Community Outreach is essential to helping to end harmful practices such as female genital cutting. Since our founding, Sahiyo has been invited on various  platforms to talk about Female Genital Cutting (FGC). These platforms include conferences on women’s rights, gender, religion and minorities, guest sessions with college students as well as workshops with local communities and other social activists. We also conducted a training workshop with members of the media.

Below is a brief description of the many aspects of FGC that Sahiyo has been presenting on. If you would like to get in touch with us for a workshop or discussion, please fill out this Community Presentation Request form and write and email to us at info@sahiyo.com.

What We Offer:

Learning about Female Genital Cutting in the Dawoodi Bohra Community:

This presentation provides a basic overview of FGC as practiced in the Dawoodi Bohra community. Participants will be given a general overview of the Dawoodi Bohra community, the forms of FGC performed in the community, the reasons and justifications given for the continuation of the practice, and how the overall movement of speaking up against FGC began.

Female Genital Cutting and Social Change:

This presentation is aimed at students and groups who are interested in learning about FGC but may not be directly affected by it. It offers an overview of the practice of FGC, the generation of a movement against it and the obstacles faced by those in the movement. This opens a window to several other discussions relevant to the audience in question: discussions about anatomy, bodily integrity, consent, female sexual pleasure, social norms and gender stereotypes, and how anyone can spark a movement and become an agent of change in their community.

Incorporating Storytelling into Gender Based Violence Work:

This presentation will provide information on how Sahiyo’s FGC storytelling programs have helped spark discussions on gender-based violence through use of digital platforms, magazines, theater work, film, and art. We use storytelling as a vehicle for social change, to amplify the voices of women worldwide who have undergone FGC.

Sensitively Reporting on Female Genital Cutting – Media Training:

This training teaches journalists how to sensitively and effectively report on the practice of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) prevalent in the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community. FGC, is a very complex and controversial issue that requires well-informed and nuanced reporting that is sensitive to the survivors and communities involved. News coverage on FGC has been well-intentioned but often, journalists unwittingly misunderstand and misrepresent facts about the practice, and/or portray the issue in a sensational manner that can end up harming FGC survivors, girls at risk and the movement at large.The training teaches all those engaged in media work how to act as social agents of change, ensure the safety of gender-based violence survivors and consider the retribution survivors could face if their safety is compromised.

Collecting Data on FGC: A Community Based Survey Tool

This presentation provides a behind the scenes look into how Sahiyo created our successful online survey tool to gain prevalence statistics on FGC as practiced within the Dawoodi Bohra Community. In June 2015, Sahiyo introduced an online survey to gather data on and insight into the prevalence of FGC amongst the Dawoodi Bohra communities in India and around the world. This study attempted to understand the perceptions, beliefs and rationales of FGC among the global Dawoodi Bohras population. Understanding the complex social norms and cultural value systems that shape the practice’s meaning and significance within this community is critical to the work of anti-FGC advocates. As a result of our survey design, Sahiyo was able to also initiate dialogue within the community on the topic. Throughout the presentation, Sahiyo discusses the challenges and successes in creating this project.