Women who led
Soraya Miré (Suraya Miira)
Soraya Miré (born 1961) is a Somali writer, filmmaker and campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM), born in Beledweyne. Her 1994 documentary Fire Eyes opens with her own experience of FGM at 13 and includes interviews with others involved in the practice. In 2011 she published a memoir, The Girl with Three Legs.
Soraya MiréSuraya Miira · Soraya Mire
- Lived
- 1961 to today
- Known as one of
- Women who led
- Places
- Beledweyne and Hiiraan
- Era
- The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 1 sources
Who is she?
Soraya Miré is a Somali writer, filmmaker and activist against female genital mutilation (FGM) (Wikipedia, Soraya Miré). See female genital cutting.
Early life
She was born in Beledweyne in 1961 (Wikipedia). She has said she underwent infibulation at 13 (same source).
Fire Eyes
Her documentary Fire Eyes: Female Circumcision was released in 1994 (Wikipedia). It opens with her account of her own FGM and includes interviews with others involved in the practice (same source).
Memoir
In 2011 she published The Girl with Three Legs: A Memoir, written with Eve Ensley (Wikipedia). See Waris Dirie, Leyla Hussein and Nimco Ali, who also campaign against FGM.
In short
A Beledweyne-born filmmaker whose 1994 film Fire Eyes was about FGM.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Soraya Miré · en.wikipedia.org
Soraya MiréSuraya Miira · Soraya Mire
- Lived
- 1961 to today
- Known as one of
- Women who led
- Places
- Beledweyne and Hiiraan
- Era
- The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 1 sources
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Where this matters
Same era
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- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
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- Hawo Tako (Xaawo Taako)Hawo Tako (Xaawo Taako), the Somali Youth League member who died in Mogadishu in January 1948 and is remembered as a national heroine.
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- Dr Hawa Abdi (Xaawo Cabdi Dhiblaawe)Dr Hawa Abdi (1947–2020): doctor and lawyer whose clinic near Afgooye became a hospital and a refuge for 90,000 people.
- Fadumo Dayib (Faadumo Daayib)Fadumo Dayib (born 1972): former refugee, nurse and UN health expert, first woman to run for President of Somalia (2016).