24.6.2015. By Stop FGM Middle East. The radio program “Tradition of the Blade” which addresses female genital mutilation (FGM) in Iran won a Gold Medal at the celebrated New York Festival International Radio Program Awards on June 22. The 30-minutes special was aired by Radio Farda, the Iran service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, on November 25th, 2014. It was the first time, that a radio tackled this topic in Iran and this was done with great insight and in remarkable openness.
Roya Karimi Majd takes Gold Trophy at the prestigious NY Festival’s World’s Best Radio Programs Awards
The journalist Roya Karimi Majd had interviewed survivors of FGM but also sociologists, activists and religious scholars. In the program, a mother confesses: “It ruins the life of people. Most divorces are because if this. Couples hate each other.” Her daughter talks about the effect it had on her last relationship: “When intercourse happened I could not show any reaction, I was cold. In the end my partner thought that he was the problem and this is how our relationship broke up.”
The sociologist Rayehe Mozafarian and activist Parvin Zabihi who have founded the group Stop FGM in Iran explain how FGM is related to religion and patriarchal society.
The full text of the program has been translated by Stop FGM Middle East.
Credits for the production were given to Roya Karimi Majd as author and producer of the program and to editor in chief of Radio Farda, Niusha Boghrati. Both, Roya Karimi and Niusha Boghrati focus in their work on human rights and civil society.
The Gold Medal for “Tradition of the Blade” was awarded in the Category for “Best Magazine Format“.
In the prestigious New York Festival’s World Best Radio Program, the Czechia based Radio Farda won yet another ward. A silver medal went to its “Five in the Afternoon” show produced by The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran in the Category of “Best Regularly Scheduled Comedy Program“.
The New York Festival’s International Radio Program Awards for The World’s Best Radio Programs honors radio programming in formats by radio stations, networks and independent producers from around the globe.