Malalai Joya refuses to be silenced. She is the youngest woman member of the Afghan parliament, and she has been relentlessly targeted with deadly violence for speaking out against violations of women's human rights. In this article she wrote for the Sunday Times, she chronicles the path that led her to publicly denounce the warlords and human rights violators integrated within the Afghan government, a courageous stand followed by several attempts on her life. Her account flies in the face of any claims that the US occupation of Afghanistan has secured women's rights.
I’m the youngest member of the Afghan parliament, but I’ve been threatened repeatedly with death because I speak the truth about the warlords and criminals in the puppet government of President Hamid Karzai. Having survived at least five assassination attempts, I’m forced to live like a fugitive, moving every night to stay ahead of my enemies.
For the 31 years I’ve been alive, my country has suffered from constant war. After September 11, 2001, many of us thought that — with the overthrow of the Taliban — we might finally see some light. But we’re still faced with a foreign occupation and a government filled with warlords who are just as bad as the Taliban.
Afghan women like me, who vote and run for office, have been held up as proof that we enjoy democracy and women’s rights. It’s a lie. In Afghanistan, killing a woman is like killing a bird. We remain caged, without access to justice, and still ruled by women-hating criminals.
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