Malala Yousafzai, The Young Human Rights Defender
Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 when she was only 17 years old. She is the youngest recipient in the history of this award. This young activist and defender of civil rights stands out for her fight for the right to education of girls around the world.
Malala was born in Mingora (Pakistan) in 1997. Her father, a teacher, decided to offer her daughter the same educational opportunities as any boy who would have grown up in Pakistan. He therefore enrolled her in school by asserting her right to education. It was he who pushed Malala to move into political activism. The young girl wanted to dedicate herself to medicine.
How Malala began to fight for human rights
In 2007, the Taliban took control of the Swat valley and prohibited all education for women. It was at this point that Malala, under the pseudonym Gul Makai, began writing a blog for the BBC. She tells about her life under this regime. In this virtual space, she denounces the discrimination and violence suffered by little girls and women.
The atrocities suffered by the civilian population are manifold and demonstrate a total disregard for human life. Large numbers of children, young people and the elderly are attacked, massacred or murdered, even though Afghan women are the main victims of this type of injustice based on violence, degradation and inequality.
“They started to spread the message that women do not have the same rights and freedoms. For me, this was unacceptable; and it is this situation that made me raise my voice. No girl could go to school. I wanted to be a doctor, earn money on my own and make my own decisions. I remember that day I got up and started to cry, ”Malala said in an interview.
Malala Yousafzai, human rights defender
On October 9, 2012, Malala was the victim of an attack in Mingora (Pakistan). She was returning home on the school bus when two Taliban got into the vehicle, stopped her and shot her, hitting her in the head and neck. The spokesperson for the terrorist group, upon learning that she was still alive, said they would do it again and claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.
Malala had suffered this attack because she denounced, in her blog, the atrocities that were being committed in her region, the Swat Valley, in northern Pakistan. She was mainly talking about the pain caused by the ban on female education and the destruction of the majority of schools.
After surviving the attack, the young woman was taken to a hospital near the capital, Islamabad. Doctors managed to extract the bullet that had lodged in his neck, near the spinal cord. She then had to travel to the United Kingdom where she underwent numerous surgeries and had to undergo rehabilitation for several months.
After the accident
Demonstrations of support for the young woman began to take place around the world. The political representatives of all countries strongly condemned the despicable act of which she had been the victim.
Malala was able to leave the hospital after having a hearing device implanted in his left ear and a titanium plate in his skull. After that, and to the surprise of the whole world, she resumed her struggle for human rights.
His activism and his spirit of protest continued unabatedly. Malala became a true heroine and the spokesperson for girls who fight for their right to education.
“We are all Malala”, worldwide recognition
Malala is a singular young woman, with a wisdom unusual in young people of her age. She is sensitive and balanced. In her life, she has seen the best side of human beings, but also the worst.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has received support and recognition from politicians. Activists and citizens in general. And she deserved it.
This incredible young woman is a source of inspiration for all those who want to fight for a more just world. The voices of women like Malala show us the way to silence the guns and create change around the world.
Our thoughts In the worst situations of your life, only one person can save you: your own hero, which is yourself.
