When Malak Hasan was 13 years old, her parents left the United Arab Emirates, where she was born and had enjoyed a childhood full of sporting activities. The family moved to the small village of Biddu in the Palestinian Territories, a place where sports facilities for women were non-existent. 

After finishing her master’s degree in communications, media practice and public relations, Malak became a chief correspondent for The Arab Weekly newspaper. It was also during this time that she became an avid boxer, and through the sport developed a passion for challenging societal ideas around gender norms. She was elected the youngest and first female general secretary of the Palestinian Boxing Federation and is a co-founder of Cycling Palestine, an NGO devoted to promoting bicycling in the community. “People always say women are weak, emotional, and incapable of making decisions,” Malak says, “but I’m showing you through sports that these stereotypes are not true. For me, sport is a symbol in society of whether women are oppressed or free. In order to have a liberated society anywhere, women should be able to choose.”