STORIES
From urgent investigations to bold op-eds by global leaders, we bring you the stories shaping the lives of women and girls worldwide.
Obstetric Abuse Is Widespread in Yemen, Women Say
In Yemen, childbirth is not just a medical risk but often a source of trauma, as women face abuse, neglect, and violence in the very rooms meant to bring life. Photo: Karin Ekholm / MSF
Despite Promises of Aid, Gaza’s Women Are Still Cut Off From Basic Hygiene
“We had to choose between showering and running out of water.” In Gaza, women are cutting their daughters’ hair, rationing water, and reusing menstrual materials to survive. Photo: Belal Khaled/Anadolu via Getty Images
‘Our Child Was Born in an Open Field’: U.S. Aid Cuts Deepen Afghanistan’s Maternal Health Crisis
As foreign aid is slashed and clinics close across Afghanistan, maternal deaths are rising sharply—leaving women and children without access to life-saving care. Photo: Elise Blanchard / AFP via Getty Images
In Nigeria, Girls Are Still Being Subjected to Breast Ironing. Survivors Are Breaking the Silence.
Despite years of public awareness campaigns, the traumatic act of ‘breast ironing’ persists in an effort to “protect girls.”
In Kashmir’s Border Villages, Women Bear the Brunt of a Ceasefire in Tatters
As cross-border violence escalates, women in Kashmir’s frontline villages lead their families through displacement, devastation, and a fight for survival. Photo: Dar Yasin / AP
Climate Change Is Driving a Surge in Child Marriages in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province
In Balochistan, climate-driven poverty is accelerating child marriage, as families trade daughters for survival in the wake of devastating floods. Photo: Irfan Azad
The Sudanese Women’s Football Team Defying War and Exile
In exile but undeterred, Sudan’s all-women’s football team Samidat—meaning “resilient women”—trains in Cairo, reclaiming the game they lost to war.
Religious Schools Replace Education for Afghan Girls Under Taliban Rule
In Taliban-run Afghanistan, religious schools have become the only option for girls, where education is replaced by surveillance, sermons, and strict control over their appearance and autonomy. Photo: Ebrahim Noroozi
Olena Yahupova Survived Russian Torture and Rape. Now She’s Taking Her Case to the World.
After surviving months of torture and sexual violence in Russian custody, a Ukrainian woman builds a legal case to hold her captors accountable. Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
Ugandan Women Wage a 50-Year Struggle for Equal Rights in Marriage
After a half-century of setbacks, Ugandan women continue their fight for a marriage law that grants true equality—despite rising religious and political pushback. Photo: Women and Girls Rights Advocacy Uganda
The World Is Abandoning Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence—We Must Not Look Away
In her MTHS op-ed, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr. Feride Rushiti calls on the world not to abandon survivors of wartime sexual violence as cuts to survivor services in Kosovo threaten to erase decades of progress in justice, healing, and dignity for victims.
One Woman’s Fight to Save Children From Armed Groups in Colombia
Carmen García leads a network of mothers in Colombia’s conflict-ridden Catatumbo region, rescuing children from the hands of armed groups and offering them a path back to safety.
Sandra Domínguez Exposed Misogyny—Then Disappeared. Her Death Fuels Accusations of State Complicity in Mexico
In Mexico, Sandra Domínguez’s murder exposes the deadly cost of speaking out against misogyny and corruption, where justice for women remains elusive.
Hegseth’s Closure of the Pentagon’s Women, Peace and Security Program Will Make Peace in the Middle East Harder Than Ever
Eliminating Women, Peace, and Security from U.S. defense policy isn’t just shortsighted—it undermines global peace efforts and ignores the very women who bear the brunt of war, argues former Wilson Center analyst Faria Nasruddin.
‘We Left Before They Could Take Us’: Hindu Girls Flee Pakistan for a Fragile Safety
Fleeing abduction and forced conversion in Pakistan, Hindu girls and their families now face a different kind of struggle—statelessness and squalor—in India. Photo: VOA News
‘I Narrowly Escaped’: Displaced Nigerian Women Reeling After Easter Massacre
After gunmen attacked their villages, Nigerian women lead their families through grief, hunger, and an uncertain return home.
Inside a Czech Abortion Network Offering Pregnant Women from Poland a Lifeline
Amid Poland’s near-total abortion ban, grassroots networks across Europe are stepping in to provide care, support, and safe access to abortion. Photo: Martin Divisek
In Rural Afghanistan, Childbirth Often Means Death, Not Life
In rural Afghanistan, a lack of healthcare and infrastructure leaves childbirth among the leading causes of death for women. Photo: UNICEF
The Power Gap: How State Lines Shape the Rights and Realities of American Women
More to Her Story sits down with Dr. C. Nicole Mason, President and CEO of Future Forward Women, to discuss how new data reveals the geography of gender inequality in America.
Buried Futures: How Nigeria’s Gold Rush is Stealing Girls from School
A generation of girls is being forced out of school and into dangerous mining work, risking their lives to support their families.