Waris Dirie Foundation - women's organisation against FGM
In 2002 you created the Waris Dirie Foundation. What does it do?
The main objective of my foundation is to educate and inform people, and place discussions about female circumcision at the forefront of subjects that people talk about. It's vital that it's always present in people's minds!
My role has therefore been to keep pushing the subject into the spotlight. I've found myself in the middle of a big media circus, and now that we're talking about it, I want to withdraw from it. I feel that I've done all I can in my lifetime, by my own means, to get people talking about FGM. I've taken all the risks possible.
From now on, the issue is in the hands of politicians throughout the world. It's not just my problem any more, it's a problem for all of us. Thousands of women continue to suffer. I would like people to at long last understand that this isn't normal.
Waris and the actresses who play her in the film Desert Flower © Bac Films