Aminata Diop

Aminata Diop (born c. 1978) is a Malian woman who in 1989 fled to France to escape a female genital mutilation (FGM) procedure. She applied for asylum in October 1990, and is believed to have been the first woman to cite FGM as a reason for seeking refugee status. Both Diop's initial application and an appeal in September 1991 were denied on technical grounds, as she had failed to seek help from the Malian government before fleeing the country. However, she was subsequently allowed to stay in France. Provided by Wikipedia