An Afghan teenage girl, So-tooda Forotan, was listed among 25 influential women of 2021 in a list put out by the UK-based newspaper the Fi-nancial Times.
Forotan, 15, is a student who stood up against a decision to ban girls from schools in grades 7-12 after the Islamic Emirate swept into power.
In September, the government announced that boys are al-lowed to attend schools but girls aged 7-12 are not al-lowed to continue their educa-tion until a proper segregated structure could be put in place.
On October 21, speaking at an event held to celebrate the birthday of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Forotan dared to ask the officials of the Islamic Emirate to reopen their schools.
“Today, as a representative of girls, I want to deliver a mes-sage that is in our hearts. We all know that Herat is a city of knowledge… why should the schools be closed to girls?” she told an audience of around 200 during the cere-mony.Her video of the event went viral on Afghan social media, where she was highly praised for taking such a risk.
