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.
‘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
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.
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
Afghan Girls Face Uncertain Futures as Pakistan Deports Refugees
Legal advocates and international organizations warn deportations will trap girls in extreme restrictions under the Taliban unless urgent protections are adopted. Photo: Jamaima Afridi
Want Signs of Bipartisanship? In the House, Look to Women.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, women from opposite ends of the political spectrum have united on women’s health initiatives, banning congressional stock trading and releasing the Epstein files. Photo: Office of Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove
“If the Internet Is Cut Off, All Girls Will Remain Illiterate”: Taliban Ban Threatens Afghan Girls’ Last Lifeline
The Taliban are cutting off access to the outside world, severing Afghan girls’ last link to education and freedom. Photo: Petros Giannakouris/AP
In Taliban’s Afghanistan, Some Families Risk Everything to Keep Their Daughters Learning
Across Afghanistan, fathers, brothers and broadcasters are risking their lives to keep girls learning. Photo: Picryl
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