Pakistani women's rights activist prompts change in U.S. foreign policy

Kenison Garratt
Staff Writer

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation by voice vote to expand scholarships to Pakistani women and women’s rights in developing countries in honor of Malala Yousafzai on November 19. The educational activist was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman on the bus on her way home from school after the terrorist group issued a death threat against her on October 9, 2012. She was shot in the left side of her head and the bullet proceeded to travel down her neck. She was transferred to Britain for immediate care. Yousafzai has since continued to dedicate her life to speaking up about women’s rights, especially education.

She is still considered a target by the Taliban, yet still continues to speak up for women’s rights. This past summer, Yousafzai traveled to Nigeria to help campaign for the release of the kidnapped girls. In early November, she became the youngest winner of a Nobel Peace Prize and in Pakistan there was an attempt to create an “I am not Malala” day where private schools protested against Yousafzai because they believe she is going against the Islamic faith. Some of her followers question if she can change Pakistan and its school system from so far away, as she lives in England with her exiled family.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon describes her as, “a brave and gentle advocate of peace who through the simple act of going to school became a global teacher.” In honor of Yousafzai, Bill H.R. 3583 was passed which will offer more scholarships for Pakistani women. U.S. Representative Llean Ros-Lehtinen, the sponsor of the bill, believes it is of the utmost importance to promote women’s education, especially in developing countries that limit women’s rights, saying, “We know that access to education is a game changer for any society. A society in which women have unfettered access to the education system expands the horizons not just for the girls and the women involved, but for everyone in their community and their nation.”

Bill H.R. 3398 will allow the State Department and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to assist women in developing countries. It will boost civil registration systems that record births and create programs that promote women’s property rights. Representative Eliot Engel believes promoting women’s education could deter radicalism in developing countries, “Educated women and girls are proving to be some of the most powerful weapons in the fight against radicalism. Take the example of Malala, the courageous young woman. I know she inspired me, and spurred action around the world.” The Congressional Budget Office approximates that this will take about five years and cost $1 million. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce says improving civil registries would help women gain identification and allow them to be involved in financial transactions. “Usually the births which are not being registered are of infant females. A child whose birth is not recorded has no birth certificate to prove her age or his age or parentage or citizenship, making these children especially vulnerable to violations of their basic rights,” Royce said. These children, Royce continued, lost their access to crucial services which makes them vulnerable to child labor and sex trafficking, “Unregistered children are often prevented from access to health care, including necessary child immunizations, and from enrolling in school. This sort of marginalization often hits women the hardest.”

Yousafzai isn’t sure on the future of her activism campaign, but she has been inspired by Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister of Pakistan, who was assassinated in 2007. Some of her supporters fear for her safety with this idea, as she is still a target of the Taliban. In an interview, when asked about how she felt on being a target and if she were to be attacked again, what she would do. “But then I said, ‘If he comes, what would you do Malala?’ then I would reply to myself, ‘Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.’ But then I said, ‘If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue and through education.’ Then I said I will tell him how important education is and that ‘I even want education for your children as well.’ And I will tell him, ‘That’s what I want to tell you, now do what you want,’” Yousafzai answered.

At this time of the year, Americans take time to appreciate life’s gifts. Sometimes, it is easy to overlook opportunities, especially education. Yousafzai says, “We are human behind and this part of our human nature that we don’t learn the importance of anything until it’s snatched from our hands. In Pakistan, when we were stopped from going to school, and that time I realized that education is very important, and education is the power for women. And that’s why the terrorists are afraid of education. They do not want women to get education because then women will become more powerful.”