She was told to marry in a country which bans girls’ education. So she got in a taxi and fled

Alia’s story is unusual, not just for her bravery. But she also comes from a family which has the funds to pursue the few opportunities available to young women – a rarity in a country where three in four people cannot meet their basic needs, according to the United Nations.

It’s not that Alia’s family do not want her to study – they accepted she wanted to stay in Kabul, and are funding her English course even now – but even they are constrained by the realities of life in Afghanistan.

“Before the ban, my parents passionately encouraged me to go to school. They told me you can definitely achieve your dream of becoming a pilot.

“But now they say the best way for me is to get married because I can’t go to school, to university, I can’t even work.”

Alia has been receiving marriage proposals. She is afraid she might have to accept one, afraid that the family she marries into might not give her the freedom her parents do. “Some families can be very restrictive. It’s possible they could tell me to forget my dreams. I don’t feel positive at all about it.”

But her resolve is steely. “If my family don’t force me to get married, I will wait. I will resist it until my very last breath.”