Fauziya Kassindja

Fauziya Kassindja[1] was born in 1977 in Kpalimé, Togo, Africa.[2] She is the author of Do They Hear You When You Cry?[3] an autobiographical story of her refusal to submit to kakia, the Togo ritual of female genital mutilation, and a forced marriage.[4] She fled Togo and traveled first to Germany, where she obtained a fake passport, and then to the United States where she immediately informed immigration officials that her documents were false and requested asylum.[5] She was detained by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and imprisoned.[5] Fauziya's family hired a law student, Layli Miller Bashir, to advocate for her asylum, who in turn enlisted the help of Karen Musalo, an expert in refugee law and then acting director of the American University International Human Rights Clinic.[6] Fauziya was granted asylum on June 13, 1996, in the landmark decision Matter of Kasinga.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Biography of Fauziya Kassindja". PBS - Speak Truth To Power. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Fauziya Kassindja | Penguin Random House". Penguin Random House. Penguin Random House Website. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  3. ↑ 1977-, Kassindja, Fauziya, (1998). Do they hear you when you cry. Bashir, Layli Miller. New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press. ISBN 9780385319942. OCLC 38105495.
  4. ↑ TahirihJusticeCenter (2014-05-01), Our Early History: Fauziya Kassindja's Legal Victory, retrieved 2018-02-24
  5. 1 2 Dugger, Celia W. (1996-09-11). "A Refugee's Body Is Intact but Her Family Is Torn". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  6. ↑ Do They Hear You When You Cry? by Fauziya Kassindja | PenguinRandomHouse.com.



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.