On March 5th, in the run up to International Women's Day, Sahiyo India was invited to hold a guest lecture on female fenital cutting (FGC) for first-year students of Mumbai's BMN Women's College of Home Science; this screening was held in association with Muse Foundation. Sahiyo co-founder Aarefa Johari conducted the online session, which had over 50 student attendees.
The session began with the screening of two short films from Sahiyo and StoryCentre's Voices to End FGM/C series: Why by Fakhera, and A Chorus of Voices by Aarefa. The lecture then helped students understand what FGC is, why it is practiced, how it is harmful, and what can be done to end the practice. Aarefa also explored the concept of social norms and why they persist. Students were then invited to talk about the harmful social norms prevalent in their own cultures and homes, including menstrual taboos, which nearly every young woman in the class had experienced.
This was the second time that Sahiyo India has given a guest lecture on FGC at the BMN College.