The FGM Programme at Manor Gardens Welfare Trust was set up 9 years ago to support women who had survived FGM, to empower communities through education to reject FGM and to train and raise awareness with professionals about FGM and safeguarding. Leyla Hussein, psychotherapist and campaigner who was already working on our programme spoke of the essential need to ensure that survivors of FGM had access to psychological support as well as physical support. From this, the Dahlia Project grew to what it has become today – a unique specialist holistic service providing both psychological and physical support to survivors of FGM.
“I was cut when I was 7 years old. It was not until later, when I gave birth to my daughter, that anyone talked to me about FGM and offered me help. FGM is shrouded in secrecy and too many women suffer in silence through many years of pain. At Dahlia Project we break the silence and provide a safe space and therapeutic support. Working with these incredible women who have gone through so much, seeing them heal and support each other, is inspiring.”
Leyla Hussein, Founder of Dahlia Project