Mariya Taher

Named one of the six experts on female genital cutting (FGC) to watch by NewsDeeply.com, Mariya has worked in the anti-gender violence field for over a decade in research, policy, program development, and direct service. She received her Master of Social Work from San Francisco State University in 2010 where she pursued a qualitative study titled, “Understanding Female Genital Cutting in the United States.” Since then, she has worked on the issue of domestic violence at W.O.M.A.N., Inc., Asian Women’s Shelter, and Saheli, Support and Friendship for South Asian Women and Families, and was part of the Women’s Foundation of California Women’s Policy Institute. In 2015, she cofounded Sahiyo, an internationally recognized, award-winning organization to empower Asian communities to end female genital cutting. Mariya also sits on the inaugural steering committee for the US End FGM/C Network. In 2019, the Muslim American Leadership Alliance awarded her their 2019 storytelling award for her pioneering work in utilizing storytelling methods to bring about abandonment of FGC. Mariya is also a prolific writer with work appearing in NPR, Ms. Magazine, HuffPost, Brown Girl Magazine, SolLit Magazine, The San Francisco Examiner, and more.