Voices to End FGM/C Storytellers Write About What it Means to Speak Out ...
Amy Hill
Editor’s Note: We’re pleased to share this posting of material excerpted from the blog of our Voices to End FGM/C collaborating partner, Sahiyo. Read the words of storytellers about the impact of participating in our most recent online digital storytelling workshop. We’re also happy to announce the launch of the project’s new website, which showcases more than 50 stories by survivors and advocates as well as many “behind the scenes” interviews about the role storytelling plays in shifting social norms and ending the practice of FGM/C.
My experience is a tool to create social change
August 1, 2022 Written by Voices To End FGM/C. Posted in Storyteller Blogs, United States
By Zahra Qaiyumi
In the process of creating a video as part of the Voices to End FGC project, I was able to pull scattered thoughts and memories into a clear and concise picture. The workshop allowed me to contemplate the different aspects of my experience as a survivor and helped me focus in on the common thread that ties it all together. In my video, I explore the cultural nuances of the community I grew up in, as well as the reclaiming of my body for myself. Aside from getting to tell my story in my own words, connecting with others who have had similar experiences and learning from their perspectives was powerful. Witnessing others be vulnerable and open in telling their stories helped to validate my experience and reaffirm my decision to both talk about my experience with FGC and use it as a tool to create social change.
Zahra Qaiyumi is a 4th year medical student at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. Zahra grew up in a community whose girls and women are impacted by FGM/C. She is interested in the role of health care providers in caring for survivors and as such is involved with developing training for resident physicians on surgical care that improves quality of life and health outcomes in the most severe forms of FGM/C. She has also designed and implemented curricula that introduces physicians in training to the cultural nuances surrounding FGM/C with the goal of increasing cultural humility. Zahra has been involved with Sahiyo since 2018, assisting on projects focused on community engagement as a tool to bring an end to FGM/C.
Including Non-Cis-Women as FGM/C Survivors
August 1, 2022 Written by Voices To End FGM/C. Posted in Storyteller Blogs, United States
By Dena Igusti
I wanted to be a part of this year’s Voices to End FGM/C digital storytelling workshop so I could talk more about my experiences as a non-binary survivor of FGM/C. Unfortunately, a lot of statistics and narratives surrounding FGM/C only focus on cisgender women. In order for me to access resources for FGM/C survivors, I felt pressured to identify as a cis-woman and nothing more. When I found a service that provided counseling for survivors, I saw that it was available only to women and girls. When asked for my pronouns, I removed “they” and stuck with “she.” I can’t say therapy didn’t help me. I learned about PTSD. I learned my triggers. I learned that my fear of betraying my family stems from the fear that is a result of FGM/C. I was given two shiny stones, one pink and one iridescent blue, that I still keep in my wallet in case I experience panic attacks. I learned that I fail no one when I am myself. But because I came into counseling identifying as a woman, my therapist tells me that regardless of my sexuality and how I perceive sex, I’m still a woman …. When talking about FGM/C, we need to understand that not all survivors are cis-women. We cannot uphold the idea that FGM/C is rooted in cis-womanhood, which forces survivors to conform to those expectations. Through this workshop, I wanted to raise awareness on how a large percentage of FGM/C survivors, specifically trans men and non-binary people, are left out of their own healing because we only associate FGM/C with womanhood.
Dena Igusti is a queer non binary Indonesian Muslim poet, playwright, filmmaker, producer, and FGC survivor & activist born and raised in Queens, New York. They are the author of CUT WOMAN (Game Over Books, 2020) and I NEED THIS TO NOT SWALLOW ME ALIVE (Gingerbug Press, 2021). They are the founder of Dearest Mearest. Their work has been featured in BOAAT Press, Peregrine Journal, and several other publications. Their work has been produced and performed at The Brooklyn Museum, The Apollo Theater, the 2018 Teen Vogue Summit, Players Theatre (SHARUM, 2019), Prelude Festival (Cut Woman, 2020), Center At West Park (CON DOUGH, 2021), The Tank (First Sight 2021 at LimeFest), and several other venues internationally. They are a Culture Push Associated Artist. They are currently a 2022 Sundress Arts Resident and a 2022 Best of the Net Nominee.
