The Play

‘Judging Without Knowing Us’

‘Judging Without Knowing Us’ is an original play written and performed by Bristol Somali women. It tells the hitherto unspoken story of women with daughter considered at risk of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), and showcases the damage caused by the current obsession with the practice.
The play, was created entirely by Somali women working with actors from Acta Community Theatre, Bristol. It highlights the damage caused by a now common narrative that surrounds FGM in the UK – a combination of victimhood, stigma and criminalisation.

The play depicts how anti-FGC initiatives and interventions in families suspected of carrying out the practice affects them, and encourages the audience to imagine the trauma they experience purely because on their ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
The dominant narrative to date has been one of victimhood, trauma and stigma. But the strong women at the heart of the play, women from the communities who frequently bear the brunt of the narrative that seeks to pre-emptively criminalise them, come out fighting.

The play depicts how anti-FGC initiatives and interventions in families suspected of carrying out the practice affects them, and encourages the audience to imagine the trauma they experience purely because on their ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

The dominant narrative to date has been one of victimhood, trauma and stigma. But the strong women at the heart of the play, women from the communities who frequently bear the brunt of the narrative that seeks to pre-emptively criminalise them, come out fighting.