Malala Yousafzai

My mom saved her life.

She took her for an abortion.

And at the time, I did not understand any of that.

But now when I reflect on it, I think my mom took such a brave step that...

It's, you know, if I ask her about her opinions on certain things, like she may not give us, she may not give an answer that truly reflects her actions.

But for her, it is about the safety and the protection of girls and how, you know, how we can help them and protect them from the harm that they face.

My mom had a very different childhood than mine.

She never went to school.

Her female friends never went to school.

It was actually normal and expected for a girl not to be educated.

The best that she dreamed for herself was to be married into a family where the husband is a bit poor.

kind and just lets her have her favorite food or just takes her to one of her like favorite places to visit that's all that she hoped for and that it doesn't turn out to be a horrible abusive kind of in-laws family or a husband and

And when I think about it, I'm like, you know, my mom's journey was not easy.

She always says that she's so lucky that she found my dad because he is, you know, already known globally for his

advocacy, feminism, for standing up for women's rights, and more importantly, for letting his daughter speak.

I always tell people that there's nothing unique in my story of activism from Swat Valley.

The only thing that's unique or different is that my father did not stop me.

If more men are brave enough to

to allow the girls to do what they want or to not stop them, then we will hear different stories.

We will hear more women and girls get the opportunities that they deserve.