Humaira Bachal 25, from Karachi, Pakistan set up a school to provide opportunities in education for girls

Last year the world discovered just how dangerous it is for a Pakistani woman to be educated when 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen on the way home from classes.

Though she survived, the violence goes on. In June, 14 female students died when their bus was blown up. I was around the same age as Malala when, in 2001, I set up my own school with my sister and three friends. Official literacy rates for Pakistani women stand at around 42%, though in rural areas, it can be as low as 8%.

Because my mother insisted on it, my sister and I were the only girls in our neighbourhood who went to school. But when I was 13, my father wanted me to quit. One day, as I was collecting my school things, he slapped my face and told me I couldn’t go. When my mother argued, he broke her arm. She still told me to go. I am who I am because of my mother.

I began by teaching just 10 children. I went door to door trying to persuade mothers and fathers to allow their daughters to come to class. I was shouted out, called evil and immoral. Neighbours tried to force my family out of our home and there have even been plots to kidnap me. Of course it’s terrifying, but so is not having a future. I now have a school which educates 1,200 boys and girls, with a staff of 25. And last month, I was brought on stage at the Chime for Change concert in London by Madonna, who’s supporting our bid to build another floor at the school.

I’m most hopeful when I look at my own family. My brother’s five daughters are all in school and my father helps motivate other men to educate their own daughters. Sometimes the battle means changing one mind at a time. Watch Humaira Dreamcatcher by film maker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy on YouTube, created with Chime for Change (chimeforchange.org).

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Emily*, 37, is an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) who works for Solace Women’s Aid (solacewomensaid.org) supporting victims of domestic abuse

Sadly, I’m not surprised that two women die every week in the UK at the hands of an abusive partner. Latest Home Office statistics estimate around 1.2 million women have suffered domestic violence, with fewer than one in four reporting it – a figure which drops to one in ten if the violence includes a serious sexual assault. The violence I see can be horrifying. I once worked with a woman who had been kicked so hard she had to have a kidney removed, another whose face was so damaged she lost her eye, and I’ve known babies born with disabilities because of the violence inflicted on the mother when she was pregnant.

The whole purpose of my job is to mitigate the level of harm a woman faces, but if I’m working with a woman who’s in danger, then, to an extent, I’m at risk too. There have been times when an abuser has gone through his partner’s handbag and found my number. He’s phoned me up, swearing and threatening me, warning me to stay away. Once, when there was a possibility an abuser had found out who and where I was, I had to be escorted home by the police.

I’ll often accompany victims to court. In a previous job I once had a case, which involved a horrifically violent defendant who actually lived near me. I went to court in full disguise, including a wig, to make sure I wasn’t recognisable to him.

It’s crucial that feminism stays on the agenda. Be it Page 3 or pay gaps, any discussion that addresses the power imbalances that women face is vital. Domestic abuse is a very clear example, on a micro-level, of extreme power imbalances at their worst. If we’re going to improve the situation, we must empower women.

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The feminists on the frontline