Malala Yousafzai has long been a champion for equity and justice – and now, she’s advocating for the people of Iran to have those same rights.
“I stand with the people and girls of Iran in their call for freedom and dignity,” she stated plainly in a post on X. “They deserve to determine their own future.”
Her words of solidarity come as Iranians take to the streets – in what appear to be unprecedented numbers – to push back against its authoritarian leaders, amid a severe economic crisis that began at the end of last year. Though the financial concerns were the start of these protests, the crowds are now also calling for a broader overhaul of the controlling regime that has run the Asian nation for decades.
The government’s response has been swift, as well as violent – scant reports project death tolls of protesters range from 3,000 to 12,000. But government-imposed communication blackouts make it difficult to confirm those or other details.
Yousafzai said that all Iranians “have long warned about this repression, at great personal risk, and their voices have been silenced for decades.” But, she added, “the protests in Iran cannot be separated from the long-standing, state-imposed restrictions on girls’ and women’s autonomy.”
She added: “These restrictions exist within a wider system of gendered control shaped by segregation, surveillance and punishment — one that limits freedom, choice and safety far beyond the classroom.”
There have been protests for years around these government impositions upon women, specifically – for example, the demonstrations that took place following the death of Mahsa Amini, who lost her life while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
Such fights for equity and freedom, particularly for the girls and women of the world, have always been of passionate interest to Yousafzai, who is from Pakistan.
Her lifelong campaign for them began personally – and painfully. In 2012, when she was 15, Yousafzai and two classmates were shot by the Taliban, an attempt on her life made because she was outspoken in her support of education access for all. She survived, and doubled down on her work in the aftermath – launching the nonprofit Malala Fund in support of educational chances around the world in 2013, which earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
In her most recent call for justice, Yousafzai stated that the Iranian people “demand their voices be heard and the right to determine their political future.” She continued: “That future must be driven by the Iranian people, and include the leadership of Iranian women and girls — not external forces or oppressive regimes.”
