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| Human rights activist and top model Waris Dirie from Somalia smiles as she attends a news conference to announce the musical project “Desert Flower” in St. Gallen, Switzerland March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann |
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is still occurring because the world is turning a blind eye to a crime against children, Waris Dirie, the Somali nomad turned supermodel, told Reuters on Thursday.
Dirie has used her fame as a Pirelli calendar model and a โBond girlโ playing opposite Timothy Dalton in โThe Living Daylightsโ to campaign against female circumcision.
โIt is the hardest job I have ever done in my life. But I have to because there is no one else who has that commitment and I will see this to the end,โ she said in an interview.
Dirie underwent FGM when she was 5 years old; her sister bled to death after the procedure. Aged 13, Dirie fled an arranged marriage, eventually arriving in London.
Her autobiography โDesert Flowerโ became a film and is now a musical by Gil Mehmert and Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, which will premiere in the Swiss town of St. Gallen in February 2020.
Dirie said it was shocking and surprising to find her life story was now going on stage, but still the message about FGM had still not got through.
โThe world is not taking interest, the world donโt give a shit,โ she said.
The World Health Organization says more than 200 million women alive today have survived FGM, mainly in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
FGM, which inflicts severe pain on young girls and causes long-term health problems if they survive, is recognised internationally as a human rights violation that constitutes extreme discrimination against women.
Ahead of International Womenโs Day on Friday, Dirieโs Desert Flower Foundation has teamed up with lingerie brand Coco de Mer to make a short film, directed by British photographer Rankin, to raise awareness against FGM.
The aim is to help collect 10 million signatures by the end of 2019, to be then presented to the U.N. Secretary General.
โIt is not fair that so much abuse is going on and the world just sits back and just says: โYes, yes, we know it is a culture,โ Dirie said.
It was not only a womenโs problem, and not confined to a few countries but widely practised by immigrants, she added.
โThis is really a terrible abuse against children and a crime. And I cannot repeat it enough, and I cannot say it enough and I just want the world to seriously recognise this and to do something about it because enough is enough,โ she said.
