- Paperback: 688 pages
- Publisher: Bantam; New edition edition (4 Mar 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553505637
- ISBN-13: 978-0553505634
- Product Dimensions: 17.9 x 10.9 x 4.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
245,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Books > Biography > Theatre & Performance Art > Circus
Do They Hear You When You Cry
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
The dramatic story of Fauziya Kassindja, who fled her African homeland to escape female genital mutilation and forced polygamy.
Product Description
Like the bestsellers Princess and Not Without My Daughter, Do They Hear You When You Cry? tells the dramatic, compulsively readable story of a woman fighting to free herself from the injustices of her culture. Fauziya Kassindja’s harrowing story begins in Togo, Africa, where she enjoyed a sheltered childhood, shielded by her progressive father from the tribal practice of polygamy and genital mutilation. But when her father died in 1993, Fauziya’s life changed dramatically. At the age of seventeen, she was forced to marry a man she barely knew who already had three wives, and prepare for the tribal ritual practice of genital mutilation – a practice that is performed without painkillers or antibiotics. But hours before the ritual was to take place, Fauziya’s sister helped her escape to Germany, and from there she travelled to the United States seeking asylum – and freedom. Instead she was stripped, shackled and imprisoned for sixteen months by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Enter Layli Miller Bashir, a twenty-three-year-old law student who took on Fauziya’s case. When the two women met, Layli found a broken, emaciated girl with whom she forged an extraordinary friendship. Putting her heart into Fauziya’s case, Layli enlisted help from the American University International Human Rights Clinic. The clinic’s acting director Karen Musalo, an expert in refugee law, assembled a team to fight on Fauziya’s behalf. Ultimately, in a landmark decision that has given hope to many seeking asylum on the grounds of gender-based persecution, Fauziya was granted asylum on 13 June 1996.
Here, for the first time, is Fauziya’s dramatic personal story, told in her own words, vividly detailing her life as a young woman in Togo and her nightmarish day-to-day existence in American prisons. It is a story of faith and freedom, courage and inspiration – one that you will not easily forget.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book in the UN shop, New York and did not put it down until I got on the plane back to the UK. The book draws you into a sense of what this poor girl went through and her strength and courage shines through immensely. It will make you laugh and cry and seriously consider your own life and you realize what you take for granted very quickly. It provides you with an insight into the injustice that is the asylum seeking process. Throughout the book, Fauziya remains to be careful of how she explains her detention by the US, she does not appear to be bitter or angry to those that caused her so much suffering which if I were to be in her shoes, I doubt that I would be so calm or understanding.
Fauziya arrived in the US with a fake passport after fleeing her tribe in Togo, Africa but immediately told the immigration she was seeking asylum and that the passport was not hers. The result of this honesty was further imprisonment and injustice. We are constantly informed by the media how people ‘flock to the UK’ trying to be granted asylum but we never stop to think of the stress and fear and uncertainty that these people suffer in the process. We consider the USA to be a country of free speech and of justice in comparison to where Fauziya came from but it is a shame that these principles were forgotten or perhaps ignored when Fauziya arrived but a blessing that the young Law student Layli Miller Bashir, and the team of lawyers that fought for her, came into her life.
I have never been touched so much by a book and I praise Fauziya for her faith and strength that got her through the worst journey I have ever heard. I too cried with her and laughed with her and if there is any chance of a follow-up book to tell everyone what she is doing then it needs to hurry up!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although the first part of the book is overly long, and quite naively written, Fauziya's background and upbringing is an important part of what follows. The treatment metered out to her Mother after her father dies, and Fauziya's realisation that a polygamous marriage, at the age of 17, is her future, and the requirement that she was to be "cut" as a precursor would panic any sane person into escaping from Togo, her homeland. Her appalling treatment at the hands of the US Immigration Service, when she applies for asylum, beggars belief! This book should have women all over the world, protesting this barbaric practise.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book in the UN shop, New York and did not put it down until I got on the plane back to the UK. The book draws you into a sense of what this poor girl went through and her strength and courage shines through immensely. It will make you laugh and cry and seriously consider your own life and you realize what you take for granted very quickly. It provides you with an insight into the injustice that is the asylum seeking process. Throughout the book, Fauziya remains to be careful of how she explains her detention by the US, she does not appear to be bitter or angry to those that caused her so much suffering which if I were to be in her shoes, I doubt that I would be so calm or understanding.
Fauziya arrived in the US with a fake passport after fleeing her tribe in Togo, Africa but immediately told the immigration she was seeking asylum and that the passport was not hers. The result of this honesty was further imprisonment and injustice. We are constantly informed by the media how people ‘flock to the UK’ trying to be granted asylum but we never stop to think of the stress and fear and uncertainty that these people suffer in the process. We consider the USA to be a country of free speech and of justice in comparison to where Fauziya came from but it is a shame that these principles were forgotten or perhaps ignored when Fauziya arrived but a blessing that the young Law student Layli Miller Bashir, and the team of lawyers that fought for her, came into her life.
I have never been touched so much by a book and I praise Fauziya for her faith and strength that got her through the worst journey I have ever heard. I too cried with her and laughed with her and if there is any chance of a follow-up book to tell everyone what she is doing then it needs to hurry up! This is one of those rare books you read and never forget.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Un-put-down-able!
I've read this book so many times, lent it to others (and not got it back so I've bought it again!) and recommend it to anyone asking for suggestions of good "women's issues"... Read more
Published 17 months ago by dc61
Extremely moving
This book is amazing, it grabs your attention and forces you to question the way our world works. Not to mention how emoionally spectacular it is. Read more
Published on 11 April 2010 by Ms. G. Forbes
this book needs serious editing
Do They Hear You When You Cry?
Oke ThIS story is a very important story, and yes, worth reading, but THIS BOOK COULD BE MUCH SHORTER!!! EDIT IT!! Read more
Oke ThIS story is a very important story, and yes, worth reading, but THIS BOOK COULD BE MUCH SHORTER!!! EDIT IT!! Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2009 by S. C. Clarke
Completely gripping from cover to cover
From the moment i picked up this book, I couldn't put it down. Fauziya portrayed everything in a realistic light. I felt like I was there watching everything as it unfolded. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2007 by Lisa Mulcahy
Life Changing... A Must Read
Fauziya's life touched me so much. I pray for her every night now. I asked myself, 'what can I do to help our sisters all over the world?' We need to do more to help. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2007 by Nc Ganca
Shocked At Comments
This story needed to be told, the pursuit of freedom deisgned to control women through barbaric practices and the lack of choice to say no due to cultural pressure. Read more
Published on 25 July 2007 by thebooklover
a real eye opener
Made me think very differently about the system of asylum, especially in America. Such a brave woman, who I will always remember reading about and will never forget her name. Read more
Published on 16 July 2007 by A. Roberts
Touch your soul
No matter what your views on emigrants are or your political views i can not believe that anyone who has a heart would not be moved by this story. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2005
Touching/Inspirational/Heartwarming
I was drawn to this book as FGM is a subject that has concerned me for some time, Fauziya's strength and courage and her beliefs learned from her family and traditions brought her... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2004 by "charmiecharmie"
Riveting Read
This book kept me glued to each and every page throughout. The story is both heart-wrenching and honestly related and you cannot help but become completely immersed in the plight... Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2003 by Catherine Darlaston
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
