Date: Friday, May 15 2026 Time: 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM Stories That Sustain Us: Collective Care and Ending FGM/C Survival is not something done alone. For women and girls impacted by gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), survival is sustained through community, collective care, and the courage to speak truth together. This 90-minute panel will bring together alumni from Sahiyo’s Voices to End FGM/C digital storytelling project to explore how storytelling becomes a practice of collective survival. Rooted in participatory, trauma-informed methods, Voices supports survivors in crafting short digital stories that reclaim narrative power, disrupt stigma, and strengthen community response to violence. Through moderated dialogue and the screening of short digital stories, panelists will reflect on: How storytelling shifts isolation into solidarity What it means to survive in community rather than alone How narrative power challenges silence, shame, and harmful cultural norms The role of collective care in healing This session centers women of color not as subjects of policy, but as knowledge producers, movement leaders and experts, and architects of survival. Panelists will share how participating in the storytelling process reshaped their understanding of healing, advocacy, and community responsibility. Participants will engage in guided reflection and dialogue about how storytelling can be […]

Sahiyo, AWS, and Silence Speaks are hosting a parallel event titled "Storytelling as a Tool for Female Genital Mutilation/ Cutting (FGM/C) Survivor-Centered Care" for the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69). The session will feature stories from the Voices to End FGM/C program with a panel discussion, including individuals behind the stories, reflecting on their personal narratives and insights into how these stories have been utilized to drive systemic change and enhance culturally competent care. Date: Tue, 18 March, 2025 Time: 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm ET In-Person Event  Location: Church Center for the United Nations (CCUN), 2nd Floor, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 Registration: https://bit.ly/SahiyoCSW69    

Date: December 10, 2024  Time: 4-5:30 PM PT/7-8:30 PM ET Registration link: https://bit.ly/RegisterVoices24Screening  On Tuesday, December 10th at 4-5:30 PM P.T./7-8:30 PM E.T., Sahiyo – in partnership with Asian Women’s Shelter and Silence Speaks – will host a screening of the newest set of Voices to End FGM/C digital stories, created by survivors of and advocates working to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). In addition to viewing these 10 new poignant stories, attendees will hear from some of the storytellers themselves about their experiences in the storytelling workshop and their work to end FGM/C. “It’s like we created our own community as we held space for one another while bearing witness to each other’s stories as they were told. I also appreciated and valued the accommodations made to ensure that all participants had the best possible experience. It’s things like this that made the workshop a special and meaningful space to be a part of. ” - Musu Bakoto Sawo, Voices ‘24 Workshop Participant   The Voices to End FGM/C program is a digital storytelling project created by Silence Speaks and Sahiyo that aims to mobilize a critical mass of survivors and activists from across the globe. Voices to END FGM/C brings people together to […]