News Desk |
The young activist from Pakistan Malala Yousafzai delivered a powerful statement on feminism recently at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Friday.
When asked about her thoughts on feminism, Yousafzai said that it is synonymous with the equality of women. It is a simple concept that demands the equality of men and women.
“Feminism is just another word for equality. No one objects equality and no one should object equality. It is not as complicated as some have made it. I embraced feminism. In fact, I was already a feminist speaking out for girl’s education, speaking out for women in Pakistan and around the world.”
She said, that the prosperity of society lies in empowering and educating women since not only will educated females contribute towards economic growth but they will also reduce poverty.
“When you speak out [for] women’s rights you become [a] feminist even if you embrace it or not,” she added. She further appreciated the movements like Times Up and MeToo initiated in the Western world that were rapidly embraced by females in other parts of the world.
The movements were an attempt to address all sorts of physical and psychological abuse faced by women. Yousafzai further rebuked men for abusing women around them. In her speech, she advised men to respect the women around them.
Read more:Â Malala meets Priyanka Chopra and world leaders at UNGA 2017
“I get so disappointed to see that people in these high positions openly talk against women, do not accept women as equals, they harass women. It is just shocking to think that it is happening. I hope that women stand up and speak out against it. I hope that people who are involved in such shameful things think about their own daughters, their own mothers, their own close female relations, and just imagine for a second, could they let it happen to them. I don’t think they would accept that.”
When asked about her thoughts on feminism, Yousafzai said that it is synonymous with the equality of women. It is a simple concept that demands the equality of men and women.
This quote while not directly mentioning Trump points towards all the scandals related to him.
Later she joined the session with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who is a strong advocate of female empowerment himself. Malala again stressed that education is the key to the empowerment of females.
Read more:Â Malala donates $700,000 for construction of school in Swat
She said, that the prosperity of society lies in empowering and educating women since not only will educated females contribute towards economic growth but they will also reduce poverty.Â