Malala notes that while she’s proud to be a Pashtun, Pashtun culture “has a lot to answer for” when it comes to the treatment of women. Growing up, she couldn’t help but notice that women were often beaten by their husbands, or even kidnapped. There is a Pashtun custom called
swara, whereby two groups can settle a feud by exchanging women. Malala complained about
swara to her father, who agreed with her that the custom was barbaric, but added that women were better off in Pakistan than in Afghanistan. Malala, encouraged by her father, read European books like
Anna Karenina and
Pride and Prejudice.