In an attempt to highlight people dedicated to the goal of women empowerment, I interviewed Ms. Aarefa Johari, a journalist and an anti-female Genital Mutilation Activist. She is also the co-founder of Sahiyo, an NGO that works towards the abolition of female genital mutilation (FGM) all over the world and provides a safe space to the victims. Initially, Sahiyo worked towards ending FGM in Ms. Johari's community, “Dawoodi Bohra” of the Muslims. Being a victim herself, she recognized the need of the hour to speak up about this subject and end this cruel practice through her NGO.
At what age did you recognize FGM as an issue in your community?
I realized FGM was a controversial issue during my early adolescence when my mother came across an article about it and showed it to me. The article had an anonymous Bohra woman’s story speaking against the cut, but most of it was about FGM in Africa. I was too young then, and I just went with my mom’s rationalization that ‘we don’t do what the Africans do,’ that they mutilate, whereas we just circumcise. I realized it was a human rights violation some years later, during my college. But I took the first step against it in my early 20s and my friend started a change.org petition against the practice.
How did you realize that you were subjected to such a violation and how did you cope with it?
I don’t exactly remember the details. I think sometime during college some friend mentioned circumcision and FGM and I spoke about how it happened to girls in my community. The discussion eventually spiraled, and I started reading up online. The more I read, the angrier I got about what had happened to me. I dealt with my feelings by confronting my mom and spending quite a long time feeling resentful towards her. However, I realized that she, as an individual, was not at fault - the fault was in the socio-religious system that we are all a part of.
What is the cultural-religious-social justification given to perform FGM? How valid do you think is it?
There are various reasons given for practicing FGM. The main reason is tradition, apart from various myths such as cleanliness, beauty, and fertility.
FGM is basically a social norm, and it is taught to be a part of our religion, tradition, and culture, so we just have to follow it. Social norms are traditions and rituals that are so deep-rooted that people blindly follow them. There is a fear instilled where not following them could lead to negative consequences. Of course, this is not valid - all social norms need to be questioned and examined. If they are found to be unnecessary, harmful, discriminatory, or regressive, they must be done away with. But to do that, it is important to approach norms from a place of understanding. You can’t attack the people who follow norms without realizing that they give meaning to people’s lives and breaking out of social norms takes time, patience, and persistence.
How big a role do you think religion and culture play in sustaining or promoting the practice of FGM?
FGM is not strictly a religious requirement, for instance, it is not mentioned in the Quran. But people in my community and many other communities believe it is a religious practice, making religion the biggest factor in sustaining it. The Bohras understand it as part of their religious tradition and culture, even though it is more about the community than the religion. The custodians of communities that practice FGM use religion as a tool to sustain and promote the practice within our cultures.
What major psychological and physical effects have you observed while interacting with the victims of FGM?
FGC affects different women differently, and many women have not faced any effects at all. However, in these past five or six years, I’ve met many women who have been psychologically affected. They felt betrayed when their own mothers took them for the cut. Some women still remember and feel the trauma of being cut in such an intimate and sensitive place. It also affects the self-image of many women. Many tell us that they feel incomplete, inadequate, violated, or tampered with.
Physical scarring depends on how much was cut because there is no uniformity in how much clitoral tissue each girl was born with. Some women were cut more than intended, some bled a lot, some experienced burning, and some still feel pain in the area.
There is also the sexual impact. I’ve met so many women who experience painful sex or feel traumatized by sex because intimate touch triggers memories of the cut. There are also many women, like me, who lead satisfactory sexual lives but feel frustrated because we will never know whether sex could have been different if we had not been cut.
Have you taken forward the conversation about FGM with men in the community? How has been your experience speaking to men on this issue?
Sahiyo works a lot with men! Our Thaal Pe Charcha program is designed to create a discussion between people, including men. Recently we also launched a Male Ally campaign, that asks men to come together and support us in ending FGM all over the world.
Just like women, we find men of all kinds, some who believe FGM must be done because it is part of culture and religion. On the other hand, there are some who ardently support our movement and are speaking out, and others who are indifferent or afraid to speak.
Please tell us something about your work at Sahiyo and the challenges you faced within the community in resisting FGM? What has given you the strength to deal with these challenges?
We face various challenges like the lack of a universal approach or the involvement of major leaders in such practices. It is difficult to end FGM completely, but we are progressing.
I think I get my strength from the community members themselves. Every time I feel tired or disillusioned and experience self-doubt, I end up hearing from a community member about how much our movement and our storytelling space helped them. They are able to deal with their trauma, share their story, or help us change someone else’s mind about performing FGM on their daughter. It helps us reconfirm our faith in our work.
What has stayed with you through your work at Sahiyo? Any survivor account that left an indelible impact on your mind?
Nothing has disturbed me as much as watching a little child go through the trauma of FGM. It will haunt me forever. A couple of years ago, we also met a young child who bled all night after she was cut and needed stitches to stop the bleeding. It was unbearable to see the trauma she experienced for more than a year because of it. She has developed a massive fear of strangers, sharp objects, and injections. Her mother is now terrified that she will not lead a happy married life, which might as well be the case.
What can be done to transform societal mindset and attitudes towards the practice?
I believe information and effective communication are key. You need to have accurate information about everything to do with the practice, from all perspectives, including medical, legal, religious, human rights, etc. to counter social norms. You also need to know how to take that information to people in a way that is not aggressive, judgmental, or antagonistic. Otherwise, why will they listen to you? Patience is important to encourage a critical mass of community members to abandon an ancient practice.
Do you think mainstream media has made efforts to highlight the cruelty of FGM? Is an FGM-free world is possible in the near future with the work of organizations such as Sahiyo?
Mainstream media in India and around the world has been giving a lot of attention to FGC in recent years. However, even better articles and reports that are more sensitive and nuanced are, of course, needed. Community-based organizations like Sahiyo play an extremely crucial role in ending FGC. But we need collective efforts from all quarters of society: the government, policymakers, police and justice systems, medical fraternity, educational institutions, religious institutions, the youth, the media, everyone.
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