Every year, nearly 15 million young girls are forced into marriage, and Sonita Alizada was nearly one of them. Twice.
At this event, Alizada spoke about her journey from hiding from the Taliban at home in Afghanistan and, aged 10, being excited about being sold into marriage because for her at that time it meant freedom, to becoming a rap music sensation overnight and an activist fighting for a fairer future for those 15 million girls. She spoke with emotion and passion, showing us just how much she longs for a world where child marriage is no longer a reality.
What really shocked me, yet also inspired me, about Alizada’s story was the difficulties she faced and the determination she possessed when it came to her getting an education. As an Afghani refugee in Iran, she was not allowed to go to the regular schools there. Luckily, she was eventually found by a woman from an NGO who was running a school in a local mosque specifically for Afghanis. Alizada recounted how they would always start their sessions by looking at religious books, as this façade was required so that they could use the mosque space, however, afterwards, they would take out their other books and work on other subjects, so the children were able to get a more complete education. I was amazed both by Alizada’s determination as a young girl to go to school and learn, and by that woman’s determination to provide an education, and a safe space, for those displaced Afghani children.
During the event, we also watched the music video for Alizada’s first song ‘Daughters for Sale’, the release of which changed her life overnight. She recalled how her mother, who was back in Afghanistan by this point whilst she was still in Iran, called her and, rather than being angry or upset about what her daughter had done, she was proud of her. Alizada also received a call from another NGO who offered her a full scholarship to study at university in the US. She had to sort all of the paperwork for this and get herself to the US before telling her family because of the constant threat that they would stop her from going and force her to get married instead. When she arrived in Utah, Alizada was however disillusioned by the child marriages she continued to see happening around her, and this was when she really started researching the topic and becoming an activist for young girls worldwide.
I found this event extremely moving. What moved me the most was that Alizada said that whilst her and her family are now safe, there are still thousands of Sonitas being forced into marriage, both in Afghanistan and in other countries around the world. Sonita Alizada is an amazing, inspiring woman who you can see will go far; perhaps, as she hopes, she will even be part of a new Afghani government that can reshape the country’s future in years to come.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
