Let’s Talk with Khadija Gbla
Today's episode is with Khadija Gbla! Khadija is a high profile, passionate and inspiring African Australian woman. She is an award-winning human rights activist, inspirational speaker, facilitator and philanthropist. She has displayed great courage and determination in achieving her aspirations of giving women, youth and minority groups a voice at a local, state and international level. Khadija utilises her powerful and inspired voice to advocate equality and inclusion.
Khadija Gbla was born in Sierra Leone, spent her youth in Gambia, and as a teenager put down roots in Australia. Khadija was just 3-years-old when the war broke out in her country, Sierra Leone, before obtaining refugee status and resettling in Adelaide.
Khadija is the lead voice and campaigner on Female Genital Mutilation in Australia. She runs a not for profit organisation Ending Female Genital Mutilation Australia which works to protect Australian girls from FGM and to support survivors of FGM. Khadija provides training for professionals, advocacy and community education for practising communities in Australia. Khadija is also a TEDx speaker with close to 3 Million views on her talk, "My mother’s strange definition of empowerment".
She has represented Australia in the international arena at the Harvard National Model United Nations, Commonwealth Youth Forum and Australian and Africa Dialogue, Commonwealth heads of States Women’s Forum etc. Khadija has been recognised through numerous awards for her vision and leadership.
We chat on:
Navigating the healthcare system as an African Australian woman
When Khadija realised she was a victim of Female Genital Mutilation
The implications of FGM and the impact it has had on her life
How Khadija manages her symptoms and how important it is to listen to her body
What the LTP community can do to help stop FGM and support Khadija
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Let’s Talk, Period with Khadija Gbla. If you want more from Khadija, you can follow her on instagram at @khadija_gbla and watch her TEDx talk here. If you want to keep updated with all things Let's Talk, Period. you can follow us on Instagram at @letstalkperiodau.
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Your host is Isabella Gosling (@i_gosling)