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.
The Geopolitics of Aid Cuts Are Reshaping Women’s Safety Across the Middle East and North Africa
With Western support receding, MENA’s women-led organizations are being pushed to the brink and rewriting their own playbook for survival. More to Her Story sits down with five women leaders from across the region. Photo: Alexander Farnsworth
We Know the Development Finance System is Broken for Girls. Here’s a Blueprint to Fix It.
When we fund outcomes for girls, we don’t just save lives — we reshape a continent’s trajectory, write the leaders of FP2030 and Tiko.
At COP30, Indigenous Women Warn That Climate Finance Alone Won’t Save the Amazon
As billions in climate finance are announced at COP30, Amazonian women pressed world leaders to see that protecting the forest requires power and autonomy, not just money.
After Roe, Churches Promised to Support Women. Three Years Later, Has Anything Changed?
Christian communities across America urged the Church to step up and support women after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Have they? Photo: Olivia Bowdoin for More to Her Story
Sara Sharif’s Life Could Have Been Saved. The System Looked Away.
The 2023 murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif in Surrey, UK, has raised new questions in a review published by the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership.
In Gaza and Beyond, Child Marriage Persists Long After a Ceasefire
For teenagers like Rawya and Samah, the end of war in Gaza only brings marriage without choice. Photo: UNFPA/Media Clinic
In Yemen, Marriage Rules Are Tightening Control Over Women
Since 2019, more than 70 restrictive marriage contracts have been imposed across Houthi-controlled territories, banning women from singing, carrying smartphones, and traveling without male guardians.
The Office of Global Women’s Issues is Gone. America is Less Safe Because of it.
Eliminating the State Department office that implemented the bipartisan Women, Peace, and Security Act didn’t save money; it erased decades of expertise that made the U.S. and its allies safer. Photo: U.S. Department of State
I’m a Refugee Woman. I’ve Seen the Power of Girls’ Education.
In her op-ed, UN Goodwill Ambassador Mary Maker reflects on how one girl’s education can ignite change for generations.
‘I’ll Dress How I Want’: Iranian Women Defy Hijab Crackdown Despite Rising Repression
Surveillance grows, businesses close, and arrests rise — yet Iranian women still step into the streets uncovered. Photo: Anadolu/Getty
They Were Nominated Twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. Today, They’re a Final Lifeline for Sudan Under Siege.
The Sudanese Emergency Response Rooms began as a volunteer collective administering emergency triage. Now they stand between survival and starvation for millions. Photo: UN Women
The Women Filling Rural Zimbabwe’s Maternal Care Gap
Traditional birth attendants in Epworth have supported more than 50,000 births, stepping in where the health system leaves pregnant teens behind. Photo: Minority Africa
On International Girls’ Day, I Am an Afghan Girl Holding Onto Hope
For Afghan girls, International Girls’ Day is not a celebration but a reminder of what has been taken — classrooms, futures, and freedom.
The Women of Gaza Remind Us That Hope Is a Daily Act
Beyond the ceasefire, Gaza’s women are rebuilding daily life—one meal, one classroom, one act of hope at a time.
The Kenyan Women at the Frontlines of Sea Turtle Conservation
A new generation of women is reshaping ocean conservation on Kenya’s coast, challenging cultural traditions and furthering scientific documentation. Photo: Olive Ridley Project Kenya
How Firearm Access Fuels Domestic Violence Tragedies
States with strong gun control laws had three times fewer incidents of domestic violence homicide-suicide, according to a new report shared with The 19th.
What 10 Women Peace Builders Want from the United Nations
At the 80 UN General Assembly, women peacebuilders from Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen delivered a clear message: peace without women is no peace at all. Photo: Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security
Four Women Killed by Husbands in One Week Spotlight Egypt’s Femicide Crisis
Following a spell of femicides across Egypt in August, activists, legal experts and families are demanding urgent action.
To Rebuild Syria, Start With Women
As Syria rebuilds, lasting peace depends on whether women are given the power to shape it. Photo: Women for Women International
Most Men Want a Return to Traditional Gender Roles. Women Aren’t So Sure.
A new poll shows how men and women of every generation are divided over questions about who takes on which roles in the family. Photo: Emily Scherer for The 19th