Detroit FGM/C case: Why two more arrests have left me feeling bittersweet
By: Anonymous Country: United Kingdom Age: 32 Today is a bittersweet day. The news of two more arrests linked to the first FGM case in the US has left me torn between elation and sadness; while a part of me feels like justice is being served to those who perform, aid and abet FGM, another part […]
Engendering Progress Event Honours Sahiyo Co-founder
The Manhattan Young Democrats (MYD) held their 8th annual Engender Progress event honoring women thought-leaders, activists, entrepreneurs, and businesswomen on March 30th. This event is the hallmark of the MYD’s calendar and it honors powerful women, in order to inspire the next generation of young women to follow in their footsteps.Sahiyo’s Mariya Taher was one of the women honoured […]
#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 […]
Detroit arrest: It is time for Bohras to get serious about ending Female Genital Cutting
Sahiyo is shocked and truly saddened by the news that a Bohra doctor in Detroit, USA, has been arrested on charges of performing Female Genital Cutting (FGC) on minor girls in the community. While the allegations in this particular case are yet to be proven, we believe it is a serious breach of medical ethics […]
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 […]
I underwent Khatna but did not let it happen to my daughters
By: Anonymous Country of Current Residence: United StatesCountry of Birth: IndiaAge: 57 It was a day in June, 1966, in India. I was seven years old and sitting with my mother, listening to a story she read to me from a newspaper. Midway through reading the story, she casually mentioned to me that we were […]
Memories of a cry: A Bohra woman’s poem on her Khatna
by Sunera SadicaliCountry: Portugal / Spain Memories of a cry When I was eightwas too young to complaintoo old to forget. Went on a family tripKarachi was warm, humid, overwhelming, tasty, spicy.Had long hair and soft brown skin.Went to MadrassaLearnt to recite some verses by memory.Laughed out loud, met new friends. It was hard, sometimes…the […]
My brain decides who I sleep with, not my clitoris
by Sabahat Jahan Age: 24Country: India I am sitting in a cafe and thinking about whether I would ever make my daughter go through the painful ritual of genital mutilation, the way my mother did it to me in the name of religion. I am 24 years old, studying journalism, a Muslim girl from a […]
Mariya joins Young Philanthropist Responding to Gender-Based Violence Panel
On February 1st, the Board of Directors for Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts statewide coalition against domestic & sexual violence organized their first young philanthropist event that included a panel of changemakers who are organizing against gender-based violence in the greater Boston area and beyond. The conversation took place at WeWork in Boston and included […]
Sahiyo teams up with Feminist Challenge 2K17
During the week of February 6th, Sahiyo connected with Feminist Challenge to create a challenge around the topic of FGC. Feminist Challenge is an online newsletter created to encourage men to approach empathy with women by building their own personal testimonies of awkwardness, inconvenience, and pain. The belief behind this approach is that performance can […]