Aarefa Johari

Aarefa Johari is a journalist and feminist activist. She started her career in the media in 2009, as a reporter and features writer with the Hindustan Times in Mumbai. Since 2014, she has been working with Scroll.in, one of India's leading independent digital news publications. As a reporter, Johari covers issues of gender, human rights, communities, culture, and urban development. In 2012, Aarefa began speaking out against Female Genital Cutting or Khatna, a practice that she had undergone as a child growing up in the Dawoodi Bohra community. She is now the co-founder and trustee of Sahiyo, an organization working to end Female Genital Cutting among Asian communities through education, dialogue, storytelling, and community engagement. She also represents Sahiyo and India as a member of the Alliance of Inclusive Muslims, a global coalition of progressive and liberal Muslim organizations. Aarefa is also an amateur violinist with the Bombay Chamber Orchestra.