comfortable can be used to spread the word that female genital cutting must end.
