Mursal is an Afghan teenager living in Pakistan. She is a bright, sensitive, introspective young lady who I am proud to call a friend. She shared this sad and powerful poem with me yesterday and agreed to let me share it on World Pulse's Ending Violence Against Women Campaign.

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ul>Afghan Woman

If I wish to fly!
Why am I caught like a butterfly?
I wish to learn
I am forced to earn

I was born to care
And was left to fear
For rights I must fight
My silence is your might

My world was all indoors
You willed for me to die outdoors
Why so cruel is the world??
All was claimed is just a word

Tortured, tortured ‘n tortured
Harassed, harassed ‘n harassed
No respect, no sense, no love
Why was I created to love?

Is the world a real hell?
Or did my existence fail?

~Mursal Koshani
Afghanistan, age 16