"Desert flower"

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 Recently i've watched a movie called "Desert flower", based on autobiographic novel by Waris Dirie- a Somali model, writer and human activist. The movie deals with a crucial problem in Africa, Asia and the Middle East - female circumcision*, which is "the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external famale genitalia".[1] Before watching the film i've heard about this ritual a little but actually i wasn't aware of how cruel and dangerous it is. When something doesn't concern us -  we, people, tend to ignore it. I was so shocked and angry at the time when i was watching the film. 

Procedure is performed on girls (from infants to teenagers). The reason why they do it is to make sure the girl keep chastity* until the wedding.There's no medical reason for doing that. It has no benefits. It can be really dangerous and even fatal for those girls. A lot of them has physical and mental complications, due to majority of female circumcisions are performed in inhumane conditions; without any anesthesia*, with no sterilized surgical instruments and people who are doing it are not medically educated.

I think we, both women and men, should know what horrible things are happening and try to spread awareness. It's a huge problem since approximately 3 MILION girls are mutilated* each year.

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Fun fact 1: Waris Dirie was living in Gdansk for couple years, now she lives in Vienna 

Fun fact 2: name Waris in Somali means Desert flower 

Fun fact 3: She is a worldwide model  - she worked for famous brand like Chanel, Levi's, Loreal and for big fashion magazines eg. Vogue, Elle, Glamour.


*female circumcision - obrzezanie kobiet 

*anesthesia - znieczulenie 

*chastity - czystość 

*mutilated - okaleczony

[1] definition from Wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation


You can watch the movie there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Tq5yKarBg 

I truly recommend watching it. I'm planning to read the book because it is more detailed, but movie is also educational and interesting. 






   Waris Dirie 






Komentarze

  1. Aga15 listopada 2020 05:35

    Julia, I remember watching the movie and being deeply touched. I also remember the question asked by an interviewer: "What was the happiest day of your life?" Then she described this horrid procedure that she was forced to undergo on a desert and as a reward she was given 2 bowls of rice. It was the first time that she could satisfy her hunger...
    This movie is really thought-provoking.

    Keep up the good work!

    OdpowiedzUsuń

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