“I don’t want to be a woman. Why is it so painful?” a young Dirie asks.

As a five-year-old girl Waris Dirie was genitally mutilated and became one of at least 150 million women and girls who are affected by this cruel worldwide practice.

Dirie who 12 years ago launched an international campaign against female genital mutilation calls it torture. FGM is a crime and should be not tolerated anywhere, she says on her website.

The film, “Desert Flower”, based on her biography, was released late last month in the US. It’s the story of the young, troubled and beautiful, Waris Dirie who left Somalia when she was thirteen to escape an arranged marriage. She finds work in a London fast-food restaurant where she is spotted by a photographer Terry Donaldson which leads to her becoming a supermodel. Behind the glamorous story Dirie’s strong voice is heard calling for the stop of forced circumcision and female genital mutilation (FGM). And she, also, tells of her struggle to overcome her own circumcision.

If you’re prepared to cry go to this (Spanish) site.

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