You Are Not Alone
August 1, 2022 Written by Voices To End FGM/C. Posted in Storyteller Blogs
By Maryan Abdikadir
I love storytelling, and I come from a long line of storytellers and poets. I believe stories have a way of capturing the mind, leaving lasting impressions. Being a survivor of female genital mutilation and an activist/educator, I know that storytelling is powerful in passing information on this otherwise painful ordeal. I have always wanted to tell my story so that I can tell another survivor “you are not alone,” and I hope by educating others, by extension I can help save their daughters. Where I come from, the genitalia is not mentioned or named. Kintir, which is the clitoris in my language, is such an abhorrent thing to say out loud. They use other ways to refer to it like, “the it,” “that thing,” “the woman’s thing,” “the place for urinating,” or bahal (which literally means an organism). All of this naming and shaming make girls hate their bodies. I faced it and so did so many others. I could not watch as my daughter was subjected to the same. Words are powerful and sharp just like the razor used for FGM/C– this is the reason I called my story, “The Verbal Cut.”
Maryan Abdikadir is a survivor and an independent activist against female genital mutilation. Maryan is the co-author of “Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting from Islam” and the “A Religious Oriented Approach to Addressing FGM/C among the Somali Community of Wajir, Kenya.” Maryan is involved in end FGM agenda and uses her personal story to educate many. She has undertaken FGM abandonment programs (community dialogues, religious scholars engagement, research, documentation, working on policy and legal framework), and she participated in the drafting of the Prohibition of FGM Bill in Kenya. Maryan holds two Masters; one in Anthropology from Memorial University, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and one in Development Studies from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Maryan is a Co-Chair of the board of End FGM Canada Network.
Magic of Intimacy
August 1, 2022 Written by Voices To End FGM/C. Posted in Storyteller Blogs
By Ibtisam
I had viewed over a dozen Voices to End FGM/C stories and attended Sahiyo’s webinars over the last couple of years. As much as I wanted to contribute and help in a significant way, there was something holding me back (including writing this blog). This holding back is what I believe to be a fear of being judged with my shadows of shame, coming across as accusatory, anxiety of re-trauma, and being triggered by old voices in my head saying ‘you have gotten over it, it’s been such a long time, why self-inflict pain by cutting into scars and exposing nerves that seemingly don’t cause a problem!’ FGM/C, like many unfortunate events in our lives, is not a singular hook to hang our troubles; but perhaps it does need attention to heal multi-layered physical and psychological fall out that results in a trauma most often left unattended or undiagnosed. … Even though we came together on an online platform, the support offered by the Sahiyo and StoryCenter team allowed me to embrace my vulnerability and potential. I learnt that being a part of a group in which we felt safe, to be engaged in a well designed process that encouraged us to share our ideas, to co-create, and at the end, to produce an audiovisual representation of our story is such a privilege. I hope these videos and blogs allow others to self reflect, inspire them to speak their truth, and show them that each of our voices matters; each unique expression holds a different lens and angle, like holding a rays of light, and we together can obliterate the darkness of FGM/C.
Ibtisam’s desire to make life more harmoniously beautiful comes passion for understanding relationships and dreams. Both vivacious and shy she seeks simplicity in an increasing techno world. She loves to travel, learn about other cultures via food, stories & spending time in nature and interacting with people in person. She has graduated from the University of Mumbai with Honours, trained with Relate in UK, to become an experienced relationship counsellor and psychosexual therapist of over 18+ years. She continues to educate herself as a lifelong student as she co creates workshops, retreats and forums with ‘Magic of Intimacy’. She is skilled at applying Integrative modalities she trained in to match clients needs and orientation.
To learn more about Voices to End FGM/C, please contact Mariya Taher, mariya@sahiyo.org.