File:Waris_Dirie,_2018_during_her_visit_to_Sierra_Leone.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Waris Dirie
Sign in to saveSomali model, author, actress, activist
Waris Dirie is a Somali model, author, actress, and activist who has used her platform to raise awareness about female genital mutilation (FGM) and other human rights issues. Her work matters because she has brought international attention to these practices and advocated for their elimination, becoming a prominent voice for women's rights globally.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1964
- Works
- 15
Top works
- Peraḥ ha-midbar
- Wüstenblume
- Aube du Desert (l')
- Amanecer en el desierto
- Mijn Woestijn
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Writing
Known for
- Samia — Saado Abdullahi2024
- Poland's Next Top Model — Self - Special Guest2010
- Kulturplatz — Self2004
- Abendschau — Self2000
- The Johannes B. Kerner Show — Self1998
via TMDB
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 71
- Total plays
- 948
<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Waris+Dirie">Read more on Last.fm</a>
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
· 2024 · cited 2,306x
- Global mortality associated with 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
· 2022 · cited 1,795x
- Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
· 2024 · cited 1,563x
- 10.1186/1477-3163-5-14
· 2006 · cited 1,132x
- Zinc and iron oxide nanoparticles improved the plant growth and reduced the oxidative stress and cadmium concentration in wheat
· 2019 · cited 862x
via Crossref · CC0
Quotes
- “Women’s loyalty has to be earned with trust and affection, rather than barbaric rituals. The time has come to leave the old ways of suffering behind.”
- “Every 11 seconds a little girl is being mutilated somewhere in the world, it has nothing to do with religion, culture or tradition but against all rights of humanity its a crime its cruel its unacceptable.”
- “I knew most married women in my community put up with everything and anything. Any abuse, hopelessness, and I thought, was I here to be used and be abused? I knew there was so much I could do with my life, but on my terms.”
- “I just knew that I had to tell the world that there was torture, an undercover war against women. But this is not one person's war – all of us have to do something.”
- “What really made me take a stand was that nobody was doing anything.”
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Waris Dirie, 2018 during her visit to Sierra Leone.jpg
- Height
- 175
Show 5 more facts
- Commons category
- Waris Dirie
- name in native language
- Waris Diriye
- start of work period
- 1998-00-00
- social media followers
- 7510
- date of birth
- 1965-10-21
via Wikidata · CC0
~19 min read
Article
Waris Dirie (Somali: Waris Diiriye; born 21 October 1965) is a Somali model, author, actress and human rights activist in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM). From 1997 to 2003, she was a UN special ambassador against FGM. In 2002 she founded her own organization in Vienna, the Desert Flower Foundation. She has won numerous awards recognizing her work on eradicating FGM, including the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (2007).
Born in Somalia, she moved to London where she began her modeling career. She was a model for top brands such as Chanel, Levi's, L'Oréal and Revlon. As a model, Dirie was the first black woman to appear in an Oil of Olay advertisement. In 1987, Dirie played a minor role in the James Bond film The Living Daylights.