Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of female genital mutilation, rape, and attempted rape.

Waris Dirie, a model, actor, author, and activist, is the protagonist and narrator of Desert Flower, the memoir of her life in Somalia, London, and New York. She is characterized as resilient and determined. Her early life in Somalia is marked by traumatic and difficult experiences, from undergoing female genital mutilation at only five years old to experiencing rape and numerous other attempted assaults. She defies cultural norms by escaping an arranged marriage to a much older man and, later, by choosing to reverse her FGM despite immense cultural pressure. Dirie further illustrates her characteristic resilience by outsmarting her exploitative uncle and aunt to remain living in London, where she manages to form a community, work, and find housing despite having barely any money and not speaking English.

When Dirie’s modeling career takes off, she begins using her platform to speak publicly about her experiences with FGM, which continues to cause significant pain and distress throughout her adult life and still affects hundreds of millions of girls and women throughout Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.