How a child bride escaped Afghanistan and became a bodybuilding champion

A husband and a new baby would be a challenge for any teenager, but Karimi said she also felt additional pressure from the pervasive social restrictions in the country, which, in 2011, were considerably more lenient than under Taliban rule.

Aided by her mother, Mahtab Amiri, who coordinated her escape, she left the country with Erfaan and was driven to Iran. From there, she made her way to Turkey and then Greece before she eventually settled in Norway, where she was granted asylum.

“It was very scary. But when you are in that situation, you will just, I don’t know how, but you will manage with your feelings,” Karimi said, adding that she spent most of her time focusing on her son, who “was the only thing.”

Later, she said her mom made her way to Europe and built a life in Germany. Amiri, who died of a heart attack 10 years ago at the age of 54, “was my first hero, a beautiful woman and human,” Karimi said. “She would tell me, you must be independent, you must earn your degree,” she added.

During her first difficult years in Norway, Karimi said she had to learn a new language and adapt to a completely different culture. Slowly but surely she found her footing, completing her nursing training and following her mom into the profession.

She said her regular trips to the gym quickly became her main passion and also her therapy. Regular workouts helped her with struggles sleeping at night, a symptom of the trauma triggered by her childhood in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan she said there was no culture of women “bodybuilding or going to the gym,” she said, adding that in Norway it was normal. Working out, she said, helped her both mentally manage her stress and become more strong physically.

“You must have very good discipline,” she said, adding that you have to follow “every step for the shape you wish.”