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.
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
“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.
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.
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
Nowhere in the World to Run: The International Law Ripping Children From Their Mothers
The Hague Abduction Convention was meant to reunite mothers and children. Instead, it's often used by abusive fathers to tear them apart. Photo: Robin Hammond
In India’s Sugarcane Belt, Thousands of Women Workers Undergo Forced Hysterectomies
Researchers estimate over 4,600 women in Maharashtra’s Beed district underwent coerced or non-consensual hysterectomies between 2016 and 2019, raising alarms over systemic medical abuse. Photo: Suhail Bhat
Father Shoots Daughter Dead in Alleged ‘Honor’ Killing
In Gurugram, India, a young tennis star was murdered by her father in an alleged ‘honor’ killing—because her success, and her independence, became too much for him to bear.
In Gaza’s Ruins, a Women-Only Café Becomes a Sanctuary of Privacy and Dignity
In a war-torn enclave where privacy has vanished, a rare women-only café becomes a lifeline for study, dignity, and silence. Photo: Mohamed Solaimane
Shocking Video Captures Execution of Woman in ‘Honor Killing’ in Balochistan
A viral video of a brutal honor killing in Balochistan exposes the deadly reality women face in Pakistan’s ongoing struggle against honor-based violence.
The Sudanese Women Sustaining a City in Crisis
In Sudan’s war-torn city of Al Obeid, women are the backbone of a shadow economy that sustains thousands amid siege and scarcity. Photo: Bettmann via Getty Images
In Afghanistan, Women Face Electric Shock Punishment for Defying Hijab Rules
Victims and eyewitnesses tell More to Her Story and Rukhshana Media that Taliban forces are using electric shocks to punish women accused of violating hijab rules. Photo: Milad Hamadi / Wikimedia Commons
Women of the Drought: How Climate Change Is Reshaping Women’s Lives in Rural Mexico
Women in drought-stricken Chihuahua are leaving their farms behind, seeking new opportunities in cities while grappling with the cost of survival and separation. Photo: Bill Lambrecht / Zuma
Haitian Women Face Arrest and Deportation in Dominican Republic Crackdown
The Dominican Republic’s crackdown on Haitian women—detaining mothers in hospitals and deporting them days after birth—has sparked alarm among rights groups. Photo: Edris Fortuné / UNFPA
No Guardian, No Freedom: Inside Afghanistan’s Mahram Restrictions
Forced to rely on male guardians to work, shop, or study, Afghan women say the Taliban’s mahram restrictions are turning daily life into a prison. Photo: Osman Khayyam / UNICEF
How U.S. Border Policy Is Endangering Women Asylum Seekers
As the U.S. shutters its asylum system under Executive Order 14159, women fleeing gender-based persecution are being deported without due process, left in legal limbo and stripped of the protections they were once promised.
For Syrian Women Released from Assad’s Prisons, a New Kind of Exile Awaits
Surviving Assad’s prisons was only the beginning—now, these women are fighting to reclaim their voices in a world that turned its back. Photo: Emin Sansar/Anadolu via Getty Images
Nigeria’s Women Feed the Nation, But Still Farm on Borrowed Land
Across Nigeria, women are the backbone of agriculture—yet they farm without ownership, power, or a path to prosperity. Photo: Darren Baker
Entrepreneurship Was Meant to Be a Lifeline. For Afghan Women, It’s a Dead End.
Once seen as a path to survival, women-led businesses in northern Afghanistan are collapsing under Taliban restrictions, broken promises, and a lack of real support. Photo: Wakil Kohsar / AFP
Tunisia Opens First Domestic Violence Shelters for Women with Disabilities
For years, shelters in Tunisia overlooked women with disabilities. Now, survivors are leading the charge for change. Photo: Human Rights Watch
Pakistani Teen Influencer Shot Dead After Rejecting Man’s Advances in Suspected ‘Honor’ Killing
17-year-old Pakistani influencer Sana Yousaf was murdered after rejecting a man’s advances, spotlighting the ongoing issue of 'honor' killings in the country