On November 25, Somalia-born supermodel, best-selling author and women’s rights activist Waris Dirie warned the public at the ceremony in Vienna that many of Europe’s African immigrants subjecting their young daughters to ritual genital mutilation, and authorities are doing little to discourage it, reported Associated Press.
Between 100 million and 140 million women have undergone genital mutilation worldwide, and 2 million girls are at risk each year, according to the World Health Organization, which says the practice, that has been on the rise not only among immigrants in Europe but also in Australia, Canada and the United States, can lead to infection, the spread of AIDS and crippling physical, psychological and sexual problems.
Islamic religious leaders are telling Europe’s Muslim Africans that the prophets recommend the ancient ritual, which involves the removal of the clitoris, often with a dull blade and no anesthesia, according to Waris Dirie, who suffered the procedure at age 5 in her homeland. “That is a catastrophe, ” she said. “Every imam who is not actively against genital mutilation is guilty. Mutilation is not a tradition - it’s a crime that must be abolished.” Dirie says that men are ultimately responsible for the problem, especially widespread in Germany, the Netherlands, and in Austria, because “untrimmed” young women “face great difficulties in African societies in finding a husband. ’
The 39-year-old Somalian stunning U.N. goodwill ambassador and author of the best-selling autobiography “Desert Flower,” and two sequels, “Desert Dawn” and “Nomad“s Daughter” has spoken out openly about her own experience as a victim in her native country.
“I didn’t move,” Dirie was describing the torment she endured as a child in her interview to AP in 1996. “I just shivered. There was no painkiller, no anesthesia, no nothing.”
When her father, Dahire, arranged for her to marry an elderly man in exchange for five camels, 13-year-old Waris ran away from home and walked 500 kilometers (300 miles) across Somalia to the capital, Mogadishu, drinking from camels in the desert to survive. Then she moved to Britain, where her uncle served as Somalia’s ambassador. There she was discovered by a photographer and started her career as a model. She worked for Revlon Inc., modeled in Chanel perfume ads, has been featured on numerous magazine covers and appeared in “The Living Daylights,” a 1987 James Bond film.
Today Dirie lives in Vienna, where she was awarded Austria’s Romero Prize from a Roman Catholic men’s movement for her campaign against genital mutilation, presented by President Heinz Fischer last Thursday.