Sahiyo Stories screened in Massachusetts
In May 2018, the Sahiyo Stories project brought together nine women from across the United States to create personalized digital stories that narrate the experience of undergoing female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and/or the experience of their advocacy work to end this form of gender violence. The video stories created at the workshop have since then […]
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 […]
‘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 […]
Sahiyo Storycenter Workshop: The Power of Storytelling
By Zehra PatwaShame. Deceit. Confusion. On the first day, sitting around a large table in a light-filled room in the StoryCenter workshop space in Berkeley, California, these words were repeated over and over again by each woman sharing her story of being cut as a young girl. And in most cases, the story was disturbingly similar: a […]
Sharing My Story of Female Genital Cutting with Other Survivors Comforted Me
By Leena KhandwalaI chose to tell my story of FGC to highlight how after more than three decades, my experience of being cut is still traumatizing and vivid. Everything about it — from the deception leading up to it and the silence around it — make for an unspeakably horrifying experience.Supporters of Female Genital Cutting […]
Khatna Isn’t Black Or White, Just Like My Story
By AnonymousCountry of Residence: United StatesFemale Genital Cutting/Mutilation in the Bohra community is not black and white, just like how survivors and non-survivors’ stories are not black and white. This idea resonated the most with me during the Sahiyo Stories workshop held in Berkeley, California at the beginning of May. Sahiyo Stories allowed me to explore the […]
Why I Chose to Tell My Story About Female Genital Mutilation at the Sahiyo Stories’ Workshop
By Renee Bergstrom, EdDI chose to tell my story of FGM because I am aware that being silenced is a universal issue for those who have experienced it. When I read my story the first day at the StoryCenter, I was surprised that my voice cracked with emotion. Our sisterhood developed quickly from the strength of […]
The subject was heavy, but my heart felt light: My experience at Sahiyo’s StoryCenter workshop
By Salma QamruddinFemale genital cutting (FGC) sounds like a distant and antiquated practice, especially to those living in the US. Americans think FGC happens in remote African villages or in times of yore, but not locally and not now. Unfortunately, this is simply untrue. Sahiyo is an organization dedicated to opening up the conversation around modern FGC practices. Their […]
Seeing Sahiyo Stories on Female Genital Cutting Come to Life
By Mariya TaherAs an alumni of the Women’s Foundation of California’s Women’s Policy Institute, I was invited to attend a storytelling workshop hosted by StoryCenter in March 2017, in which I created a digital video story about my advocacy work to end Female Genital Cutting (FGC). I advocate against FGC because for centuries, women have been afraid to speak […]
FGC in the United States
2026 CT House Gop, Rep. Klarides-Ditria, Advocates Call for End to FGM/C in Connecticut 2025 2024 LA Times, Dozens of patients file suit against former OB-GYN and Cedars-Sinai, alleging misconduct AOL, Upgraded charges in child torture case Equality Now, Implementing Survivor-Led FGM Law In Washington State KUOW, Coalition against female genital mutilation supports victims […]