AF3IRM/GabNet Irvine member, Mona, honors Women Defender, Malalai Joya
“They will kill me but they will not kill my voice, because it will be the voice of all Afghan women. You can cut the flower, but you cannot stop the coming of spring.”
Malalai Joya has been named “the bravest woman in Afghanistan.” In a country where war persists and basic human rights are constantly violated, there stands a woman with her head held high; a pillar of strength for all people of Afghanistan and a trailblazer for Afghan women. She is a woman elected to the National Assembly of the country, but was later suspended from her position because she stood up to Parliament of her country. When elected members of Parliament convened to ratify the Constitution of Afghanistan on December 2003, Joya made a 3-minute statement in which she denounced the presence of warlords and war criminals in Parliament. In just 3 minutes, she caused a complete uproar across the country. In a country where women remain invisible, Joya, who was only 25 years old at the time of her speech, managed to awaken the people of Afghanistan by becoming the voice of their struggles. Since then, she has been physically and verbally insulted by men in Parliament and so must travel secretly and with armed guards when in her home country. Despite the four assassination attempts on her life, she still travels the world as a staunch defender of human rights, publicly speaking out her criticisms of Parliament and of US relations in Afghanistan. She continues her political mission to expose the abuse of power in Afghanistan and reveal the horrors women and children are suffering as a result of the ongoing war. She continues to inspire Afghan women and all women across the world to stand up and fight. On this day, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, I honor Malalai Joya, the bravest woman in Afghanistan.
