Challenging Silence

Whether it is promoting more affordable housing or protecting women's rights, advocacy is an important way to initiate societal changes. The Challenging Silence hosts are joined by an anti-FGM/C advocate who speaks on her journey of campaigning to end the harmful practice, language as an essential and powerful tool in advocacy work, and how empowering women and girls is crucial to ending discriminatory practices and achieving gender equality.

Canada is home to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who come from countries where FGM/ C is a documented practice; and within these immigrant communities are Canadian-born girls who might be at risk of undergoing this practice. In this episode, we are joined by a guest host and an immigration lawyer with many years of experience working with Canadian families impacted by FGM/C to discuss how to protect girls at risk and what currently exists in Canada to safeguard them.

Clinique pour la Justice Migrante [Migrant Justice Clinic] provides information and legal representation for migrants living in Quebec. Visit https://cliniquejusticemigrante.org/ to learn more and access their services.

The fight for gender equality and the end of violence against women cannot be achieved if men and boys are not involved. In this episode, the Challenging Silence hosts are joined by community outreach workers from Midaynta Community Services to speak about the importance of good male role modelling, engaging youth to nurture healthy masculinity and the need for GBV prevention and intervention programs targeted toward boys and men.

Visit www.midaynta.com to learn more about the settlement and support services this community organizations provide to refugees, immigrants and youths in need in Toronto.

The negative effects of FGM/C orGBV, are not just physical. Survivors can be left with long-term psychological impacts as a result of their traumatic experiences. In this episode, our guest, a mental health therapist speaks on the side effects that emerge from the trauma of GBV and FGM/C and how they can vary for each individual. We learn that support and services cannot be one shoe fits all and there needs to be a collaboration with communities, survivors and service providers. We also learn about strategies that can be used by providers for survivors during a trigger to help them strive.

The hosts of the Challenging Silence podcast are joined by an obstetrician-gynecologist based in Toronto with a special interest in caring for survivors of FGM/C. In this episode, we learn more about the healthcare services that are provided for FGM/C survivors, the gaps that exist within these services and the possible solutions to improve the services and support for the survivors.

To learn more about practices and frameworks for supporting diverse communities of survivors through culturally sensitive, survivor-centred, and trauma-informed approaches, take a look at our toolkit. https://flourishaccess.ca/resources/toolkit

Canada is home to survivors of FGM/C and to girls who are at risk of experiencing it and the government has taken a strong stance against FGM/C and continues to recognize it as a human rights violation. Join the hosts of the Challenging Silence podcast as they engage in an in-depth conversation with a guest who has a wealth of knowledge on this subject matter and has done some great work in the communities. In this episode, we will find out what initiatives, projects and programs are currently in place to reach the “Global Promise, Ending Female Genital Mutilation by 2030”. 

To learn more about GenderNet Plus, and the RHCforFGC Project go to https://gender-net-plus.eu/

As a result of racism, language barriers, social isolation, stigma, and socioeconomic status, racialized women and girls in Canada often struggle to find help and support while reporting GBV and on their path toward healing. The Challenging Silence hosts are joined by a survivor of FGM/C to discuss intersectionality from the viewpoint of a Black Muslim woman and survivor, as well as how stigma associated with these overlapping social identities contributes to experiences of oppression and discrimination.

To reach the goal of abandoning/ending FGM/C, we need to speak on the truths about the practice and end the culture of silence surrounding it; both within practicing and non-practicing communities. In this episode, the Challenging Silence hosts are joined by a woman from an impacted community to touch on why there is silence, how stigma and discrimination contribute to it, and how survivors' resilience and storytelling are breaking the silence.

This episode’s conversation is about the sociocultural reasons communities practice FGM/C and the Challenging Silence hosts are joined by a young Muslim woman from an impacted community. She will be helping us clear some myths surrounding FGM/C, and shed light on some of the misconceptions linked to this practice.

Approximately, 200 million women and girls have undergone some form of FGM/C, and thousands of them reside here in Canada. Yet, FGM/C is not widely acknowledged in Canada, and many Canadians, including GBV support service providers, do not know about the practice. The Challenging Silence hosts are joined by a survivor, who shares her story to bring awareness and understanding of the practice and its negative impact on survivors’ well-being.

You can learn more about FGM/C and access useful resources on our website.