Imagine if you, your daughter, grand-daughter, sister or niece were shot at, for simply wanting to go to school. It is a human right many of us take for granted, but for girls in many parts of the world, it is dangerous to even want an education. Think for a second, and imagine how much we are blessed to live in a country where education, which is a fundamental right for everyone, isn't divided between girls and boys. It could not be divided anywhere in the world because it is not written in any holy-book. What needs to change is man’s mind-set.
14-year-old Malala is not an ordinary teenager. For the first time when she was 11, she was given a national peace award. Since then she has been an outspoken champion of education for girls in Pakistan. She was driven to fight for this right when the Taliban took over and banned female education, destroying schools and killing anyone who protested. On October 09 2012, Taliban fighters stopped and boarded her school bus, before demanding to know her identity. They then shot her. She is now fighting for her life. Thankfully, on the 31st of October, Malala is improving day after day. Her father defies the Taliban and said: ‘Malala fell down temporarily but she will rise again’.
The gender bias is so severe that, from the cradle to the grave, women have to deal with a discriminated life. Every year 135,000 women die during childbirth in Pakistan. Only 21% of women have access to modern medical facilities during childbirth.
A man can have as many wives he wants, but women can’t; if she even looks at another man, her husband can beat her, disown her and is even within his rights to kill her. Even small things (to you or I) such as wearing make-up or nail polish can result in the most severe punishment.
In many areas, women are dependent on their husbands, so they can treat them in whatever way they want, as there are no rules or rights for women. Think about that for a moment. In most of the urban and rural areas in Pakistan, Women are not only banned from getting education, getting a job or having access to medical health, they are also targeted for sexual ‘use'; they are brutalised by their fathers, brothers or husbands.
It is said history repeats itself. True or not, history can present some powerful symmetries. On January the 3rd 2009, Malala posted her first entry about the “life under the Taliban”, to the BBC Urdu blog. She was protected and known as Gul Makai (1). She was told by her teachers not to wear school uniforms anymore, but rather plain clothes that would not attract attention. On January the 15th 2009, the Taliban announced their intention to ban and shut girls schools, then proceeded to begin blowing them up particularly in the North West of Pakistan (composed of 14 cities including Swat). Malala continued to protest for girls rights for going to school and against The Taliban’s regime, on her blog. She received 5 awards in 2011 and 2012 for her braveness for and standing up for what she believed.
- Sun Flower
Malala’s courage is in standing for the right of all young girls, not only in Pakistan, but also in others countries where girls’ education is still less than important. The attack on her was not only planned to stop her thinking but also to frighten other young girls who would step up behind Malala, and also to warn parents to keep their daughters at home and away from school. Fear became a tool.
Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said by telephone: “my group was behind the shooting. She was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban and she was calling President Obama her idol, we will target her again if she survives because she is a secular-minded lady”.
Because the Taliban know that strong, thinking, educated women could only mean one thing, regime replacement.
‘I want to change the political system so there is justice and equality and change in the status of girls and women’.
Malala Yousefzai
Thanks to girls like Malala, it can’t come soon enough.
According to the official statistics released by the Federal Education Ministry of Pakistan a desperate picture of education for all, especially for girls is presented.
The overall literacy rate is 46 per cent, while only 26 per cent of girls are literate. However The UNESCO, place the overall literacy rate at just 26 per cent and the rate for girls and women at 12 per cent, contending that the higher figures include people who can handle little more than a signature. There are 163,000 primary schools in Pakistan, of which hardly 40,000 provide to girls.
Poverty is also a big hurdle in girls' education. According to UNICEF, 17.6 per cent of Pakistani children are working and supporting their families. Indeed, children working as domestic help are a common phenomenon in Pakistan, and this sector employs more girls than boys. Of course.
Malala Yousafzai has a vision of Pakistan
where modern education for all children,
including girls, is a cornerstone of the future.
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