Female migrant workers speak out about harassment in Qatar’s World Cup hotels
As the FIFA World Cup starts, migrant women working in Qatar's hotels say their allegations of harassment or abuse have been ignored.
Louise Donovan
Louise Donovan is an award-winning journalist, focusing on investigations and global reporting. She covers human rights, labor exploitation and international supply chains, often at the intersection of climate change or health.
Prior to this, she worked closely with the editorial team of Kenya’s largest newspaper, The Nation, teaming up with Kenyan journalists to cross-publish stories in both African and international outlets.
Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, TIME, The Associated Press, CNN, Foreign Policy and Vice World News, among others.
Louise’s groundbreaking stories have taken her across the globe, from Africa to the Middle East and Latin America. Several have led to systemic changes in garment factories and helped rescue migrant workers in exploitative conditions.
She won a One World Media award for her reporting on sexual violence in India, while her work examining the deadly consequences of curbing reproductive rights in Kenya was shortlisted for the Anthony Shahid Award for Journalism Ethics. In 2021, she won the ILO’s Labor Migration award for reporting on domestic workers in the Gulf using TikTok, published with The New York Times.
Previously the Deputy Digital Editor of ELLE UK, Louise edited the multiple award-winning Warrior series published in partnership with The Fuller Project.
Eighteen months in, Myanmar’s garment workers face widespread abuse under military rule
New research documents the alleged abuse of over 60,000 garment workers under military rule, with Zara, H&M, Lidl and Bestseller linked to the most cases.
Reporter’s Notebook: A toxic trash site in Kenya is making women sick
While it’s understood that exposure to the toxic chemicals found on dumpsites can result in cancer, respiratory problems and skin infections, relatively little attention has been paid to their impact on the reproductive health of…
From the Archives: Group that helps FGM survivors wins prestigious UK award. Meet the founder.
Stigma can stop survivors of female genital mutilation from seeking help, but Hawa Bah, who was cut at eight, reaches those suffering in silence to get them the care they need.
‘The smoke enters your body’: A toxic trash site in Kenya is making women sick
As rubbish piles up on a vast dumpsite, the women who sift through it for their livelihood are suffering reproductive health problems that scientists say have been overlooked.
Related: Air pollution’s impact on women’s health is not getting the attention it needs, scientists warn
Related: Air pollution’s impact on women’s health is not getting the attention it needs, scientists warn
She made jeans for Americans. When they stopped shopping, she turned to sex work
As the garment sector—one of the Lesotho’s largest employers—crumbles during the coronavirus pandemic, a 30-year-old factory worker turns to sex work to make do.
Violence spikes as Myanmar garment workers say factories are colluding with the junta
With tensions rising in alleged military-linked factories, brands such as Mango and Zara have cut ties in recent months. But at what cost to the mostly female workforce?
Female Migrant Workers And The Families They Support Are Being Abandoned By The Money-Transfer Industry
The flow of money sent home by foreign workers remained resilient in the face of COVID-19. But migrant women—and their home communities—still face significant financial barriers, particularly domestic workers in the Gulf living with ongoing…
Exclusive: Workers in Factory That Makes Kate Hudson’s Fabletics Activewear Allege Rampant Sexual and Physical Abuse
In a joint investigation with TIME, The Fuller Project has spoken to 38 workers who allege instances of abuse and harassment at a garment factory in Lesotho that predominantly supplies Fabletics, Kate Hudson’s athleisure brand.
Domestic Workers in Gulf Countries Vent Woes on TikTok
Foreign employees in wealthy households — most of them women — have been using the video-sharing app to bring abuses to light.
‘It Felt So Freeing’: Why Young Women Are Dropping the Pill
As the pill’s 60th anniversary approaches outside of the U.S., young women and people with wombs are increasingly interrogating the lack of information doctors provide about side effects when prescribing the pill and calling for…
Pandemic crushes global supply chains, workers at both ends
The lives—and livelihoods—of two women some 10,000 miles away from each other have become linked by a global pandemic that has not only crushed one of the world’s supply chains but economies, and millions of…
‘Men’s Violence Will Outlive The Coronavirus’ — Push To End Global Spike In Abuse Against Women Amid the Pandemic
With half of the world’s population living under lockdown, millions of women around the world were trapped with an abusive partner.
‘We know it’s the work of quack doctors’: Pandemic fans the flames of backstreet abortions in Kenya
Anecdotal reports suggest teenage pregnancies are soaring in Kenya, resulting in unsafe late-term terminations and abandoned babies.
COVID-19 has stopped everything except cancer — the cells are still growing
Globally, millions of women have missed breast cancer screening appointments because of paused services during the height of the pandemic in March and April. This means thousands of cancer cases could lie undetected.
Women Were Key to Eradicating Wild Polio in Africa. But Can They Do the Same for COVID?
How do governments and the wider medical community successfully immunise the entire world against COVID-19? The answer might just lie with women, who played an enormous role in eradicating wild polio across Africa.
After Escaping Abuse in the Middle East, Domestic Workers’ Woes Are Far From Over in this Pandemic
The pandemic and resulting economic crises have led tens of thousands of migrant workers around the world to return to their home countries
In Wake of Beirut’s Devastating Blast, Stranded Kenyan Domestic Workers Demand Repatriation
An estimated 30 women - at least three with children - took to the streets to protest. They are sleeping outside the Kenyan consular on mattresses with little food or water.
