When SP le Roux began to think about the sexual violence epidemic in his home country of South Africa, he put his background as an electrical engineer and inventor to work.
SEA Games: Foreign Tourist Surge to Philippines Sees Rising Risk of Sex Trafficking
Sixteen-year-old Julianne* was trafficked into the Philippine sex industry two years ago. She makes between US$40 and US$80 a week, which goes straight to her family of six. As dusk falls and men flock to…
Meet University Student ‘Counting Dead Women’ Around Kenya
When she is not at university, Audrey Mugeni is updating her spreadsheet. Every month, she adds more names. In one column, a grim question needs answering: ‘What killed this woman?’
In Philippine Red-Light District, an Uphill Struggle to Battle Trafficking and Abuses
ANGELES CITY, Philippines — The girls onstage were numbered, not named. Silently, they shuffled in a circle around the mirrored platform in a basement dance bar; arms folded around bare stomachs, eyes fixed on the…
‘Dumped Babies Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg’: The Deadly Consequences of Curbing Reproductive Rights
It’s a hot mid-August morning, and Lydia Wambui’s bright green overalls are soaked. She’s standing knee-deep in Nairobi River, using a metal rod to catch rubbish lazily flowing down its murky waters. “Sewage, bottle-tops, needles…
Bangladesh’s Child Marriage Problem Is the World’s Human Trafficking Crisis
First Papiya was forced into marriage at 12 years old. Then she was trafficked into sexual slavery.
How to Make Abortion Great Again
On a rainy day in May, in the Polish coastal city of Gdańsk, in a high-ceilinged room on the second floor of an unremarkable building, 16 women and five men sat in mismatched office chairs…
What the World Loses if Turkey Destroys the Syrian Kurds
In spring 2015, the only semiofficial way to enter the Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria, referred to by Kurds as Rojava, was by boat across the narrow Tigris River from Iraqi Kurdistan. The boats were…
The Poland Model—Promoting ‘Family Values’ With Cash Handouts
SOBOLEW, Poland—Andrzej and Izabela Gromuł have a lot going on, with three boys ranging from 5 to 12, and a daughter on the way. On the warm Saturday afternoon that we spoke, the grassy backyard…
‘I Need the Money But I Feel Guilt.’ How a Drought-Resistant Crop Turned Women in Kenya into Reluctant Drug Lords
Hours before dawn at Soko ya Nadhif market in Garissa, Kenya, middle-aged women in neon hijabs shout orders at men. They glide smoothly, like ghosts, through the darkness, groaning under the weight of heavy bags…
Doubts Still Linger on Kenyans’ Safety in Middle East
In Kenya, the average domestic worker makes less than Sh150 a day, so when a placement agency promised Khamis that she would make Sh23,000 a month in Saudi Arabia as a domestic help, she quickly…
The Living Hell of Young Girls Enslaved in Bangladesh’s Brothels
After five years in the brothel, Labonni stopped dreaming of being rescued. Ever since she had been sold to a madam at 13 years old, customers had promised to help her escape. None had followed…
Britain Is Making Sexual Harassment a Hate Crime
Five different times, Shana Grice reported her ex-boyfriend to the police in Sussex, England.
Only Women Can Stop the Apocalypse
Nearly three decades after the end of the Cold War, nuclear conflict remains the single greatest immediate threat to global security.
El Salvador Kills Women as the U.S. Shrugs
Washington helped start an epidemic of violence against women in Central America. Now it’s washing its hands of the problem.
In Mosques Across Morocco, Women are Leading a Quiet Revolution
Not long ago, a woman confided a terrible secret to Zineb Hidra. Her husband, she whispered, was an alcoholic. He spent the young family’s money on liquor, and beat her when he was drunk. One…
‘Men Kill Women Because They Can’: Inside El Salvador’s Devastating Femicide Crisis
Yessenia Juárez and her daughter, Jocelyn, were extremely close. Even if only via a WhatsApp message fired off at lunch, the pair spoke every day. So when, on the morning of Thursday 5th July, Yessenia…