Fauziya kassindja biography of rory

PERSONAL:

Born 1977, in Kpalimé, Togo; immigrated to United States, 1995; granted asylum in 1996; daughter of a businessman; married (separated).

Education: Fordham University, B.S. (with honors), 1992, M.B.A., 1996.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Alexandria, VA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Delacorte Press, 299 Park Ave., New York, NY 10171-0002.

CAREER:

Author and activist.

WRITINGS:

(With Layli Miller Bashir) Do They Hear You When You Cry?, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 1998.

SIDELIGHTS:

In December, 1994, seventeen-year-old Fauziya Kassindja fled to the United States from her native Togo to escape the brutal rite of female circumcision.

In response, U.S. immigration officials strip-searched her, put her in chains, and kept her in prison for sixteen months while it considered the merits of her request for political asylum. It was a harsh and degrading introduction to her new country, but in the end, due to the efforts of an American University law student