Why Aren’t Girls in School?

In most countries, barriers of all kinds still stand between girls and school, blocking young women from the most basic form of social advancement.

Global News Roundup: Congo, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Israel, Kenya

This week: reports of mass rape  in Congo; poison gas at an Afghanistan girls’ school; desperate straits for Pakistani women who survived the floods; Indian women paid to delay pregnancy; Jerusalem’s gender-segregated trains; and a revolutionary constitution for Kenya. CONGO: Last Monday, the mass rape of almost 200 women in Congo was reported. The rapes were carried out systematically [...]

Oh, Grow Up Already!

On Sunday, The New York Times Magazine cover story, “What Is It About 20-Somethings,” argued that society is in the thick of a changing timetable for the transition to adulthood. To explain why young folks are stuck in a generational loop of the Peter Pan syndrome—unwilling or unable to grow up, get a job and [...]

Haiti’s Women 6 Months Later: Getting Back to Work

Nearly six months after the earthquake in Haiti, those of us involved in the UN humanitarian response are still struggling to provide those who have survived sexual violence with access to services they need–not an easy task, since there wasn’t much in the way of services for them to begin with. At the same time, [...]

Newsflash: Bangladesh Responds to Public Harassment of Women

Street harassment of women in Bangladesh, known colloquially as “eve teasing,” has reached such an alarming level that the education ministry has voted to have an “Eve Teasing Protection Day” to raise awareness of the social problem. The ministry made the decision in response to a rash of Bangladeshi women and girls committing suicide to [...]