Waris Dirie

Waris Dirie

Waris Dirie was born on October 21st, 1965 and is currently 60 years old. Waris Dirie was born in Galkacyo, Somalia.

Waris Dirie is a Somali women's rights activist, author, and model who became famous for campaigning against female genital mutilation.

Dirie was the daughter of a Somali family in the Horn of Africa and had to flee at 13 when she learned that her parents planned to marry her off to a much older man.

Following a dangerous journey across the desert, she arrived in Mogadishu en route to London. In the latter, she worked as a fast food worker and maid while she taught herself to write and read English.

Her life changed when she was introduced to Terence Donovan, the photographer, when she was 18. His photos made her a model of international renown, as she modeled in New York and Paris for the likes of Vogue and Elle.

Having survived infibulation when she was five, she broke her silence and spoke out against it in an interview in 1996. Her powerful voice increased awareness about the practice, and she was made a special ambassador for the elimination of FGM by the UN Population Fund.

Her Desert Flower Foundation runs medical centers for survivors of FGM in major European cities, in addition to running educational campaigns.

Desert Flower was a memoir she published in 1998.

In the work, she recounts her experiences fleeing the prospect of being married off to an old man at the age of 13.

All alone, she made her way across the hot deserts of her country and headed to the capital. She would then move on to London, where she would find employment working as a domestic servant.

Thereafter, she made it as a model and ultimately moved to New York, where she became a prominent voice in the fight for human and women's rights.

In Desert Children, which Waris published in 2005, she tells of how she investigated FGM in Europe.
Working with Corinna Milborn, the journalist, they estimated that up to half a million girls and women are at risk of or have undergone FGM. They chronicle the legislation against FGM in Europe, which is abysmal, as no country recognizes the threat of FGM as a reason for asylum.

As for conviction, only France will convict people accused of doing FGM.

Related Authors

Fans of Waris Dirie also enjoy these authors:

1. Daniel Silva, author of the Gabriel Allon Series.
2. David Baldacci, author of the Amos Decker Series.
3. Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander Series.
4. Jane Austen, author of: Pride and Prejudice.
5. Faye Kellerman, author of the Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Series.

Waris Dirie: F.A.Q