You are not alone
By Maryan Abdikadir Why did you want to attend the workshop and share your story? I love storytelling and I come from a long line of storytellers and poets. I believe stories have a way of capturing the minds, leaving lasting impressions and/or education. Being a survivor of Female Genital Mutilation and an activist/educator, I know […]
Releasing my unspoken words
By Anam I like to hear stories because they help me understand people. Sometimes, they help me understand myself. So, when I heard storytellers talk about their experience with female genital mutilaiton (FGM), I thought about my own. The Voices to End FGM/C digital Sstorytelling workshop helped me put into words a story I have […]
Magic of Intimacy
By Ibtisam Attending this workshop to share my story is now perhaps an opening to a bigger vision of what I call: Magic of Intimacy. I had viewed over a dozen Voices to End FGM/C stories and attended Sahiyo’s webinars over the last couple of years. As much as I wanted to contribute and help […]
Including non-cis-women as FGM/C survivors
By Dena Igusti I wanted to be a part of this year’s Voices to End FGM/C digital storytelling workshop so I could talk more about my experiences navigating being a non-binary survivor of FGM/C. Unfortunately, a lot of statistics and narratives surrounding FGM/C only focus on cisgender women. In order for me to access resources […]
A love letter to my mother who cut me
By Afiqa Years ago, I learned of Malay classical and modern manuscripts on sex and erotic imageries by Malay women writers at a talk. Most were written under pseudonyms or not given credit if not a man. But a Malay women writer, Khatijah Terung, struck me with her bold, vulnerable, and erotic writing. Social control […]
A Quiet Violence: Navigating Female Genital Cutting as an LGBTQ+ Survivor
Register Today: https://bit.ly/AQuietViolence Female genital cutting (FGC) is a form of gender-based violence that is often undermined by harmful gendered social norms. Whether done for marriageability, cleanliness, purity, or a variety of other reasons – the practice of FGC is often tied to socially ascribed standards of ‘womanhood’. Despite being seeped in highly binary gender […]
Sahiyo presents at the MACA Conference
On May 10th, Sahiyo presented at the 12th Annual Massachusetts Children’s Alliance Conference. In attendance were over 200 multidisciplinary child abuse professionals from across the state. Sahiyo cofounder, Mariya Taher, partnered with Mildrine Tulysse, a Massachusetts Pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, to provide information about the realities of female genital cutting (FGC) in the state […]
Sahiyo’s Editorial Team introduces Zoom interviews!
Sahiyo’s dedicated staff have been working to expand our reach and build a close-knit community of survivors, advocates, and volunteers for years now, and as the world responds to COVID-19, digital communication has been a consistent thread tying us all together. We want to use our many digital platforms to create a positive, impactful space […]
Sahiyo speaks at the ABA International Law Section Annual Conference
On April 28th, Sahiyo was invited to take part in a panel discussion at the 2022 ABA International Law Section’s Annual Conference being held in Washington D.C. The panel brought together a legal practitioner, journalist, and activist working towards gender equality and the elimination of FGC to discuss legal tools and other measures that have […]
Sahiyo hosts Asian Women’s Shelter training
On March 24th, 2022 Sahiyo hosted an inaugural training on female genital cutting (FGC) for Asian Women’s Shelter staff and their crisis line counselors who operate their hotline for have undergone or experienced domestic violence or sexual assault. This training created by Sahiyo provided a basic overview of FGC, including what it is, who it […]