Malala Yousafza Writes a Letter to Nigeria Boko Haram Girls One Year After Abduction

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published 14 April 2015

It's been a full year since 300 schoolgirls were taken from their classrooms by Boko Haram in Nigeria. The militant Islamist group kidnapped the students from their school in Chibok, a town in the northeast of Nigeria. After their capture, many leading officials, celebrities, organizations, and people from all over the world campaigned for their return using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. They have yet to be released, although some of the girls have since escaped. To date, around 219 are still unaccounted for—many of whom have presumably been forced into Islam and married off, made to fight, or used as sex slaves.

Malala Yousafzai, who after her own school-related attack is particularly attuned to the terror of being a girl trying to get an education in the Middle East, released this letter on the eve of the April 14 anniversary:

You should also check out:

#BringBackOurGirls: What You Need to Know About the Nigerian Kidnapping

Malala's Inspiring Mission in Nigeria: #BringBackOurGirls

"I Would Rather Die Than Stay With These People"

Samantha Leal is the Deputy Editor at Well+Good, where she spends most of her day thinking of new ideas across platforms, bringing on new writers, overseeing the day-to-day of the website, and working with the awesome team to produce the best stories and packages. Before W+G, she was the Senior Web Editor for Marie Claire and the Deputy Editor for Latina.com, with bylines all over the internet. Graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a minor in African history, she’s written everything from travel guides to political op-eds to wine explainers (currently enrolled in the WSET program) to celebrity profiles. Find her online pretty much everywhere @samanthajoleal.

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