Malala says her headscarf does not mean she is ‘oppressed’ in Vogue interview

‘I want to tell everyone that you can have your voice within your culture, and you can have equality in your culture,’ says the activist

Malala became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2014 (AFP via Getty Images)

Malala Yousafzai’s decision to wear a headscarf is “about more than her Muslim faith” and does not mean she is “oppressed or voiceless”, the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner has said.

In a wide-ranging interview with British Vogue, the 23-year-old activist opened up about her family, campaigning for girls’ rights in Pakistan and her ambitions for the future.

Yousafzai told the magazine she covers her hair with her headscarf more when she is “outside and in public”, but leaves it off when she is at home or with friends.

She explained that the headscarf is a “cultural symbol for us Pashtuns” and represents her roots as a Sunni Muslim of Pashtun ethnicity.

“And Muslim girls or Pashtun girls or Pakistani girls, when we follow our traditional dress, we’re considered to be oppressed, or voiceless, or living under patriarchy,” she added.

“I want to tell everyone that you can have your voice within your culture, and you can have equality in your culture.”

Yousafzai has been campaigning for the rights of girls to be educated in Pakistan since she was 11 years old.

In 2012, an assassination attempt in retaliation to her activism left her with nearly fatal head injuries after a bullet struck her, but she made a miraculous recovery and became known across the globe.

She continued to be an outspoken advocate for girls’ education, publishing an autobiography titled I Am Malala just a year after the attempt on her life and launching the Malala Fund.

She was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17, making her the youngest winner in history.

Currently, Yousafzai lives with her parents in Birmingham, where the family moved after the attempted assassination, and has graduated from Oxford University with honours.

According to Vogue, her plans to travel during a gap year have been shelved due to the coronavirus pandemic and she spends her time now “playing a lot of the Among Us video game” and “trying to work out what she wants”.

Yousafzai announced a partnership with Apple TV Plus in March and launched a new production company called Extracurricular. She plans to produce documentaries as well as comedies, animations and children’s shows, she told the magazine.