Khadija Gbla

Khadija Gbla (born c. 1988) is an Australian feminist and human rights activist She works as a cultural consultant, a keynote speaker and an anti- female genital mutilation (FGM) campaigner, based in South Australia. She founded the advocacy organisation No FGM Australia, which works to stamp out the practice.

Personal life

Gbla was born in Sierra Leone around 1988. When she was three years old,[1] in 1991 her family moved to the Gambia and later to Australia, for safety reasons, where they were granted refugee status in 2001,[2] when Gbla was 13 years old.[3]

Female genital mutilation (FGM) was performed on Gbla by an old woman in the Gambia when she was nine, removing her clitoris and labia minora.[1] She did not understand it at the time. The FGM was performed with a rusty knife on the unsterile floor of a hut,[4] in the name of "purity".[1] It left her with scarring complications, chronic pain and stress.[4] It was only after arriving in Australia, aged 13, that Gbla realised that what happened to her was "not okay".[1]

Career

Gbla volunteered for a charity in South Australia called Women's Health Statewide, which is when she realised that she was a victim of FGM.[5] She helped educate doctors, police officers and the community about FGM and continues to work to abolish FGM in Australia. She founded the charity No FGM Australia to provide healthcare and educational support for women and girls.[4] It provides cultural competency training for medical professionals and social workers.[5]

Working as a peer educator for the charity, she helps others to understand what FGM is, where it happens and the cultural beliefs that surround it. She has advised the South Australian Government Minister's Youth Council on organising camps and activities for newly-arrived refugees and has raised awareness about sexual and mental health issues among her peers. She represented Australia in the international arena at the Harvard National Model United Nations and the Commonwealth Youth Forum of Australian and Africa Dialogue, and she speaks at many events.[6][7]

Gbla has said "FGM impacts you at every stage of your life; every woman has her own shame and isolation in her experience. I want people to know how terrible this is, what a violation of women and girl rights. There is so much education that needs to be done. It’s up to us to end this human rights violation."[7]

The Khadija Gbla Cultural consultancy offers cultural awareness training and facilitation to government agencies, for non-profit organisations and individuals, as well as advocacy and mentoring. She has spoken at multiple TEDx events.[8]

Gbla is an ambassador for Our Watch, an organisation established to change attitudes of violence towards women and their children,[5] and director of Reacher's Philanthropy - Committed to Women's and Girl's Self Empowerment.[9]

Recognition

Her work has been honoured many times:[8]

References
  1. Ross, Isabella (10 March 2022). "Khadija Gbla is a survivor of female genital mutilation". Mamamia. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  2. Knight, Gordon (13 June 2019). "Meet human rights activist Khadija Gbla". The Advertiser. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. Horton, Shelly (10 March 2022). "Khadija Gbla interview: African-Australian activist's fight to end female genital mutilation". 9Honey. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  4. Thing, Selena Shannon for The Real (8 March 2018). "Female genital mutilation survivor says Australian health system is 'endangering women'". ABC News. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  5. "Khadija Gbla - Our Watch Ambassador". Our Watch. 20 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  6. Gbla, Khadija. "Khadija Gbla". TED. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  7. "Faces of our neighbourhoods: Khadija Gbla - Amnesty International Aust". Amnesty International Australia. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  8. "Khadija Gbla ... passionate community leader and activist". Saxton Speakers Bureau. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  9. "Khadija Gbla". SA Rural Womens Gathering MinlatonS. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
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