Dr Leyla Sirad Hussein Gikandi OBE

@sgikandi wife 💜 Disruptor, Wellbeing expert, social entrepreneur, founder @dahliaproject1 @MagoolEndFGM Co-founder @SafeSpaces4BW ✊🏾❤🙏🏾

[Dr Leyla Sirad Hussein Gikandi OBE @LeylaHussein]

1/9:
A New Year's Reflection: Embracing Humanity in All Its Forms and a Call For Human Compassion. As the new year dawns, I'm in a reflective state, reevaluating the world around me, confronting realities I cannot ignore. #NewYearsReflection #Humanity"

[Dr Leyla Sirad Hussein Gikandi OBE @LeylaHussein]

@sgikandi Justice is already here 🙏🏾💜

[Dr Leyla Sirad Hussein Gikandi OBE @LeylaHussein]

Why are some forms of suffering treated as emergencies while others become background noise?

A viral video showing Black dolls marketed as "stress-relief" toys prompted me to reflect on a much bigger question: the normalisation of Black suffering.

https://t.co/VAOceHPqLg

[samuel gikandi @sgikandi]

Kenyans are being humiliated because our destiny is too profound for the West to comprehend. Dying kicks as we rebalance humanity ☀️

[Dr Leyla Sirad Hussein Gikandi OBE @LeylaHussein]

@hafizsaadriaz seeing you here made my day 🙏🏾😎

[Muhammad Saad @hafizsaadriaz]

show my gratitude to all my friends/colleagues/comrades, especially @iyad_elbaghdadi , @gatnash, @LeylaHussein , @kristinevegard and @EonHoldings !
I'm indebted for the support from the journalist community of Pakistan, from @AsadAToor to @aimaMK to @majidsnizami

[Dr Leyla Sirad Hussein Gikandi OBE @LeylaHussein]

People who are truly powerful do not spend their lives trying to prove it. Their presence speaks before they do.

[Kristine Eikrem @kristinevegard]

@LeylaHussein about female genital mutilation, the silence around it and the words used to soften what it actually is, sexual violence.

[Dr Leyla Sirad Hussein Gikandi OBE @LeylaHussein]

FGM is not a “cultural practice” to be softened through euphemisms.

It is sexual violence.

My latest piece explores race, media silence, and the brutalisation of Black girls.

Read here https://t.co/bd8A7Umbng…
#EndFgm #Blacklivesmatter #BlackchildrenMatter #VAWG

[Dr Leyla Sirad Hussein Gikandi OBE @LeylaHussein]

FGM is not a “cultural practice” to be softened through euphemisms.

It is sexual violence.

My latest piece explores race, media silence, and the brutalisation of Black girls.

Read here https://t.co/cVMcE8JhyZ
#EndFgm #Blacklivesmatter #BlackchildrenMatter #VAWG

[The Girl Generation @TheGirlGen]

#ChangeCallsUsHere

@LeylaHussein spoke with @FullerProject while at @WomenDeliver on language and the importance of #Reframing the narrative to #EndFGM. Reframing the narrative starts with all of us. What’s one thing you’ve unlearned about #FGM, and what helped you see it differently?

@OptionsinHealth @ARROW_Women @OrchidProject @TheVavengers @GlobalFGMC

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

Saad joined @KULNA_co earlier this year as content strategist and production specialist. Besides his work with us preparing for launch, Saad is co-host of Eon Podcast (@EonHoldings), one of Pakistan's most successful political shows. He's also a writer, scholar, and researcher.

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

ALERT: Muhammad Saad Riaz, Pakistani journalist & media professional who recently joined our launch team as content strategist, was abducted in Lahore last week. We've since found out that ridiculous & spurious charges of supporting terror have been brought against him.

[Dr Leyla Sirad Hussein Gikandi OBE @LeylaHussein]

This week, our colleague Muhammad Saad was abducted from his Lahore home without warrant. Spurious terror charges have been brought against him. We demand his immediate release. @kulna_co @Kawaakibi

[Kawaakibi Foundation @Kawaakibi]

This week, our colleague Muhammad Saad was abducted from his Lahore home without warrant. Spurious terror charges have been brought against him. We demand his immediate release.

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

@kulna_co @EonHoldings Kulna's founding members are steeped in struggles for democracy, free speech, and human rights. They include myself, @ramyessam, @ori_goldberg, @khalidalbaih, @LeylaHussein, @gatnash, @kristinevegard, @IsaFarzaneh. And, of course, Saad. This is his team.
https://t.co/eKlNSM6VdJ

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

@kulna_co @EonHoldings @RamyEssam @ori_goldberg @khalidalbaih @LeylaHussein @gatnash @kristinevegard @IsaFarzaneh Saad has been integral to our launch. Last Monday, he didn't show up for our scheduled calls.

The next day, we learned what had happened: Saad was abducted from his home at 3:30 am by 12 masked armed men from the counter-terrorism police. There was no warrant and no explanation.

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

@kulna_co @EonHoldings @RamyEssam @ori_goldberg @khalidalbaih @LeylaHussein @gatnash @kristinevegard @IsaFarzaneh To justify the arrest, they filed charges so ridiculous that they'd be hilarious in another context. They unironically said he carried an "Alqaeda membership card", and that despite being arrested at home, he was simultaneously distributing flyers halfway across town. At 3 am.

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

@kulna_co @EonHoldings @RamyEssam @ori_goldberg @khalidalbaih @LeylaHussein @gatnash @kristinevegard @IsaFarzaneh They even gained access to his X account and in order to manufacture pretext, scrolled back 9 (!) years to find a tweet in which he was mocking politicians who glorify Osama Bin Laden. They made that his pinned tweet without context in order to make it seem Saad supports terror.

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

@kulna_co @EonHoldings @RamyEssam @ori_goldberg @khalidalbaih @LeylaHussein @gatnash @kristinevegard @IsaFarzaneh Saad's actual pinned tweet was this one, from Anas Al Sharif, the beloved Palestinian journalist who was murdered by Israel and then called a terrorist.

How apt, this is what CTD did with Saad: Target a journalist then claim he supports terror.
https://t.co/bI3FoIAVJP

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

@kulna_co @EonHoldings @RamyEssam @ori_goldberg @khalidalbaih @LeylaHussein @gatnash @kristinevegard @IsaFarzaneh Anyone who knows Saad knows just how ridiculous these charges are. He is vehemently opposed to terror and tyranny. He is committed to debate, discussion and argument. It says something that they have to scroll back nearly a decade to find anything that can help them.

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

@kulna_co @EonHoldings @RamyEssam @ori_goldberg @khalidalbaih @LeylaHussein @gatnash @kristinevegard @IsaFarzaneh Saad is brilliant, outspoken, and brutally honest when he needs to be. He doesn't show respect for typical hierarchies. He achieved great success as a media professional despite not coming from elite circles.

This gained him a lot of admirers, as well as a few enemies.

[İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي @iyad_elbaghdadi]

@kulna_co @EonHoldings @RamyEssam @ori_goldberg @khalidalbaih @LeylaHussein @gatnash @kristinevegard @IsaFarzaneh Despite the corruption in Pakistan, there is a judicial process that must be followed. Saad's colleagues are confident that once a judge hears his case, the charges will be dismissed.

But this can take months, and we're very worried about mistreatment in detention.