Sahiyo

Creating social change through story-telling.

The Problem

According to the United Nations, at least 200 million women in 30 countries have been subjected to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). However, these statistics are largely restricted to sub-Saharan Africa and ignore the global scope of the issue. In 2016, a UNICEF report finally included Indonesia as a country where FGM/C is practiced. The release of national data from Indonesia raised the total of girls who have undergone FGM/C from 130 million in 29 countries – as estimated in 2014 – to 200 million in 30 countries. Only 10 million of that increase was due to population growth worldwide. In Indonesia alone, half of girls under the age of 11 have gone through FGM/C. In the United States, half a million girls are believed to have undergone FGM/C.

The Solution

Our mission is to empower communities to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and to create positive social change through dialogue, education and collaboration based on community involvement. Our storytelling campaigns have allowed women and girls to speak up (both anonymously and with their names), when previously many women and girls have been afraid to do so in public. They feared social ostracism and resisted being labeled as victims. Our work has also allowed men to engage in ending FGM/C in their communities. Through the collection of stories, we have been able to advocate for more research on FGM/C, motivated governments to take action on FGM/C, and provided support to hundreds of survivors.