Malalai Joya is an Afghan activist, writer, and politician. She was born on April 25, 1978, in Farah, Afghanistan. Joya gained international recognition for her courageous activism in Afghanistan, where she has been a vocal critic of corruption, warlords, and the Taliban. Joya gained popularity in 2003 at the Constitutional Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) when she spoke out against the role of warlords in the Afghan government. She persisted in her support of women's rights, education, and democracy in Afghanistan in spite of threats to her life. Joya became one of the youngest politicians in Afghan history when she was elected to the parliament in 2005. She was removed from her position as a parliamentarian in the Afghan National Assembly for openly criticizing the presence of warlords and war criminals in the legislature, but she continued to serve in that capacity until the beginning of 2007. Later, in 2007, Joya was suspended from Parliament for denouncing the human rights violations and corruption records of her colleagues. Her detention sparked outrage around the world, and prominent authors, thinkers like Noam Chomsky, and politicians—including members of parliament from Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain—signed petitions calling for her return. The BBC dubbed her "the bravest woman in Afghanistan". Joya persists in vocalizing her opposition to injustice and oppression, both domestically in Afghanistan and globally, notwithstanding the persistent threats to her safety. Malalai Joya was listed as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world by Time magazine in 2010.