Sport has given me a new life. If I didn't play sports, I wouldn't be here. I would be depressed.
When she was eight years old, Jasmin Akter became a refugee in the UK.
The 21-year-old captained England in the final of the Street Child World Cup in May and was named one of the most inspiring and influential women in the same year.
She has been able to use her voice to highlight the importance of allowing women from her community to play because of sport.
Before Akter was born, her parents were forced to flee from the country because of the ethnic cleansing of the people.
They moved to a refugee camp in Bangladesh.
Akter lived in a refugee camp for the first eight years of her life after her father died suddenly.
There is no word to describe the day-to-day life within the camp. Akter says that he feels like that was not a life.
If we ran out of food, we had to starve or beg because there was no one else to help us.
Akter lived in the refugee camp with her family in one room.
She says the facilities there were bad.
I didn't have any privacy because I have six family members and we were all stuck in a small room. I didn't have a room to use the toilet in.
Akter is now a university student in the UK, where life in the camp was very different.
Akter said that it was a completely different life because he didn't have access to basic human rights when he was at the camp.
The environment of school was bad so I couldn't go to it. I did not want to go to school because of the brutality of being late.
I didn't know there was a world outside the camp when I was there. I didn't know that there was another country because I couldn't go to school.
The first thing I did when I arrived in the UK was enroll in a school. There is no one to stop you from doing what you want. You have all the rights.
Akter and her mother went back to the refugee camp in Bangladesh to visit her ill grandmother. Her mother had an accident which left her paraplegic.
Akter was balancing her studies and sporting activities.
She says that it changed everything. I did not have a father. My siblings were young. We were not raised in the family. There wasn't anyone to support us.
I went into deep depression. I used to lock myself in the room and had suicidal thoughts, but luckily I didn't do anything stupid because I would have regretted it.
Akter gave a speech at the Houses of Parliament after leading England to the Street Child Cricket World Cup final.
I have been discriminated against a lot because I am a girl. Akter said that she has been questioned a lot for who she is because she comes from a society where girls playing sport is frowned upon.
If you're a girl, you're supposed to stay at home and stay in the kitchen.
When I started playing sport, I had people come to my family members and say that my daughter was ruining my reputation by playing sport.
Akter helps the next generation break down barriers and stereotypes because she experienced backlash from her own community for playing sport.
I have coached a few females who want to play cricket. She said that they want to break those cultural barriers.
Regardless of your gender, it is important that you do what your heart tells you to do. You play sport if you want to. That is why I think it is important to break stereotypes.
Akter was named sportswoman of the year at the Bradford Sports Awards in 2020 after being named in the list of 100 inspiring and influential women. She won in the sport category at the awards.
Ijaz Khan, her coach and mentor, is proud of how far she has come.
He said thatJasmin has not had many privileges.
Look at her past. She has become very resistant to some of the issues that she has faced. I can't imagine what those difficulties would have been like.
Akter feels pride as she reflects on her journey.
She says that if there was an eight-year-old in the camp, they would want to be this person.
If someone sees me right now, they would be proud.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please visit the Action Line page.
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