In the Central African Republic, the women of Obo are considering leaving their homes when Ugandan and U.S. troops abandon the hunt for Joseph Kony.
Marni Sommer Worked in Global Health and Development
For millions of girls and women, menstruation is a burden. Here’s why helping displaced and poor women and girls with their periods is a way to show them proper respect.
The island nation of Fiji has one of the world’s highest rates of domestic violence, and climate change disasters are making matters worse for women. One crisis center is tackling the problem by giving women the support they need to prosecute perpetrators.
A head teacher in Yemen’s biggest camp for internally displaced people is struggling to keep the doors of his school open – and to prevent girls dropping out.
Syrian refugee women in Ontario have launched their own successful catering business, Karam Kitchen. It helps them not only to support their families financially but also to improve their English and meet more people in their new home.
The Syrian Women’s Advisory Board wants equal involvement of women and men as part of a peaceful transition for Syria. Board member Sawsan Zakzak made the case to negotiating parties at the latest round of Geneva talks and discussed its importance with News Deeply.
In our first year, we’ve brought you insights into the lives of women and girls around the world. We look back on the best of our coverage, and give a hint of what’s to come in the year ahead.
We’ve made some significant progress in gender equality in the past year, but there’s still a long way to go. Our panel of experts share their views on what’s next.
In its first year, Women & Girls published dozens of photographs taken by our talented contributors all over the world. Here’s a look back at some of the most memorable images.
By speaking out about how she was abused by her husband, a Palestinian domestic violence survivor helped launch a conversation about the need to reform the Palestinian Penal Code to protect women.
Tropical storm Dineo destroyed the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of Zimbabwean women, who are now struggling to get back to work and rebuild their lives. Experts say such disasters disproportionately affect women, who do more unpaid tasks than men.
When Ghana passed its domestic violence law in 2007, it promised to set up a fund to help pay for survivors’ medical bills and establish women’s shelters. But that never happened. So private lawyer Martin Kpebu took the government to court – and won.
As Zimbabwe looks ahead to a general election in 2018, women – especially those under 35 – still struggle for equal representation in decision-making and politics. One group is working to get more young women on the ballot and into the voting booth.
Lyric Thompson Director of Policy and Advocacy, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)
The Trump administration wants to cut foreign aid by up to a third. But investing in women and girls is one of the best ways to boost the global economy and foster peace.
Rita Nehme Reproductive Health Officer, International Rescue Committee
Ashley Wolfington Reproductive Health Senior Technical Adviser, IRC’s Health Unit
In the refugee camps of Uganda, South Sudanese and local women are being given access to proper maternity care and contraception, often for the first time.
Melanie Smith Researcher, Institute for Strategic Dialogue
ISIS has succeeded in mobilizing unprecedented numbers of women in the past few years, but their role within the organization is changing in crucial ways, says Melanie Smith of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
As they work to protect their communities from resource-hungry corporations, female environmental activists are often subject to threats, assault and even murder. And little is being done to help, they say.
In a country where rape is underreported and rarely prosecuted, lawyers are transforming the way they interview survivors and collect evidence, in the hope of reforming a justice system that often fails those it is supposed to protect.
Helen Sherpa Country Director, World Education Nepal
Small-scale loans aren’t as photogenic as blankets or food donations in the wake of a disaster, but the recovery from Nepal’s devastating 2015 earthquake shows that a tiny amount of invested money can help women turn their lives around.
Conflicts over livestock and resources are causing families to flee to squalid refugee camps in Baringo County, western Kenya. Separated from home and family, women are going hungry and girls are dropping out of school.
In February, army soldiers attacked the village of Kubi, allegedly raping women and girls. Since then, Bishop Paul Yugusuk, who runs a church in the village, has been fighting to bring convictions against the perpetrators – and to curb the rape epidemic in his country.
