The Detroit doctor arrests are an opportunity to talk about Khatna
By: Anonymous Age: 33Country: Pune, India Even though I clearly remember when ‘khatna’ was performed on me, it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I first started to question this practice within the Dawoodi Bohra community. It always felt wrong, but if my mother, sister, and seemingly everyone else in the community embraced it, […]
A letter to Syedna, by a Bohra woman
(Editor’s note – The courageous woman who shared this letter would like it to be known that sahiyo’s platform was the official outlet for her letter.) By: Anonymous Country of Residence: United States To Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, We are the ones who showed up. We are the ones who wore the right thing, said the […]
FGM and the myth of modernity among Dawoodi Bohras
By: Anonymous Age: 33Country of birth: IndiaCountry of current residence: USA I am a male born into a Dawoodi Bohra family. My brother and I had remarkably normal upbringings in the United States. We were members of one of the more secular congregations in the in the US. My parents always pointed out to me […]
We must find culturally sensitive methods to end FGC and protect girls from further trauma
Picture an innocent, 7-year-old girl being led to an unfamiliar room. She is made to lie down, her underpants are removed, and a piece of her is cut away; familiar hands around her upholding an age-old tradition. Perhaps she is in pain. Perhaps she is not. She might feel betrayed, scared, angry, or upset. She […]
Female Genital Cutting: Religion has nothing to do with it
By: Anonymous Country: United States Age: 34 Around the age of seven, unbeknownst to me at the time, extended family members asked my parents when they would be taking me to have khatna done. In the country we lived in at the time, it was the norm for girls in our community to get it […]
FGM/C is neither beneficial nor relevant to modern times. Let’s end it
By Ali Asghar Akhtar Country: Canada Age: 33 I recently came to know about something very prehistoric (I am not being overdramatic, it was truly shocking for me). We are living in a digital, global, mobilized world where everyday living dynamics are being challenged and improved. Changes in technology, social norms, cultures, historic traditions and […]
Thaal Pe Charcha: A Sahiyo flagship event where Bohra women bonded over food
In February, Sahiyo held an event titled Thaal Pe Charcha (loosely translated as ‘discussions over food’), in which 16 Bohra women from Mumbai came together to discuss – for the first time – the challenges of living as young girls and women in the tightly knit Dawoodi Bohra community. Invitations were sent out through word […]
Four American survivors of FGC speak out
Four American survivors of Female Genital Cutting have broken the culture of silence around the issue through a new video. These women, from diverse backgrounds, illustrate that FGC is not restricted to any one geography, religion, or socioeconomic class. The four women featured in the video produced by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International […]
Law alone cannot end the practice of Female Genital Cutting
By Sabiha Basrai Country: California, United StatesAge: 34 years old It is important that the issue of FGC or Khatna, as known to the Bohra community, is brought out from the shadows and discussed openly. Many people do not understand how brutal the practice is and simply prefer not to discuss it because of the […]
Let us not vilify the Detroit doctor as we work to end Female Genital Cutting
By: Anonymous Country: United StatesAge: 34 Shortly after my seventh birthday, I went to visit my grandmother in New York. My mother told me this visit was going to be special because I turned seven and I had to have something “important done”. “All girls have to have it done when they turn seven,” I […]