Women's Rights in the Middle East

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Imagine waking up every day and having to cover your entire face and body, to avoid punishment, then serving the men in the community rather than working or going to school. Then, picture women as subservient and inadequate to men in society on every level. This is the impertinence that women in the Middle East face every single day of their life; it is how they are born and raised and it is all they know. In Malala Yousafzai’s factual autobiography, I Am Malala, the Taliban target Malala for empowering girls to go to school and they shoot her in the head; however, somehow, Malala lives to continue the battle for women’s right to an education. The book was published in October 2013 by Little, Brown and Company and it gives a first-hand portrayal of what life is like for women in Malala’s home town of Swat Valley, Pakistan (Lamb and Yousafzai 3). The issue is that women do not have the opportunity to educate themselves or exercise what many consider natural freedoms. This is predominating in many Middle Eastern Countries. Women in the Middle East should have equal rights as men and they need help gaining their freedoms.
The country of Pakistan has not always oppressed women. The former man in charge of Pakistan professed, “No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a third power stronger than both, that of women (Lamb and Yousafzai 31).” It was not until a general named Zia ul-Haq threw a coup and seized control of the government that women and men’s rights became incomparable under Islamic Law. Zia’s regime did not allow women to play most sports, have access to healthcare, or open a bank account, and, in...

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...d cleaned up after? It is unfair and sickening to know that many countries still contain these sorts of customs. Malala did a wonderful job in telling her story and bringing light to a problem that requires attention. Everyone needs to join together to make Malala’s dream come true: equal rights for all.

Works Cited

Palmer, Caitriona. "The Taliban's War On Women." Lancet 352.9129 (1998): 734. Business Source Complete. Web. 4 May 2014. .
Petzen, Barbara. Primary Source. 30 Mar 2014. Web. 4 May 2014. .
Yousafzai, Malala and Christina Lamb. I Am Malala. Park Avenue: Little, Brown and Company, 2013. Book.

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