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.
How Iraq’s Legal System Fails Women and Girls
Women and girls across Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan are confronting escalating violence, while legal protections remain weak and often unenforced.
What It’s Like to Be a Female Carpenter in Iraqi Kurdistan
In Iraqi Kurdistan, Kanyaw Abubakr turns to carpentry, pushing into a male-dominated trade as conflict disrupts daily life.
Nearly Five Years into Taliban Rule, Teachers Shoulder the Despair of a Generation of Girls
As Afghan girls are pushed out of classrooms and into child marriages, teachers confront a growing wave of despair among their students.
No Hijab Day Rallies Held in Cities Worldwide in Support of Women Without the Freedom to Choose
Activists and women gathered in New York and cities worldwide to mark No Hijab Day, standing in solidarity with women living under compulsory veiling laws.
The Karate Class Where Kenya’s Grandmothers Learn to Fight Back
In Korogocho, one of Nairobi’s oldest informal settlements, elderly women train in karate to protect themselves from violence. Photo: Keit Silale / More to Her Story
In Japan, Takaichi’s Election is a Political Milestone. But Women Remain Divided on What’s Next.
Three months after Sanae Takaichi’s historic election, Japanese women are wrestling with hope, skepticism, and concern over what her leadership means for gender equity. Photo: Japanese Cabinet Secretariat
Craftsmanship Is One of the Last Economic Paths Afghan Women Have
As the Taliban shut women out of work and education, Afghan craftswomen are turning embroidery into one of the last remaining paths to income, purpose, and survival. Photo: Andrew Quilty
Asian American Nurses Were WWII Heroes. History Left Them Behind.
Their stories surfaced in fragments, often only within families. A coalition led by Asian American women is pushing Congress to make them part of the official record.
At COP30, Indigenous Women Say 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. Photo: COICA
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 / More to Her Story
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
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
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
What 10 Women Peace Builders Want from the United Nations
At the 80th UN General Assembly, women peace-builders from Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen delivered a clear message: peace without women is no peace at all.
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
The Bosnian Women Rewriting a Legacy of Violence
Once invisible in law and stigmatized in society, children born of wartime rape are now speaking out, turning personal trauma into a movement for justice and dignity. Photo: Odd Andersen / Getty Images
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.
“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.
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