The African Women’s Clinic: An Interview with Australia’s Only FGM/C Clinic
By: Kiah Leone While in Australia, I had the privilege of speaking with Marie Jones and Nigisti Mulholland from The African Women’s Clinic in Victoria, Australia to learn more about their clinic, the services they provide, and the current state of FGM/C-related care in the country. The African Women’s Clinic (AWC) is the only FGM/C-specific […]
Is legal action against female genital cutting enough to end the practice?
Understanding the impact of a Sahiyo co-founder’s documentary film, A Pinch of Skin, in India by Priya Goswami In September 2018, the Indian Supreme Court referred a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the prevalence of female genital cutting (FGC) in India to a five-judge constitution bench. My documentary film, A Pinch of Skin, was quoted […]
Khatna within the Bohra community: A Struggle of Tradition and Modernity
By Fatema Kakal (This is Part I in a series about female genital cutting within the Bohra community. Read Part II here) The Bohra Muslims, who have the reputation of being modern and progressive, secretly practice khatna, or female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) within India, as well as in other parts of the world. I learned […]
The movement to end FGM/C: Looking back at the 2010s and looking forward in 2020
By Sahiyo 2020 is here, and we at Sahiyo are excited. 2020 brings with it not just a new year, but the dawn of a new decade of hope and hard work for our global movement to end female genital cutting (FGC). This is the decade in which we must give it our all, because […]
Reflecting before we move forward: Overview of global FGC news from 2018
For everyone invested in laws and norms around the practices of FGC, 2018 was an incredibly eventful year. On January 22nd, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president and first female head of state in Africa, on her last day in office, signed an executive order to ban FGC for a year. Over half of Liberian […]
FGC Articles & Research in Other Countries
FGC in Asia: FGC in Australia: FGC in Canada: FGC in Colombia: FGC and COVID: FGC in Egypt: FGC and Islam: FGC in Indonesia: FGC in Iran: FGC in Iraq: FGC in Malaysia: FGC in Oman: FGC in Pakistan: FGC in Philippines: FGC in Russia: FGC in Saudi Arabia: FGC in Singapore: FGC in Sri […]
FGM before the Indian Supreme Court
By: Koen Van den Brande Age: 55Country: India It was to be expected… The Indian Supreme Court has been asked to look at the practice of ‘khatna’ – commonly known as FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) as a result of a Public Interest Litigation filed by Sunita Tiwari, a Delhi based advocate. There was a time, […]
Despite backlash, Sahiyo will continue to work with the community
The World Health Organization (WHO)’s guidelines on the management of health complications from female genital mutilation/cutting states that the “involvement of health-care providers in performing FGM is likely to confer a sense of legitimacy on the practice and could give the impression that the procedure is good for women’s health, or at least that it […]
#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 Dawoodi Bohra community in my social circles. I discovered I was a victim of female genital mutilation or cutting during […]
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, in which the aamil, Shabbir Mohammed Vaziri was sentenced to jail for being an accessory to Female Genital Mutilation, the topic […]