“Witnessing others be vulnerable and open in telling their stories helped to validate my experience. I was able to pull scattered thoughts and memories into a clear and concise picture.”

~Zahra, Voices Storyteller

With 200 million people having undergone female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) worldwide, many stories are waiting to be heard. As one of Sahiyo’s 2022 Voices To End FGM/C participants, Zahra shared her story along with eight other survivors of FGM/C. 

On August 1st, Sahiyo and StoryCenter will begin releasing eight new digital stories, which were created during their 6th Voices To End FGM/C workshop, held online this past January/February 2022. 

By bringing survivors, community members, and advocates together to share and heal from their experiences of FGM/C, connect and grow as leaders in their communities, and create short videos calling for an end to this harmful practice, Voices to End FGM/C is mobilizing storytellers and activists from around the world. 

“I wanted to raise awareness on how a… 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, Voices Storyteller

Over one million people in the United States alone identify as non-binary, and with FGM/C being framed as a woman’s issue, the experience of non-binary survivors is often omitted. For the first time, this Voices workshop included FGM/C survivors who identified as non-binary. Through sharing their stories, we hope new avenues of activism can be explored and others who remain unheard will be encouraged to tell their stories as well.

In collaboration with StoryCenter, Sahiyo has held six Voices workshops since 2018. 57 storytellers from over 16 countries have spoken out about their experiences through these workshops. The impact of these videos in advocating against FGM/C is wide-reaching: they are being used globally as a tool to inspire other survivors to raise their voices and to educate legislators, healthcare workers, and service providers about the implications of FGM/C and how to protect the next generation of girls from undergoing the practice. 

To view the new videos, check out the Voices 2022 playlist.

On August 24th, Sahiyo and StoryCenter will be hosting a virtual screening of the videos. Register here to reserve your spot.

To learn more about the Voices project, please visit our brand new website at VoicestoendFGMC.org

For further questions, contact Mariya Taher at mariya@sahiyo.org.

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