By Nesha Abiraj It is an understood global reality that women and girls are facing the harshest impacts of the climate crisis. Yet we seldom hear advocates at the frontlines of the climate crisis, speaking to the impact on human rights. Thankfully, this is changing. In January of 2023, I was invited by...
By Anonymous Attending the digital storytelling workshop was an opportunity that came by and seemed interesting. After the first meeting and learning more about the Voices To End FGM/C program, I was even more intrigued. I wanted to be able to create a story that people would feel deeply and find some sort of hope when...
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...
Where, and how, does agency (or one's capacity to act) manifest itself for survivors for female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C)? How can survivors heal and find community with each other? These were two of the questions I pursued through a research project on the effect of digital storytelling on survivors of...
By Anam I like to hear stories because they help me understand people. Sometimes, they help me understand myself. So, when I heard storytellers talk about their experience with female genital mutilaiton (FGM), I thought about my own. The Voices to End FGM/C digital Sstorytelling workshop helped me put into...
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 navigating being 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...
By Nicole Mitchell I was inspired to join this workshop because the idea of using storytelling as a medium to fight oppression is particularly powerful. I also wanted to listen to other women tell their stories and support them in speaking truth to power. https://www.youtube.com/embed/X4weTNiAmL0 My hope is that by being vulnerable...
This blog is part of a series of reflective essays by participants of the Voices to End FGM/C workshops run by Sahiyo and StoryCenter. Through residential and online workshops on digital storytelling, Voices to End FGM/C enables those who have been affected by female genital mutilation/cutting to tell their stories through their own perspectives, in their own words. By...
By Maryah Haidery Last December I participated in a Sahiyo activist retreat where I learned the unique power that storytelling has to teach, stimulate, and inspire audiences while offering the storyteller a sense of empowerment and catharsis. That’s why I was excited to reunite with some of the brave women I met on...
By Zehra Patwa Shame. Deceit. Confusion. On the first day, sitting around a large table in a light-filled room in the StoryCenter workshop space in Berkeley, California, these words were repeated over and over again by each woman sharing her story of being cut as a young girl. And in most cases, the story...
Voices to End FGM/C is mobilizing a critical mass of storytellers and activists from across the globe by bringing them together to share and heal from female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), connect and grow as leaders, and create short videos calling for an end to this harmful practice.
Email: info@voicestoendfgmc.org
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