STORIES
From urgent investigations and breaking news to bold op-eds by global leaders, we bring you the stories shaping the lives of women and girls worldwide.
A Better World for Girls Begins With Raising Boys Who Believe in One
True progress demands that we also invest in boys, writes Room to Read’s Director of Girls’ Education and Gender Equality in South Asia.
A Photojournalist Captures Stories of Birth, Motherhood and Survival in Eastern Ukraine
Photojournalist Emily Garthwaite traveled throughout eastern Ukraine to document the lives of mothers and families in a country still under siege.
The Next Frontier of Misogyny Is Already Here
Misogynistic extremism has flourished online for years. Now, artificial intelligence and virtual worlds threaten to supercharge the abuse and make it inescapable, warn author and activist Laura Bates.
Sudan’s War is Forcing Families to Rethink FGM. We Cannot Waste This Moment.
In Sudan, war has reversed progress against FGM—what happens next will decide the fate of a generation of girls, writes Equality Now’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Gender Advisor. Photo: UN Women
“Revenge Wives”: The Girls in Mozambique Paying the Price of a Forgotten War
Decades after Mozambique’s civil war, girls in rural villages are still being forced into marriages with older men to appease the restless spirits of the dead. Illustration courtesy of Minority Africa.
It’s Time to Keep Our Promises to Women and Girls
As the United Nations turns 80, Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, urges world leaders to finally honor their commitments to protecting women and girls amid escalating wars and crises.
They Escaped Their Husbands. Then They Took On Poachers.
In Zimbabwe, survivors of domestic abuse are finding purpose and protection in Akashinga, an all-women ranger unit where they defend endangered wildlife — and themselves. Photo: Rex Opara for Minority Africa
The Last Shepherdesses of Changthang
In the Himalayas of northern India, women carry the twin griefs of miscarriages and climate change, finding solace in resilience, prayer, and each other. Photo: Umar Mir
Women Struggle for Reliable Healthcare After Pakistan’s Floods
More than 800 people have died and thousands are displaced as women in Buner face childbirth without hospitals, medicine, or even roads. Photo: Jamaima Afridi
The Woman Who Brought Chess to the Children of Boko Haram’s War
Boko Haram stole their childhoods — one woman is helping these children reclaim their futures with chess. Photo: Vivian Ibrahim
“There Is No Honor in Abuse”: New UK Law Seeks to Protect Women and Girls
‘Honor’ violence has surged 60% in just two years across England and Wales. Now, the UK has introduced its first legal definition of honor-based abuse—progress survivors hope will finally protect women and girls.
Women Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Faith and Freedom
Shirin Taber, Executive Director of Empower Women Media, argues that true religious freedom cannot exist without women’s equality. Photo: Fareed Khan / AP
In Madagascar’s Remote Villages, Women Do the Work of Doctors Without Recognition or Pay
They trek for miles, deliver babies, fight malnutrition, and save lives — in a role experts say governments can’t afford to overlook. Photo: Trisha Mukherjee / More to Her Story
In Rural Uganda, Reading Classes Are Giving Women a Voice in Governance
From learning to spell their names to leading villages, women in Uganda are redefining power through literacy. Photo: Melanie Joyce Nabukwasi for More to Her Story
Iraqi Women Lead Protests After Young Doctor’s Death Ruled a Suicide
The killing of a young psychiatrist has ignited a movement of women refusing to let her death — or the many other women’s deaths dismissed as “suicide” — be buried in silence.
Accused of Witchcraft, Women in Northern Ghana Live in Exile
In Ghana's remote north, centuries-old fears have sentenced women to exile. Now, a new law offers hope—but can justice overcome belief? Photo: Claire Thomas for More to Her Story
The Richest Nation Walked Away from Congo. Women Are Paying the Price
Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, warns that the Trump administration’s aid cuts have deepened the suffering of Congo’s most vulnerable, especially women and girls. Photo: Oxfam
On Africa’s Highest Peak, Women Porters Are Fighting for Safety
On Mount Kilimanjaro, women porters say their bodies are often treated as currency. Now, they’re fighting to change the culture of the climb. Photo: Sergei Andreichuk
Four Years After the Taliban’s Takeover, Afghan Women Deported from Iran Return to a Country They Barely Recognize
Mass deportations from neighboring countries are forcing Afghan women and children back into a nation where education is banned for girls, jobs are scarce, and humanitarian aid is running dry. Photo: UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein
U.S. Human Rights Reports Drop Women’s and Girls’ Sections for First Time in Decades
Once considered a trusted account of global abuses, the State Department’s annual human rights reports have been stripped of dedicated sections on women and girls — a move critics say tells abusers their crimes no longer count. Photo: Elaine Little