Sensolia Foundation
Sensolia Mission
Solutions are best
suited to your situation.
We offer quality services in interdisciplinary medical, surgical and psychological care with support in the social sphere for women and girls living with female circumcision or at risk of undergoing it. Generally, a girl or a woman is at risk when women in her family (of origin or by marriage) or female relatives have been circumcised.
Our care is based on the best evidence and we contribute to research in the field. Our team of professionals dedicated and specialized in female circumcision can guide you and see with you which approaches and solutions are best suited to your situation.
An interdisciplinary care
clinic for girls & women
An interdisciplinary care clinic for girls and women at risk or living with female circumcision. It was set up by professionals whose expertise is recognized globally.
The Sensolia Foundation includes an educational component for and with community organizations, health and social services professionals, as well as a research component, which allows the team to offer cutting-edge, specialized services adapted to the realities of girls. and the women concerned.
We aspire to a world where women of all cultures and walks of life can experience their sexuality according to their will and have access to care services appropriate to their needs, in complete safety.
In the meantime, we aim to become THE benchmark in Canada for quality multidisciplinary services for circumcised women and for training in health care related to female circumcision.
All this while gaining global visibility from the world and the most recent innovative and relevant practices in research and intervention.
Accessible care
and safety
Sensolia Vision
Who are we?
The two founders of the
Sensolia Foundation
The two founders of the Sensolia Foundation are
Dr. Sophia Koukoui, psychologist
and
Dr. Elise Dubuc, obstetrician-gynecologist and pediatric gynecologist.
Dr. Sophia Koukoui
PsyD/PhD, MSC
Dr. Elise Dubuc
MD, FRCSC
Clinician and researcher, Dr. Koukoui comes from a country where female circumcision is practiced. She has worked in research and intervention with circumcised women in West Africa and Canada for more than fifteen years. Dr. Koukoui carries out psycholegal assessments and offers psychological services to circumcised women and has created a model of care that takes into account culture, collective experience, migration and trauma response.
She has developed a psychosocial assessment tool and a training module for professionals working in the public health sector, mandated by the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services. She also co-authored the American Urological Association's Continuing Medical Education (CME) training module.
Dr. Koukoui has worked on various international research projects in West Africa, Canada and the United States. She is challenged by what “healing” means for circumcised women and girls and works to develop best practices to support them on this journey. Her most recent research focuses on the impact of the global anti-female circumcision discourse on women living with female circumcision and on the perception of female circumcision among African-Canadians in countries where it is practiced. Dr. Koukoui is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the Université de Montréal.
Dr. Dubuc completed her medical studies at the University of Sherbrooke and her residency in obstetrics-gynecology at the University of Montreal. She continued her training with a fellowship in pediatric and adolescent gynecology at SickKids in Toronto where she honed her skills in genital reconstruction surgery. She then undertook a doctorate in sexology at UQAM.
She worked for 11 years as an obstetrician-gynecologist and pediatric and adolescent gynecologist at the CHU Sainte-Justine before founding the Sensolia Clinic in 2022.
Dr. Dubuc has been treating circumcised women for 15 years and has participated in several research projects and international publications on the subject.
She participates in the training of medical students and gynecology residents in the assessment and medical care of girls and women living with female circumcision and has offered numerous training sessions to family physicians and obstetrician-gynecologists in Quebec. and Canada.
Our values
The well-being of our patients
at the heart of the
Sensolia Foundation
Integrity
We truly care about our patients and provide them with an environment where they can express themselves with sincerity in complete safety.
Openness
We demonstrate openness to the world and cultural sensitivity on a daily basis by welcoming women from all walks of life without judgment.
Respect
The woman is at the center of the intervention and involved in the whole process. We remain attentive to their needs, their concerns and their emotional states
Professionalism
We make our expertise available to other health professionals through a continuing education offer