Saving Safa: rescuing a little girl from FGM begins with a poignant and troubling letter from Safa Nour, then seven, who played the young Waris Dirie in Desert Flower, a 2009 film. Nour’s letter to Dirie, a supermodel turned anti-FGM campaigner, says: “When we play on the street, the children run away and curse and say bad things. They say I stink, but that’s not true at all. Maman and Papa also argue because of me and Maman cries a lot. Safa is a disgrace, she is not circumcised!”
Safa touches upon the complexity of tackling and ending the practice of female genital mutilation. A toxic mix of religion, culture and social pressure means that the practice, which involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia, continues despite its dangers and costs: it is thought to have affected 140 million women and girls worldwide, with three million more girls at risk every year. The book explains how committed Dirie is to ending female genital mutilation forever.
Dirie’s writing is fluid and honest; we can sense her commitment and that of her foundation, Desert Flower, to protecting Safa. I became more emotionally invested as the events unfolded: the journey to Djibouti, speaking to Safa’s parents, the journey to France and, eventually, the agreement from Safa’s father that he would stick to the contract he signed and forgo the practice of FGM so that his daughter can be free and fearless.
But the autobiography is not only about saving Safa from FGM. FGM can affect women and girls for their entire lives – some speak of it as a life sentence – and it is easy to forget the psychological toll it takes. We see this with Dirie, when she bravely writes about how just watching the “cutting” scene in her biopic reminds her of the pain she experienced when she underwent the practice herself. We also see her rise above it with her soulmate, Joanna, whose friendship gives Dirie the strength to continue campaigning.
The best moment for me was when Dirie’s mother, who previously supported the practice of FGM, asked Dirie to take her niece, Hawo, and protect her from FGM. It signals a change of mind and attitude, which is necessary more widely to end the cycle of this barbaric practice.
This is what Dirie wants the most: she would like to change hearts and minds to protect those powerless to object to this harmful practice. Perhaps Safa was the first of millions who Dirie’s hard work will save?
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