United Against Female Genital Cutting
By Saleha Country of Residence: Canada Age: 45 Having lived in South-East Asia, and being exposed to multiple races and cultures, I grew up in a very open-minded family. As a child, my family and I occasionally went to the local Bohra mosque to socialize with others in the community. I loved going to the …
Continue reading Is the Dawoodi Bohra community truly as progressive as it claims to be?
In October 2017, at Sahiyo’s third Thaal Pe Charcha event, a young Indian Bohra woman, Saleha Paatwala, shared her experience of being subjected to “khafz” — also known as khatna or Female Genital Cutting — with the other participants. On this International Day of Zero Tolerance towards Female Genital Cutting (FGM/C), watch this poignant video …
by Aarefa Johari What is the real purpose behind Khatna for girls? The Dawoodi Bohra community has been practicing this hidden ritual of female circumcision, also known as Female Genital Cutting (FGC), for centuries, with no public discussion on its need. It is only in the past year that the Bohra leadership has finally spoken …
Continue reading Why do Dawoodi Bohras practice Khatna, or Female Genital Cutting?
By: Anonymous Age: 33 Country of birth: India Country of current residence: USA I am a male born into a Dawoodi Bohra family. My brother and I had remarkably normal upbringings in the United States. We were members of one of the more secular congregations in the in the US. My parents always pointed out …
Continue reading FGM and the myth of modernity among Dawoodi Bohras
Orchid Project: Bohra – India & Pakistan Fact Sheet No More Female Genital Mutilation: Dawoodi Bohra Women Crusade Indian Women who are fighting to stop genital mutilation Damage by Mariya Karimjee Who’s Afraid of Female Orgasm? The Secret is Out: Banning Female Genital Cutting in India India urged to ban FGM as women break silence …
“Female Genital Mutilation is child abuse and a form of gender-based violence in the name of religion: This was the clear message that emerged from the panel discussion held at The Australian Human Rights Commission office in Sydney on April 29, 2016. The event, hosted by No FGM Australia, was titled “FGM is Everyone’s Business”, and I had the honour of speaking on the panel on the subject of khatna (female circumcision) in the Dawoodi Bohra community.”
We want to commend the religious leaders of these Dawoodi Bohra Jammats for taking a public stance against Khafd/Khatna/FGC. By publicly stating that their Jammats (congregations) do not support it, an important first step has been taken to truly ending this form of gender violence. Thank you. If you know of a Jammat that has …
Continue reading Dawoodi Bohra Resolutions Against Khafd/Khatna (FGC)
(Article originally posted in Scroll.in on Feb 11, 2016) By Aarefa Johari Three months after a group of Dawoodi Bohras was held guilty for female genital mutilation in a landmark verdict by an Australian court, community authorities have issued a notice to all Bohras in Australia asking them to obey the law of the land …
(originally published on Ms. Dilshad Tavawala’s wordpress.com blog on January 17, 2016. Reposted here with permission) By Ms. Dilshad Tavawalla, B.A., LL.M., Barrister, Solicitor, Notary Public – Toronto, Canada Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) has been an international cause célèbre, and generated remarkable global attention for the past several decades. At international and intergovernmental levels, there is unequivocal …
By Umme Kulsoom Arif In response to your letter published in The Detroit News, “Dawoodi Bohra Women of Detroit speak up,” I write to you as a woman who grew up in a part of the Dawoodi Bohra community, just like you. I am also a woman of faith and education, a woman who loves …
