Targeted for wanting to go to school

I got this from Amnesty International: 

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=6oJCLQPAJiJUG&b=6645049&aid=518940&msource=W1210EAWMN1


Dear Tracy,

Armed gunmen board your school bus and ask for you by name. All you want is an education. And now your life hangs in the balance.

Today, Malala Yousufzai's condition is still critical, but improving. In fact, she's been transferred to a hospital in the UK for further medical treatment. The 14-year-old Pakistani girl was shot in the head last week by the Taliban in retaliation for promoting education for girls. Two fellow students, Shazia Ramzan and Kainat Ahmed, were also injured in the attack. Malala - along with every girl on that bus - is a face of courage.

Send a message of support to Malala and all of her schoolmates. We will make sure that your messages get to Malala's school so that girls in Pakistan know that we stand with them as they pursue their human right to an education.

The horrors that took place on the school bus last Tuesday are a child's worst nightmare. Sadly, this tragic story may not be over yet - the Taliban has repeated its vow to kill Malala.

But Malala's story has struck a powerful chord. People in Pakistan and throughout the world are staging rallies and speaking out in support of Malala and the rights she was targeted for defending.

Wish Malala and her friends a speedy recovery. Wish that Malala's dream for girls everywhere to have equal access to education becomes a reality.

There is one more thing that you can do right now to protect women and girls like Malala from violence and discrimination.

Because the U.S. has such a critical role to play in protecting women and girls in Taliban-influenced regions in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we must press U.S. officials to get at the root of what is being done to protect women and girls, like Malala, who are trying to claim their human rights.

Tomorrow night's Presidential debate will discuss U.S. foreign policy, and we anticipate that the discussion will likely touch on the situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We all know that human rights - and stories like Malala's - are rarely mentioned in the debates, and at best given lip service. More often than not, they're altogether absent from the discussion.

Submit this question via Twitter to the debate moderator, CNN's Candy Crowley, and push for a real commitment to women's and girls' human rights so that no one ever has to experience Malala's real life nightmare ever again: Q for US Pres Candidates: What steps are needed to end threat of Taliban to safety/rights of women? @crowleyCNN #Malala

Please continue to keep Malala and her schoolmates in your thoughts and her message in your hearts. Education is a human right. End this nightmare by helping Malala's dream come true.

Sincerely,

Cristina M. Finch
Program Director
Women's Human Rights
Amnesty International USA