Joanna Palani grew up in Denmark but she's from a long line of Kurdish fighters. When Joanna was a teenager, she carried on this tradition, by packing up her bags and travelling to Syria to join an all-female Kurdish militia. It was in Syria that she witnessed the horrifying reality of the conflict with the Islamic State group. Eventually, when she returned to Denmark, she was arrested for breaking a travel ban that had been placed on her. She was aware that she was breaking the law as travelling to Syria to fight can result in prison sentences in many countries, including the UK. At the time of our first broadcast of this interview Joanna was in prison in Denmark. She has written a book called 'Freedom Fighter'.

Image: Joanna Palani
Credit: Nikolai Linares