Masooma Ranalvi, India

I initiated the movement Speak Out On FGM in late 2015. The case against 3 Bohras in Australia hit home the realisation that FGM exists and is very much thriving in the Bohra community in India as well as overseas. I wrote a blog on NDTV.com which led many Bohra women to come forward and empathise with me. This gave me the impetus to start Speak Out On FGM, a platform for women to speak about their concerns, their issues and to campaign for an end to FGM from the community.

The psychological trauma of FGM never left me. Almost 40 years later I continue to feel anger and helplessness at being subject to the practice. I firmly believe that FGM is a severe form of violence against a child and woman and is a deep rooted form of patriarchy which seeks to control a woman and her sexuality.