14-year old Malala Yousufzai has been blogging for years via BBC about her life in Pakistan, in a district terrorized by the Taliban. She has been fighting for the right for girls and women to be educated and empowered, speaking out against the Taliban and their methods.

Apparently the voice of a child is loud enough to frighten those she fought against - just a few days ago, she was shot by members of the Taliban. Although she wasn't killed, she is in hospital in critical condition at the moment.

It's hard for me to stay objective about this, so I shall say no more, except that I am wholly with the thousands of people in Pakistan and around the world who are utterly outraged.

Link

This makes me furious and very afraid for this poor girl. I really hope she gets some sort of protection against these kind of attacks now, though the outpouring of support is encouraging to me. One child's voice CAN make a difference and though I fear for her safety, I hope she continues to speak out against the Taliban's oppression. I hope other people who feel the same are also encouraged to speak up, eventually there will be too many voices that cannot be silenced and from there the Taliban can be overthrown and driven out.

I'm so grateful that someone offered to pay her expenses. Fear drives people to awful things, and that the Taliban is afraid of one little girl to the point of shooting her is pathetic. I hope she recovers, and that she is not afraid to make her voice even stronger!

I've been following this story, and the Taliban has said that if she survives now, they'll just find her and kill her later.

Yahoo:

I hope that some country gives her asylum. There's no way she can stay in Pakistan now, despite the support she's getting. I also can't see her sparking any major reforms there, unfortunately, even if she does die and becomes a martyr for her cause, and a lot of that is due to the fear the Taliban is instilling in people by doing things like this. It's depressing to think that these sort of things are still commonplace in our world today, people getting shot for wanting an education.

I read an article quoting her father as saying that they will not consider leaving.. I'll see if I can find it later. I do hope that something can be done to offer her and her friends protection. It is deeply unfortunate that the people who fight for their basic rights so often have to be martyred before their cause is recognized as valid.. it makes me burn.

EDIT: I might have misunderstood - in the article linked to the first post, her father says only that their work will not stop, but nothing about whether they will stay or leave.

Apparently she just arrived in the UK (CNN) for more extensive medical treatment, and I bet they'll stay there to stay safe. Good on Britain!