By: Megan Seaver

Earlier this year, Sahiyo’s Co-Editorial Coordinator, Megan Seaver, sat down with long time Sahiyo partner and survivor Tasneem Perry to discuss the recent removal of an article in The Sun, featuring her story about female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), following backlash from the Dawoodi Bohra community.

Speaking out about FGM/C and sharing her experience was not something new to Tasneem. She had been sharing her story publicly since 2018, starting with her local Women’s Institute (WI).

“I really wasn’t able to talk about (FGM/C) until after my mother had passed. I had asked her questions about it while she was alive but we were never really able to have a conversation about the topic. She didn’t know how to discuss it because she had been taught not to bring it up.”

After her mother’s passing, Tasneem joined her local WI and eventually became president. It was there that she first spoke publicly about her experience.

“It was in my local WI that I had first spoken publicly about my experience with FGM/C, because I felt comfortable with everyone in my local charter. And I received tremendous support from my fellow members. I even was able to seek medical care for the repercussions of FGM because of the support I got from them.”

After this, Tasneem began speaking at more WIs and other organizations about FGM/C.

“It was a revelation to start talking to my peers about FGM/C. This was something that I had kept bottled up for 40 years. Once I began to share my story, it just poured out of me.”

Around the same time, Sri Lanka was going through a process of constitutional reform, which included discussions around legalizing FGM/C. Tasneem, who had gone to university in Sri Lanka, contributed testimony to the Human Rights Commission. Out of all the testimonies shared at the hearing, Tasneem’s words stood out because it was one of the few that was not anonymous. 

“After providing testimony to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, I gave my testimony to the Equality Now publication on FGM/C and then participated in the Sahiyo’s animated survivor stories. Sharing my story with Sahiyo was a powerful experience. I worked with a brilliant graphic artist, Debasmita Dasgupta, who really listened and worked with me to make the story feel as authentic and as true to my experience as we could make it.”

Tasneem’s story has since been shared by a variety of publications, including by journalist Nuha Faiz from The Sun, who reached out to Tasneem to discuss writing an article about her experience.

“Nuha Faiz reached out to me and we worked on the article for a number of months. The interview was done over a long video call, at least 3 hours long, where Nuha and I talked about the issue, my story, my feelings and experiences in an in-depth and very intimate manner. A few months later, she sent me the article, giving me time to refine and edit what had been written so that I was comfortable with the way my story and my understanding of the situation was being brought out. The entire process was collaborative and sensitively handled; her professionalism was absolute.”

Because of that, Tasneem had no reason to believe the article would be altered or even taken down. In fact, Tasneem wasn’t even given warning that her piece was going to be removed at all.

“I didn’t hear about it. A friend of mine who had been sent the link to the article couldn’t open it. And she got in touch, wanting to know if it was real or had I been hacked in some way. I then went online myself to check and realized it had been taken down. It was then that I contacted Nuha and she confirmed that yes, the article was down while the editor of The Sun met with community representatives and leaders.”

Tasneem’s blog was taken down a mere 24 hours after it had been published due to backlash from the Dawoodi Bohra community. A statement was put out by The Sun, apologizing for the publication of the original article.

“I had expected some kind of backlash for speaking the truth, as has been experienced by other activists in the past. But I think now, looking back, what I feel is a sense of profound sorrow. The community did not deny the practice was happening, but merely silenced the story. That shows an inability to even face the truth of what goes on in our community, to even acknowledge the pain women – half of the community – undergo behind closed doors.”

“I took great pains to ensure the article was written and presented from a place of love, of forgiveness, and of peace. [I wanted the practice to be seen as child abuse] and to say if this practice must continue, let it be done to adults, who are able to give informed consent after counselling from a neutral, non-religious professional. By having the article taken down, the leaders demonstrated their inability to accept any form of criticism or conversation on this topic.”

The rapid and uncalled for removal of Tasneem’s interview is even more troubling in a broader climate of increased media censorship, especially around women’s rights and reproductive health issues.

The removal, however, has not discouraged Tasneem from speaking out publicly against FGM/C.

“It is important to not allow silencing to continue. The more the community elders and leaders insist on shutting down conversations, the more people like me, who aren’t hardcore activists, are compelled to speak out. I’m a very ordinary woman: a wife, an educator living a quiet, domestic existence. If I can speak out, so can my sisters around the world.”

At the end of our conversation I asked Tasneem if she had any advice for other people wanting to speak out against FGM/C, but are worried about the backlash they may receive. 

“The repercussions are real,” she responded. “You will lose family and community. They will silence you. Ultimately, the question is, are you willing to let this continue, or are you going to do something to ensure no other girl goes through what you went through? That’s my goal: it took me turning 40 and losing my mother to finally have the courage to speak out. Enough is enough.”

“Can you look the next generation in the face and say, ‘I allowed fear to guide me’?”