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Somali women’s rights activist appearing in Edmonton

(Staff)-At age 13, Soraya Miré’s Somali mother subjected her to a horrifyingly brutal initiation into womanhood through female genital mutilation.

Miré’s journey from physical and emotional pain to a life of hope and redemption is chronicled in her book The Girl with Three Legs.

Now a female genital mutilation activist, author and award-winning director, Soraya Miré will be in Edmonton November 12 to promote her book. She is at Chapters-Strathcona, 10504-82nd Avenue, from noon to 4 p.m.

Born in Somalia, Miré immigrated to Europe in 1978 at age 17. She lived in Grenoble, France where she studied literature and political science at the University of Grenoble. Miré left her studies in order to expand her mission to end violence toward women and children.

In 1984, Miré moved to Los Angeles where she began her career in film by working in several production studios. At the UCLA Extension, while attending film school, she assisted professor and documentary filmmaker Douchin Gersi.

Miré’s credits include the award-winning documentary Fire Eyes, which reveals the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation.

Fire Eyes was featured at the International Women’s Conference in Beijing, the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and The United Nations in Geneva.

Her other work includes a featured segment of The Vagina Monologues on female genital mutilation.

Miré has stood before committees at the United Nations, the U.S. Senate Human Resources and Health Assembly and the World Health Organization protection of human rights for women and girls. She has also worked with medical professionals, government officials, and with women and families affected by female genital mutilation.

Miré’s activism has been recognized with many prestigious awards such as the Humanitarian Award of the United Nations Sub-Commission Sessions, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Winnie Mandela Award, Best Documentary at the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, the Human Rights Award at the Third International Symposia on Circumcision at the University of Maryland, and Intact America’s Personal Courage Award 2009.

For more information is available on Miré’s website at www.sorayamire.org.