Ten men that were involved in the attack on Malala Yousafzai back in 2012 were sentenced to life in prison.

Malala had just started to speak out publicly against the Taliban for the right to have an education, when she was shot in October 2012. The guilty party who were conspirators in the attack had intended to silence Malala. Instead, she survived and became even louder on the issue. Most recently, she won the Nobel Peace Prize and is actively using her status to promote the right that every child has to receive an education.

The convicted men were arrested in September 2014, which makes this a speedy turnaround for a trial. Taliban leader and main suspect for shooting Malala has yet to be arrested and is thought to be hiding out in Afghanistan.

While there is still work to be done to grant access to education for the world’s 58 million children who are out of school, one more step towards justice has been made.

Victory may seem sweet with this story, but I’d be willing to bet that Malala would consider the true justice to be in her survival.

“They thought that the bullet would silence us, but they failed...Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born,” said Malala in a speech at the UN.

It’s an ongoing battle to make sure every child feels safe to attend school and that every boy and girl has the opportunity to receive an education. But with this ruling, Pakistan stood up for girls and showed that it is a country with great potential for change.

It is time that we all take a stand for girls’ education and end pointless persecution.  

Take action now by signing the petition to protect women and girls' rights.