Voices to End FGM/C has grown to include more than 70 storytellers from 20+ countries. They came to our workshops and crafted powerful short videos … but so much was left unsaid. If you're interested in hearing more from our storytellers and learning more about the medical and legal landscape for FGM/C in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, tune in now to our podcast.
In six episodes ranging in length from 20-40 minutes each, Mariya and Amy talk with Voices digital storytelling participants about the complex familial, cultural, and political contexts of their stories. Some episodes bring in guests who have acted in their capacity as partners, therapists, public health professionals, and elected officials to speak out against FGM/C. If you've always wanted to know more about FGM/C, or if you're wondering why, as a feminist or social justice activist, you should care about the topic, tune in now. All episodes are available here, as well as on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Content Advisory: This podcast includes frank discussions about what FGM/C is and how survivors can be affected, in terms of their physical and mental health. It is not appropriate for children. While most episodes are free of graphic language, episode two does include definitions of FGM/C which may be difficult for some audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
"It's just so different from my mom's expectations … I kind of feel like I'm disappointing her a little bit, you know?" - Afiqa
Mariya speaks with three Voices storytellers representing issues and communities not typically included in discussions of FGM/C: Comfort talks about labial pulling, a little-known practice in Zimbabwe; Afiqa shares the challenges of being a nonbinary survivor in Singapore; and Jenny explains that the practice is a reality in her U.S.-based fundamentalist Christian community.
Read the transcript
Watch Comfort’s story: How Many Women?
Watch Afiqa’s story: Conversations with my Mother
Watch Jenny’s story: Keep Dancing and Be Free
21 Dec 2023
Episode Four: The Michigan Case
"When people bring it up, it's an opportunity to ground FGM/C within the world of violence against girls and women." - Arefa
Voices storyteller Arefa Cassoobhoy introduces this detailed exploration of the 2017 legal case against a Bohra physician in Michigan, which made headline news and put the topic of FGM/C on the map for many members of non practicing communities in the U.S. Mariya and public health researcher Karen McDonnell weighs in.
Read the transcript
Watch Arefa’s story: If Someone Asks
15 Dec 2023
Episode Three: A Meeting
"By the gestures, at the beginning, it seemed like a friendly conversation…" - Jonathan
Voices alumni Su and her husband Jonathan talk with Mariya about grappling with the realities of FGM/C in the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community. Both Su and Mariya grew up in Bohra households, and together, they explore the culture’s insistence that the practice must continue, and the pain of resurfaced memories.
Read the transcript
Watch Su’s story: Lithotomy Position
15 Dec 2023
Episode Two: The Grebo Bush
"Suddenly she was gone. Today, she was playing with us outside, and tomorrow, she was not there anymore." - Angela
Angela Peabody, who shared a story in a Voices workshop in Washington, DC, speaks frankly about the experiences that led to her commitment to ending FGM/C. Amy provides context for the issue in Liberia, where Angela grew up and spent her young adult years before fleeing the country during the reign of Charles Taylor.
Read the transcript
Watch Angela’s story: Becoming an Advocate
15 Dec 2023
Episode One: Anger and Healing
"My memory blocked it out, because it was so damn painful on so many different levels." - Shabana
Mariya and Amy are joined by Voices storyteller Shabana Feroze, who speaks of her journey through the rage she felt when she learned she had been cut, and licensed therapist Joanna Vergoth, who touches on the trauma within her own family as she talks about becoming involved in supporting the well-being of FGM/C survivors.
Read the transcript
Watch Shabana’s story: Anger
15 Dec 2023
Episode Zero: Inspiration
"It took me a very long time to get to where I am now and talk about things as openly as I do." - Mariya
Mariya Taher and Amy Hill, the original co-founders of Voices to End FGM/C, interview each other, weaving a conversation about the value and risks of sharing personal stories together with an account of an uncomfortable incident that occurred at the first public community screening of digital stories created in a Voices digital storytelling workshop.
Read the transcript
Watch Mariya’s Story, Forgiveness
Watch Mariya’s Story, Shattered Silences
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