Samira Bellil (November 24, 1972 – September 7, 2004) was a French feminist activist and a campaigner for the rights of girls and women.Bellil became famous in France with the publication of her autobiographical book Dans l'enfer des tournantes ('In the hell of the "tournantes" (gang-rapes)) in 2002. The book discusses the violence she and other young women endured in the predominantly Muslim immigrant outskirts of Paris, where she was repeatedly gang-raped as a teenager by gangs led by people she knew, and then abandoned by her family and friends. Her book is a portrayal of the predicament of young girls in the poor, outlying suburbs (banlieue) of French cities.The book is available in English (translated by Lucy R. McNair) as "To Hell and back" with the subtitle "The Life of Samira Bellil".
Became famous in France with the publication of her autobiographical book "Dans l'enfer des tournantes" (Ed. Denöel, 9 October 2002). She described there the violence she endured in a Muslim immigrant suburb of Paris, where she was gang-raped twice when she was a teenager by her boyfriend and a group of his friends, and then rejected by her family and friends. Her book put the light on the difficulties girls face in the heavily immigrant French "cités".
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Leader in the movement advocating Muslim women's rights in France.
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Tage und Nächte in Paris
2004
TV Movie documentary
Herself (as Samira Bellile)
60 Minutes
2004
TV Series documentary
Herself - Author & Activist (segment "The New French Revolution")