Desert Flower, model, writer, mother, and human rights activist. Waris Dirie suffered female mutilation at the age of 5 and ran away from an arranged marriage at the age of 13. Eventually, she became an unpaid maid for her Uncle who as a Somali ambassador, and later fled, living on the streets of London and later in a home of the YMCA. Her life would change forever when she would be photographed as a model at the age of 18, becoming a world-famous model overnight according to her book, “Desert Flower.” Waris Dirie’s determination to live a better life took her across enormous distances, and she would find herself achieving justice for herself.

“Female Mutilation has no cultural, no traditional, and no religious aspect. It is a crime which seeks justice.”

Acrylic on canvas – 30 x 15 inches.