Masooma Ranalvi is an activist for the ending of

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

(FGM) in India. She is the founder of We Speak Out, an organization dedicated to helping Dawoodi Bohra women escape or heal from female genital mutilation. Ranalvi is a part of the Dawoodi Bohra

Shi'a Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...

community in western India. She shares her personal experience with FGM to open discourse on violence against women, sexual harassment, and sexism within traditional norms. Her agenda is to create and expand a platform for other women to openly discuss, and politically fight against, female genital mutilation.

Her Story

In 2015, Ranalvi shared her story on WhatsApp, soon after starting the We Speak Out movement. Ranalvi was cut at the age of seven in her village in India. One day, Ranalvi's grandmother took her to an old building where a woman performed female genital mutilation on her. In this community, FGM is a traditional custom based in the egalitarianism within the Muslim religion.

Activism

Ranalvi is the founder of We Speak Out. Working with the group,

Sahiyo Sahiyo is a non-governmental organization founded in 2015, to advocate for girls' and women's rights and oppose the practice of female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital ...

, Ranalvi created an online petition to stop female genital mutilation in the Bohra community that received over one hundred thousand signatures. Ranalvi's work also focuses on the mental health of FGM survivors. The organization's mission is to outwardly address India's government for a policy ban on FGM in the Bohra community, and extend this nationwide.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranalvi, Masooma Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Indian women activists Activists against female genital mutilation Dawoodi Bohras