Asha Ismail is the Director of ONGD Save a Girl Save a Generation. She was born in a town in Kenya called Garissa, near the border of Somalia. Since 2001, she has been living in Spain. She started advocating against female genital mutilation (FGM) and other practices, such as forced marriages and different forms of abuse and violence against girls for the past 30 years. She has worked at a grassroots level in Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania, where she raised awareness and promoted education to eradicate these practices.
She continues her work in Spain, through the organization that she co-founded, helping women who have been affected in one way or another by these practices.
In this episode we discuss:
- Why her people practice female genital mutilation
- How culture, tradition, and religion play into FGM
- Who is performing FGM to these young girls
- The average age FGM is practiced
- What the effects are on a woman emotionally, mentally and physically from undergoing this practice
- Why the sexuality of a woman is a threat and why FGM removes that threat
- Why some women cannot pinpoint where their depression and anxiety come from and when they do
- What Asha feels the solutions to eradicate FGM are
- Why social norms play a huge role in perpetuating FGM and reinforcing why women aren’t good enough just the way they are
Connect with Asha:
http://www.saveagirlsaveageneration.org/
Twitter: @save_a_girl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saveagirlsaveageneration
Connect with Ashley:
Instagram: @ashleydrivard
Website: www.ashleyrivard.com
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