May 6, 2013
Malala Yousafzai, “The Girl with a Voice”
For young women in Swat Valley, a district in the northwest frontier province of Mingora, Pakistan, having basic rights such as an education is an issue that has been fought for since its existence. Malala Yousafzai daughter of activist Ziauddin Yousafzai is one of many unfortunate young women who have felt the wrath and despair of the Pakistani Taliban regarding this issue. In comprehension of this paper, I will convey to the reader the story of Malala’s journey through her fight to education rights, why these rights are important, and how this issue relates to many other women’s rights issues discussed in class. I will begin by giving background on Ziauddin and his position on girl’s education, which will lead into Malala and her stand on the matter as well. Through the telling of protests, blogs and speeches given on education rights by Malala herself, you will see the beginnings of a very young female activist, which will give insight on her attempted assassination. Her attack and life threatening experience will give way into the Taliban’s reasoning’s for why she had to be silenced. In researching for this paper I never really understood what countries like Pakistan, India or any South Asian country had to go through for something that is an understood right to me; An education. For more than 14 years now Ziauddin has been running a school for girls in Swat Valley, which is located about 100 miles from Islamabad. Not only is this the main income for which the Yousafzai family lives of off, it is also where the heart and soul of Ziauddin and Malala reside. Ziauddin spent much of his time an energy educating his children to the best of his capability. Malala took to education like she was born to learn. She was always top of her class speaking her ideas to her classmates and spreading the ideas of her father making them something she knew in her heart as real. Malala, at first