Bohra women speak out against female genital mutilation, launch petition

A recent UN report highlighted the urgent need to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM), which has seen more than 200 million women and girls as victims globally.

According to WHO, FGM includes "procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons". In December 2012, the UN General Assembly "unanimously voted to work for the elimination of FGM" which it views as a human rights violation. 

Recently, women in India have come forward with their own experiences to bring awareness about the unspoken practise in the country.  

One of the women sharing her story with dna is journalist Aarefa Johari, who was just seven when she was circumcised. "My mother took me to an old lady's house in Bhendi Bazar, a Bohra neighbourhood in Mumbai," she said. Unaware of what was going to happen next, Aarefa was instructed to lay on the floor and to lift her frock. She recalls her mother said, "It will only take a minute and will only hurt a little bit". 

"The lady did something down there. It hurt, I cried," Johari recounts, but she eventually forgot about it after the pain went away. It was only in college when she read about FGM that she began to question what had happened to her. "Learning that the intention behind the practice is to basically curb a woman's sexual urge, was something that made me immensely angry," Johari says.

Compelled to bring awareness and an end to the practice, Johari is now the co-founder of Sahiyo, a human rights organisation whose goal is to end female genital mutilation and create positive social change."Sahiyo focuses on community engagement and awareness because community members need to themselves want an end to the practice. The change has to come from within," says Johari.

India hasn't made much of an effort to ban FGM, Johari says, because the Bohra community is a small minority. However, in an effort to urge the government to implement a law to ban FGM, a group of 17 women have started an online petition called Speak Out on FGM on change.org. So far, they have received 43,268 supporters.

“The fact that there are so many people speaking up and breaking the isolation in talking about khatna (FGM) in India is very important and powerful,” Mariya Taher, who was circumcised as a child and is also a co-founder at Sahiyo. Taher told dna that while she personally does not believe that legislation will end the practice, it can be a first step in recognising that female genital cutting does happen in India. “Legislation can also help support the need for community awareness campaigns, and for FGC to truly end, this movement needs to be done in conjunction with the community,” added Taher.

In collaboration with 'Speak Out on FGM' is also a campaign called 'Each One, Reach One' initiated by Sahiyo, which aims to break the silence about the subject considered taboo. "For far too long, women have not been able to speak about what happened to them and how the cutting may have impacted them physically, psychologically, emotionally or sexually, said Johari. 

“One of the first barriers to break is a sense of isolation that 'you' are the only one feeling this way and that 'you' are the only one that believes this shouldn't occur,” believes Taher. The campaign's mission is for one individual to reach out to one Bohra man or woman and talk about FGM and start a dialogue.

UNICEF has warned that "If current trends continue, the number of girls and women subjected to FGM will increase significantly over the next 15 years".