Joya would dress as a boy and call herself Mohammed, and walked alongside her young uncle for two hours each day to get to school.
In an interview with Angelina Jolie for TIME in 2022, she claimed that some men in her family, including her father, believed in women's rights.
[2] After the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government in 2001, she was able to drop the disguise and enroll in law school in Kabul, planning on following her father's footsteps as a prosecutor.
Joya's aim was to bring light to the reality of life for Afghan women with stories published and reported on by local female journalists, covering issues like rape and forced marriage.
[9][3] She was critical of the Taliban and reported on their crackdown on female public servants in the months before the US and its allies withdrew their troops.
She continues to run Rukhshana Media in exile, and remains in contact with her team who send her reports from Afghanistan in secret.