Sahiyo Stories screened in Washington DC: A survivor’s reflection
by Maryah Haidery Recently on Facebook, I noted that real social change usually happens when people are good enough to care about doing the right thing, thoughtful enough to figure out the best ways to do it, and brave enough to actually go through with it. On December 4th, in Washington DC, I was fortunate […]
Inaugural screening of Sahiyo Stories in California
On October 19 in Oakland, California, Sahiyo, in collaboration with StoryCenter, Asian Women’s Shelter, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence hosted a screening of Sahiyo Stories that included a behind the scenes short film documenting the women’s experiences in creating their digital stories. Sahiyo Stories involved bringing together nine women from across the United States […]
Sahiyo Stories to host first screening in Oakland, California
On October 19 in Oakland, California, Sahiyo, in collaboration with StoryCenter, Asian Women’s Shelter, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence will host a screening of Sahiyo Stories with a behind the scenes short film documenting the women’s experiences in creating their digital stories, followed by a panel discussion on FGC. To RSVP for the event, visit http://bit.ly/SahiyoStoriesOct As a reminder, […]
‘I Hope my Story Helps other Women’: A Reflection on the Sahiyo Stories Workshop
By Maryah HaideryLast December I participated in a Sahiyo activist retreat where I learned the unique power that storytelling has to teach, stimulate, and inspire audiences while offering the storyteller a sense of empowerment and catharsis. That’s why I was excited to reunite with some of the brave women I met on that retreat for a three-day storytelling […]
Break the Silence on FGC Soumou in New York
From March 24-25th, Sahiyo Cofounder, Mariya Taher, spoke on Fireside Conversation – Seeing is Believing: Story Telling and Media Engagement to end FGM,” during the Break the Silence Soumou in New York City organized by There is No Limit Foundation. The event was held in commemoration of Women History Month and the United Nations 62nd […]
Calling for Visual Artists, Musician, Sound Designers, to assist with Sahiyo Stories Project in the U.S.
This May, 2018 Sahiyo Cofounder, Mariya Taher, will be working with StoryCenter on a digital storytelling project to capture the stories of women who have been experienced or affected by FGM/C. Here is an example of the story format that will be used — simple voiceover narration paired with images and video clips. The stories will be shared […]
The undecided: Conversations with survivors of Female Genital Cutting in Pakistan
By Hina Javed(This is the fourth part in a series of essays by Hina Javed on her experience of reporting on FGC in Pakistan. Read the whole series here: Pakistan Journal.) My conversations with survivors had by now made it clear that the more answers I received, the more questions arose. Wrapping my head around […]
How I learned that FGM happens in India
By: Anonymous journalist whose friend underwent FGM Age: 26Country: India “It was supposed to stop me from me doing ‘those things’. I’m not sure if it served the purpose,” M told me. I would have known about this practice much later if I hadn’t met someone who underwent it. As we were getting to know […]
‘Girls must be circumcised or they will grow up loose’: Three Sri Lankan women talk about Female Genital Cutting
by: Bintari Hamza Zafar, a concerned Sri Lankan Muslim citizen Country: Sri Lanka Female Genital Mutilation is a serious problem in Sri Lanka. Almost all Sri Lankan Muslim women are circumcised. Both Moors and Malays (ethnic Muslim communities in Sri Lanka) are of the Shafi school of Islam which regards female circumcision, or “sunnat”, as […]
‘Far from enhancing my marital bliss, khatna had all but devastated it’
by: Anonymous Age: 30 Country: United States I first learned that khatna had been performed on me when I was 11 years old. My mother told me, and even then the hair on my neck rose and I had a clear instinct that what had happened wasn’t right. I asked my mother why Bohra girls […]