Malalai Joya (Pashto ??? ??) (born April 25, 1978) became a social activist at a young age, working to promote women’s health and education. She became director of the NGO Organisation of Promoting Afghan Women’s Capabilities (OPAWC) in the western provinces of Herat and Farah. Joya was elected to parliament in 2005, has survived assassination attempts, and travels with a bodyguard. In 2007 she was dismissed from parliament for publicly denouncing the presence of ‘warlords’ and ‘war criminals’ in the Afghan parliament. A secular Muslim, she’s a critic of fundamentalists in the Taliban and the northern alliance and says her country needs to find its own way to democracy without military intervention. She has been called ‘the bravest woman in Afghanistan’ and in 2010, Time magazine placed Malalai Joya on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Foreign Policy Magazine listed Malalai Joya in its annual list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. On March 8, 2011, The Guardian listed her among ‘Top 100 women: activists and campaigners’.