Author and Activist Soraya Mire Speaks Out Against FGM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

October 11, 2011   

                                                

CONTACT:    

Margo Aldrich

Director, Community Development

Community College of Denver

303.851.5686 (cell)

303.556.2411 (office)

Margo.aldrich@ccd.edu

 

 

 

(Denver, CO) Community College of Denver Contemporary Cultural Dialogues presents Soriya Mire, author of The Girl with Three Legs, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2 p.m.  The event is free to students and the public and will be held in Tivoli Center, Room 440.

 

At the age of 13, Soraya Miré received a “gift” from her mother —- female genital mutilation (FGM), a barbaric practice in which a young girl’s healthy organs are chopped off.  In her new book "The Girl With Three Legs: A Memoir," she reveals the personal violation she endured, the immense challenges she overcame, and her inspiring transformation into an international spokesperson against FGM. 

"The Girl With Three Legs" is the only first-person account by an FGM survivor, and Miré recounts what it means to grow up in a traditional Somali family, where women’s basic human rights are violated daily.

 

Soraya Miré is the director of the film “Fire Eyes” on FGM.  She has appeared in “The Vagina Monologues” as well as "The Oprah Winfrey Show," CNN, and Nightline.  She has lectured at Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, USC, and other prestigious universities.  She has appeared at the International Women’s Conference in Beijing, the UN’s International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, and the Sundance Film Festival.  She has been published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Essence and has received the UN’s “Humanitarian Award” and Intact America’s “Personal Courage Award 2009.”

 

Copies of Mire’s new book will be available for purchase at the event (retail price $26.95).

 

Community College of Denver (CCD) is a leading point of entry to higher education for the City and County of Denver. CCD provides a cost effective college education, along with access and opportunity for nontraditional students, workforce development and training resources for local organizations, and community partnerships. For more information, visit www.CCD.edu Information on occupations, rates for completion and placement, program costs and median loan debt can be found at www.ccd.edu/gainfulemployment