Activist Saza Faradilla and End FGC Singapore spread awareness about FGC
By Megan Seaver An essential part of the work to end female genital cutting (FGC) is to engage in community-based activism, which means to serve a specific group of people with a specific set of needs and values. Sahiyo’s Editorial Assistant Urvashi Sharma interviewed Saza Faradilla, a community-based activist in Singapore, to discuss how she […]
A reflection on the medical perspectives on female genital cutting (FGC) webinar
By: Amela Tokić On October 9th, 2021, community-led movement End FGC Singapore, which strives to empower Muslim communities in Singapore to end the practice of female genital cutting (FGC), hosted a virtual event to bring more attention to the medical impact and medicalization of FGC. Saza Faradilla, co-founder of End FGC Singapore and facilitator of […]
The complexities of female genital cutting in Singapore: Part IV
Concluding thoughts on the practice in Singapore By Saza Faradilla Country of Residence: Singapore This blog post is the fourth in a four-part series about female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore. This fourth installment provides a final analysis and concrete methods of engaging with discourses on FGC at the individual, community, governmental and international levels. […]
The complexities of female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore: Part III
Tradition and patriarchal elements of FGC By Saza Faradilla Country of Residence: Singapore This blog post is the third in a four-part series about female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore. This third installment explains some of the reasons the interlocutors provided for practicing FGC, including tradition and the control of female sexuality within patriarchy. […]
The complexities of female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore: Part II
Part II: Cleanliness and religious reasons for FGC By Saza Faradilla Country of Residence: Singapore This blog post is the second in a four-part series about female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore. This second installment explains two of the five reasons raised by my interlocutors about FGC in Singapore: cleanliness and religion. (Read part one […]
The complexities of female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore
By Saza Faradilla Country of Residence: Singapore This blogpost is the first in a four-part series about female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore. This first installment details the historical, social and economic contexts of FGC in Singapore. It also explains the limitations of academic discourses on FGC in the Southeast-Asian region, and especially Singapore. It […]
From birth to motherhood, a Singaporean Malay’s experience of Female Genital Cutting
By: Anonymous Country: Singapore Community: Malay Muslim Growing up: I was told as a child, that every girl had to go through it. There is basically NOBODY that you know who hasn’t gone through it. And I BELIEVED everything my mother said. Perceptions Ingrained in our Minds: It is dirty, unhygienic, curbs your sexual desires. […]
The sacred self: Reflections on female circumcision by a Singaporean Malay
(Originally posted by BEYONDHIJABSG on 6 FEBRUARY, 2016. Republished here with permission.) Country: Singapore Community: Malay By: Nurul Fadiah Johari I have a memory of my little sister going through circumcision. It is all vague to me now. I was 4, and she was a baby. I only remember being brought over to the house […]
Female circumcision is no different from other forms of violence against women
(Originally posted by BEYONDHIJABSG on 5 FEBRUARY, 2016. Republished here with permission.) Country: Singapore Community: Malay By: Filzah Sumartono So I was talking to my friend the other day and I brought up the issue of sunat perempuan or female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). And my friend seemed pretty nonchalant about it. […]
‘I am relieved more parents are saying no to female circumcision’
(Originally posted by BEYONDHIJABSG on 5 FEBRUARY, 2016. Republished here with permission.) Country: Singapore Community: Malay By: Zuby Eusofe I was six years old when I was forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) aka sunat perempuan. I was in a deep sleep and all of a sudden, I felt a […]