The cruellest cut of all

From one of the Voices videos

Today, on the International Day of Zero Tolerance towards Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), a non-government organisation along with a digital storytelling platform will release 'Voices to End FGM/C' - a series of videos about the cruel practice and the need for it to end. Survivors and advocates from across the world have created a list of 27 short clips on the issue with the help of Sahiyo, a transnational NGO founded in 2015 with an aim end the practice of FGM/C principally among the Dawoodi Bohra community in India, and US-based StoryCenter.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines FGM as a procedure that involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia. The practice is globally condemned as it violates the human rights of girls and women.

Global prevalence
Speaking about the practice, Mariya Taher, Sahiyo co-founder who is based out of Boston in the US, said, "The stories are from 26 women and one man - who is the brother of a survivor. The man spoke about his experience on learning what had happened to his sister, and how it impacted his relationship with her."

Taher added, "The digital stories are from women living in India, the UK, Tanzania, Singapore, Bahrain, Sweden, and the US. Some women underwent genital mutilation in the US. There are stories of women from the UK who had it done in Sri Lanka or India. Another woman from the US talks about the brutal experience she had when she was just a girl, in Malaysia. The videos highlight that practice is prevalent in every continent except Antarctica!"

Secretive practice
When asked how the practice slips through the cracks in the US given that Western nations have very strict laws, Taher said, "Just like in India, in the US, too, it is a very secretive practice. In April 2017, a doctor was charged for performing FGM on minor girls in the US. That case had many ups and downs but as a result, many more survivors came forward to share their stories, and the federal law in America came under constitutional scrutiny. The US Congress is working on strengthening the law and individual US states are also trying to bring law to declare FGM illegal. So far, 35 of 50 US states have laws against it in"

The sole male among the storytellers has also penned down his experience on Sahiyo's blog. Taher said, "Though he is the only man to participate in the project, we have heard stories from other men too. From sons who learnt that their mother underwent genital mutilation, from husbands who have spoken to their wives and recognised the impact it had on their sexual lives, and from fathers who regret not being able to prevent it from happening to their daughters."

The courage
Mumbai's Aarefa Johari, another Sahiyo co-founder who has also shared her story in the series, said, "I have spoken about being 'cut' or my FGM experience at events as well. I have even written about it. This platform meant I had complete ownership of my story. It is different from being interviewed, when I have to answer a set of questions. There is a diversity of individual perspective. Some women may see themselves as victims, some as survivors, and others none of the two."

Collective empowerment
Storyteller and FGM survivor said, "For me, the storytelling process was about being be audacious, able to heal and denounce how women's bodies are subjected to violence in many different ways. To share this process with other women was collective empowerment that allowed us not to be invisible."

Taher finished by saying, "Ultimately, the Voices to End FGM/C project is about building a cadre of voices speaking out and sharing experiences so that we can normalise talking about something that was considered a taboo for a very long time. We can only create change if we are brave enough to speak about it and ask for it."

Click for stories

The 27 new digital stories release today on Sahiyo's Youtube page at https://bit.ly/VoicesFGMCVideos

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