The Consequences of Speaking Up

Student’s Name
Course
Instructor
Date
The Consequences of Speaking Up
Every day the world keeps changing because of the actions taken by some courageous individuals. Driven by the need of a better world, these people tend to speak up especially at a time when everyone else is silent or does not have the courage to do so. In most cases, these are ordinary individuals who go ahead to change the course of history or events due to their ability to speak up. As a result, such actions always have consequences. The activist Malala Yousafzai, originally from Pakistan, is a good example of a person who spoke up in the face of an injustice and her actions impacted the world largely.
Malala Yousafzai advocated for the education of children and women from Northwest Pakistan in the Swat Valley area. Evidently, the local Taliban who controlled the valley at the time had prohibited girls from attending school. Addressing the intensity of the matter at the time, Jajjvi notes that, “seventy-one percent of women in Pakistan have not completed primary school, compared with 41 percent of men,” (Jajjvi). Notably, the Taliban considered it a crime for the Pakistani women in the Swat Valley to work or obtain education since this would put them at the same level as the men and hence compromise their ability to be submissive. Any attempt to go against the Taliban often led to some punishment using the sharia law. Realizing the unfairness of this matter and the fact that it kept the Swat Valley women at the bottom due the inability to learn and work, the young Malala chose to speak up against this act. Having come from a family that believed in education, she made a demand that education be made available to girls just like it was for boys.
Given the intensity of the matter, Malala’s bold actions led to some serious effects both positively and negatively. On the positive, Malala’s actions made her to be recognized and commended internationally for her courage in speaking up against the oppression of women and ...