Diaryatou Bah

Diaryatou Bah (born 1985) is a feminist and secular activist from Guinea.

Based in France, she is the founder of the organization Espoirs et Combats des femmes ("Women's Hopes and Struggles"), which opposes female genital mutilation and violence against women. She also works with the organizations Excision, parlons-en ! ("Excision, Let's Talk About It!") and Ni Putes Ni Soumises (Neither Whores nor Submissives).

In 2018, she received the Elles de France prize for courage, in recognition of her work against female genital mutilation.

Early life Diaryatou Bah was born in Guinea in 1985. She is from a large family of 32 children, the daughter of a polygamous father with four wives. She spent her childhood in the small village of Sakilé, raised by her grandmother in a community of women until she was 10 years old.

She was 8 years old when she was subjected to female genital mutilation in 1993. But while he was traveling to Africa to visit another of his wives, she watched a television program that featured the testimony of a woman who had escaped a forced marriage. This inspired her to ask for help at the town hall of Les Lilas, where she was living.

She obtained a residence permit in 2005, and French citizenship in 2014.

In the years that followed, Bah participated in the work of the organization Excision, parlons-en ! ("Excision, Let's Talk About It!") Education is at the center of her activism, as learning to read was a crucial step in her autonomy.

In 2022, Bah was elected as a local councillor in Romainville.

Recognition

In October 2018, in recognition of her fight against female genital mutilation, she received the Elles de France prize for courage from the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse. On receiving the honor, Bah said:"Thank you to all of the volunteers, activists, social workers. Yes, I am a feminist activist. I have walked a path of fear and shame. Being here today gives me the strength to continue the fight. Illiteracy kills women. It was by learning to read and write that I was able to become an emancipated woman." In 2022, she was named a Knight in the Ordre national du Mérite.