In 2009, the film "Desert Flower" based on the autobiography of black model Wallis Dirier was released in the United Kingdom, and once it was released, it attracted widespread attention, and in the rising status of women, women began to be seen more, and the phenomenon of cruel circumcision of women occurred in modern society that was valued.
Movie "Desert Flower"
Wallis was born in Somalia, Africa, and when she was very young, she was forced by her father's friend, who instead of questioning her friend, accused her of not circumcising her earlier.
When she was three years old, Wallis's mother took her to the open rock, where her mother and other women pressed her upper body and legs, and then someone took a knife and cut off the exposed part of her genitals, and then sutured the private part with needles and threads, leaving only a small opening for urination and menstruation. There was no anesthesia in the whole process, and the knives were not sterilized, so many girls survived the pain of living cuts, but they could not survive the postoperative infection. A few years ago, Wallis's sister died of an infection after circumcision.
At the age of 12, in order to get 5 camels, her father was ready to give her to a 60-year-old man, Wallis was unwilling and wanted to leave the house, but with the acquiescence of her mother, she fled, crossed the desert on foot, went to her grandmother in Mogadishu, introduced by her grandmother, and worked as a maid at the Somali Embassy in Britain. Soon after, war broke out in Somalia, and she took advantage of the chaos to escape from the embassy and live on the streets of Britain.
Later, she met the kind-hearted Marilyn, took her in, helped her find a job as a waiter in the restaurant, and in the process of getting along with Marilyn, she realized that not every girl had to be circumcised when she was a child, normal sex, and not shameful, and her thoughts were impacted. Later, she met the famous photographer Donaldson at the restaurant, led her to the modeling industry, and with talent and hard work, eventually became a world supermodel.
If circumcision is so devastating to a woman's body, why is it so forbidden? First of all, many areas of women do not accept circumcision, will be rejected by their husbands, or even unable to marry, secondly, many regions regard circumcision as a traditional culture in the inheritance, the strength of society, so that girls have to accept this bad habit. In 2012, the local government banned it, but a large number of girls are still circumcised every day.
In 1997, Wallis gave up her thriving modeling career to join the cause of liberating women, and she began to speak everywhere, telling her story and calling on everyone to oppose the circumcision of girls.
On a united nations podium, she said:
"I love my mother, I love my home, I love the land of Africa. More than three thousand families firmly believe that a girl who has not been circumcised is unclean, because what is between our legs is not clean, so we must cut it off and then stitch it up to show chastity and virtue.
Even though it is not even recorded in the Quran, this ritual has always existed. It is clear to all that circumcised women, who are also the backbone of Africa, endure physical and mental torture for the rest of their lives. I survived. My two sisters were not so lucky, Sophia was infected and died after circumcision, Amina died in childbirth, and the child was stillborn.
When I was a child, I said I didn't want to be a woman, why would it take such a painful, sad thing to be a woman, and now that I'm older, I'm honored to be a woman, but I'm going to work on changing circumcision, which is important for a woman's life. ”
In 1997, United Nations Secretary-General Annan appointed Wallis Dillier as Special Ambassador to the United Nations, and since then she has been working on the cause of changing circumcision.