Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of 'The Caged Virgin', begins her life in a traditional Muslim family in Somalia, where she is subjected to circumcision and later a forced marriage. She survives civil war, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four countries under dictatorship, eventually to seek asylum in the Netherlands.
Arguing for the reform of Islam, and the human rights of oppressed Muslim women, especially victims of honour killings, has led to a life under armed guard in the West but also won her an international reputation as a courageous freedom fighter.
