2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Iranian born Shirin Ebadi, knew from an early age that she was destined for a life upholding justice:

“When I was a child and would see a fight break out in the street, I’d rush over to defend the person who was being beaten up, without really trying to understand what the fight was about,” she told me.

That love for justice sent Ebadi to law school, when, after graduation, she became a judge. However, because of the Iranian Revolution (the 31st anniversary of which is today), Ebadi was told that she could no longer serve as a judge because she was a woman. Undeterred, she became an attorney at law and began defending human rights cases.

“In the early days of the revolution, defending human rights was considered a dangerous activity. I was actually labeled by right wing newspapers a 'feminist', a disloyal person to the system, a human rights advocate-- as if these were insults!” Ebadi recounted. “But as the years passed, there was more human rights awareness inside the country and being a human rights advocate was no longer regarded as being negative."

Her lifelong quest for human rights has clearly not been an easy one. But Ebadi told me that maintaining unshakeable faith in her cause carries her through even the most challenging situations and moments.

“I cannot lose hope. Once I lose it, I lose my activity and my activism. I compare my situation to that of a person in a shipwreck: when the person falls in the water, he has no choice but to keep swimming until he arrives at a shore. If he gives up, he’ll never get to the shore. I cannot allow myself to give up hope.”

Watch the video version of my interview with Shirin Ebadi below: