She has only met Osama bin Laden once and changed her birth name to her mother's maiden name, Dufour, to avoid having the negative sentiments towards Osama bin Laden directed at her.

Born in California, she spent the early part of her life in Saudi Arabia. At the age of 10, her mother left her father, and Dufour moved to Switzerland with her Swiss mother. She went to Columbia Law School in the United States, and lived in Manhattan until around the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, but was staying in Geneva at the time of the attacks.

Dufour has publically denounced her uncle and any ties to Muslim extremism. Her father hasn't spoken to her since she was 15 because she refused to follow the traditional Saudi path of arranged marriage; however, like her, Dufour's father also has denounced Bin Laden's actions, even changing the spelling of his name to Binladin.

Her mother, Carmen Dufour, wrote an autobiography, Inside the Kingdom, explaining her life in the Bin Laden family, and how she managed to keep her daughters in her custody.