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READ // Do They Hear You When You Cry
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Do They Hear You When You Cry
By Fauziya A. Kassindja and Layli Miller Bashir
New York : Delta Books, c1999
JV6601.K37 1999
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From Professor Laurel Oates:
When you open a book, you open the door to new ideas, new relationships, new conversations, new experiences, and sometimes even new obligations. Do They Hear You When You Cry tells the story of one African woman seeking asylum to avoid female circumcision. Fauziya Kassindja’s account opened up the world of these women and their plight to me. Reading the book prompted me to introduce myself to Professor Batra, who was teaching the immigration law clinic. After speaking with Professor Batra, I decided to have my first-year students help research for the clinic’s cases. I learned a whole new area of law, and I hope with this knowledge I will be able to help other African women seeking asylum in the United States.
From the Publisher:
In 1994, Fauziya Kassindja, an extraordinary teenager from a wealthy, prominent family in Kpalime, Africa, fled from her home to escape tribal ritual female genital mutilation. She sought political asylum in the United States, but was instead incarcerated for 16 months in various Immigration and Naturalization Service detention facilities. Housed in maximum security, Kassindja was denied legal representation, medical care, and religious freedom. The story of her persecution and detention reveals the harsh side of U.S. immigration policy and provides powerful testimony in favor of reform. Her book records a recent but historic civil and human rights battle with repercussions that continue to be felt throughout the nation.
About the Authors:
Fauziya Kassindja was born in 1977 in Kpalimé, Togo, Africa, and now resides in Alexandria, Virginia.
Layli Miller Bashir, a graduate of American University Washington College of Law, is now an attorney practicing in Washington, D.C. She is also the founder of the Tahirih Justice Center, which assists women facing international human rights abuses. She lives in Virginia with her husband.