At a time when the Indian Supreme Court is debating whether the practice of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) falls within the ambit of the Constitutional right to religious freedom, Sahiyo's new campaign, ‘Faces For Change’, aims to bring the public focus back where it belongs: to the lives of women who have suffered because of FGC and whose trauma must not be trivialised.
This campaign urges the Indian government and other stakeholders to create laws and policies to help end the practice of FGC and ensure the safety of future generations of Indian girls.
The Creative Executor of Faces For Change is Sahiyo co-founder and filmmaker Insia Dariwala. The photographer is Dipak Nayak, a cinematographer from the Indian film industry.  

Please sign and share Sahiyo's petition so that we can help end the practice of FGC.

What is Female Genital Cutting:
FGC, also known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), khafz or khatna/sunnath for girls, is an ancient cultural ritual that involves cutting a part of a minor girl’s genitalia for non-medical reasons. According to the United Nations, at least 200 million women and girls have been subjected to FGC, but this figure mainly represents communities in Africa -- it does not include FGC-practicing communities in Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Iran, the Maldives, and more.
In India, FGC is widely practiced among Bohra Muslim sects (including the Dawoodi Bohras, Alvi Bohras, Sulemanis and reformist Bohras), who cut girls at the age of six or seven. It is also practiced by some Sunni Muslim sects in parts of Kerala, where girls are cut in infancy.
According to the World Health Organisation’s classification, these Indian communities typically practice ‘Type 1 FGC’, which involves cutting a girl’s clitoral hood and/or a portion of the clitoris. Such non-medical cutting of healthy genitalia can lead to a variety of physical, psychological or sexual health consequences.
FGC is considered a human rights violation according to the United Nations, and it is illegal in several countries around the world. India does not currently have a law against FGC.