According to estimates, more than 60,000 Colombians were forcibly disappeared during the decadeslong conflict with FARC, the majority of them men. We meet the women still searching for them, from their wives and mothers to forensic doctors and human rights experts.
As borders have tightened along the western Balkan route to Europe, more lone female refugees are arriving in Serbia having experienced violence and trafficking. Many who want to continue their journeys are using even riskier routes and never appear in official data.
For Lene Natasha Lind, Norway’s ambassador to Lebanon, a big part of the job is dealing with the Syrian crisis – and in particular the struggles of refugee women, who face high levels of domestic violence and find it difficult to enter the workforce.
The number of women joining military and police ranks across Africa is rising. As part of our “Women and Jihad” series, we meet the female peacekeepers in Somalia who are taking on al-Shabab, both on the front lines and in the battle against extremist ideology.
As part of our “Women and Jihad” series, we look at how escape from Boko Haram doesn’t always mean the end of the ordeal, as former militants’ ‘wives’ are often rejected and verbally abused by other female abductees.
When al-Shabab controlled Mogadishu, women could be punished for playing sports. As part of our “Women and Jihad” series, we meet the young female ballplayers who are challenging lingering Islamist ideology in the city.
While struggling to restart her career in Europe, Syrian academic Oula Abu-Amsha found solace helping refugees in Jordan access higher education through the Jamiya Project and was reunited with her former students from Damascus University.
Mariam Safi is one of just a handful of researchers focusing on the role of women in post-conflict peace building in Afghanistan. As part of our “Women and Jihad” series, she tells us about the pivotal role women can play in combating the Taliban.
For many of the women whose husbands, sons or fathers have died in clashes over the disputed Kashmir region, photos are all they have left of their loved ones. Photojournalist Aliya Bashir explores the power of a single picture.
As part of our series “Women and Jihad,” we look at how one charity in Pakistan’s Swat Valley worked undercover with mothers of young Taliban recruits to help them spot signs of radicalization and find ways to intervene before their sons carried out acts of violence.
So far this year, 333 women have been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea by the team on the search-and-rescue vessel M.V. Aquarius. Tiziana Cauli, an MSF communication manager on the vessel, tells us about two women she met on board.
As Germany starts sending newly arrived refugees back to Greece, we speak to Marcy Hersh of the Women’s Refugee Commission about the tens of thousands of women refugees stuck in Greek detention centers, suffering from violence, unsanitary conditions and food shortages.
Fauziya Abdi represents a network of women’s organizations in Kenya working to prevent violent extremism. Speaking to us for our “Women and Jihad” series, she says women’s increasingly diverse roles within radical groups call for a more sophisticated approach to the problem.
Some of those working with Yazidi former slaves say they have never before seen such severe psychological trauma. As part of our “Women and Jihad” series, experts tell us there are not enough resources to provide long-term care to all of the survivors, who could take a lifetime to recover.
ISIS has captured, enslaved and abused thousands of women and girls from the Yazidi minority in Iraq. As part of our “Women and Jihad” series, we meet the Yazidi women and men living abroad who are working to free the captives and hold the perpetrators to account.
Over 1 million people have fled ethnic cleansing and famine in South Sudan, most of them women and children. In a photo and video essay for Refugees Deeply, Angela Wells and Rachel Reed meet the female leaders and refugee women in Uganda who have become warriors for peace.
As hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees return from Pakistan, Refugees Deeply speaks to Aqeela Asifi, a prize-winning educator of refugee girls in the country’s Punjab province, about how the mass returns will impact girls’ education and thus the future of Afghanistan.
Azizah Sayah’s son died in Syria after joining the ranks of the so-called Islamic State. In the latest installment of “Women and Jihad,” she tells her story and shares her mission to prevent other French young people from leaving to fight in radical Islamist movements.
Since it began its military campaign against the Nigerian government in 2009, the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of girls. But some young women join the group voluntarily, raising questions about how to help them when they come back home.
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