Africa: 'Dirty Red' - How Periods Have Been Stigmatised Through History to the Modern Day

About a year ago, at a friend's wedding, a fellow guest asked whether I knew that modern sanitary towels owe their origins to resourceful World War I field nurses who discovered… Read more »

Africa: The Orgasm Gap and Why Women Climax Less Than Men

Imagine a steamy sex scene involving a woman and a man from your favourite television show or movie. It's likely that both parties orgasm. But this doesn't reflect reality. Read more »

Nigeria: Nigerian Women Ensure They Get the Best Possible Healthcare By Managing Unequal Power Relations With Men

Nigeria is a patriarchal society. Authority is vested in men, who tend to exert power and control over women in various spheres of life. This has an impact on women's health and… Read more »

South Africa: Telemedicine Can Help Women Get Early Abortions Safely - South African Study

In South Africa, it is legal to have an abortion upon request until the 13th week of pregnancy. The procedure is performed by trained certified midwives or registered nurses at… Read more »

South Africa: Violence, Health and Money Issues Among 5 Biggest Obstacles That Stand in Women's Way

Every year on 9 August South Africa celebrates Women's Day, marking an important moment in the country's history. This was the day in 1956 when women marched to the seat of… Read more »

Africa: Women's World Cup - What Still Needs to Be Done to Improve the Lot of Elite Female Footballers

The Fifa Women's World Cup is just 32 years old and on its eighth official edition, while the men's competition began 93 years ago and has enjoyed 22 tournaments. Read more »

Africa: Greta Gerwig's Barbie Movie Is a 'Feminist Bimbo' Classic - and No, That's Not an Oxymoron

The following article contains spoilers for Barbie. Read more »

Africa: Africa's Groundbreaking Women's Rights Treaty Turns 20 - the Hits and Misses of the Maputo Protocol

2023 marks two decades since the adoption of the Maputo Protocol. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo… Read more »

Ghana: Ama Ata Aidoo - The Pioneering Writer Left Behind a String of Feminist Classics

Prolific author and former Ghanaian education minister Ama Ata Aidoo passed away on 31 May 2023 at the age of 81.  News of her death  reverberated  around… Read more »

South Africa: South African Universities Must Do More to Tackle Staffs' Race and Gender Imbalances

At the advent of South Africa's democracy in 1994, an overwhelming majority of academics in the country's public higher education institutions were white men. Black South Africans… Read more »

Africa: Every 2 Seconds in the World a Baby Is Born Prematurely - Report Identifies Biggest Challenges for Their Survival

Globally, about one baby in 10 is born too soon - that's around one baby every two seconds. A full term pregnancy is around nine months or 37 weeks. Babies born before this mark… Read more »

Africa: Women Lawyers - Numbers Are Up but Report Sheds Light On Obstacles to Leadership in the Profession

The African continent currently leads the world in the number of women chief justices and presidents of constitutional courts. Several countries across the continent have almost… Read more »

South Africa: Bathrooms Are Political - How Gender-Inclusive Toilets Can Combat Indignity and Violence

A new hate crimes bill is inching closer to the possibility of becoming law in South Africa. The bill entrenches human dignity as a foundational value of the country by providing… Read more »

South Africa: HIV Care for Migrant Women in South Africa - the Gaps and 5 Steps Towards Offering Better Services

Around 8.45 million people in South Africa live with HIV - an estimated 13.9% of the population. Of South African women aged 15-49, approximately 24% are HIV positive. Read more »

Africa: Some Refugee Girls Are Forced Into Early Marriage for Safety - Here's Why

Rates of child marriage increase in communities displaced by conflict as well as communities affected by natural and environmental disasters. Read more »

Africa: Male Video Game Characters Speak Twice As Much As Females, Largest Study of Its Kind Reveals

Video games are played by nearly three billion people worldwide and make more money annually than the film industry. Around 50% of gamers are female but gaming has chronic problems… Read more »

Africa: Being Queer in Africa - the State of LGBTIQ+ Rights Across the Continent

In recent years several African countries have decriminalised same-sex relationships. But they're not representative of the continent. In fact, queer rights at times appear to be… Read more »

Ghana: Black and Bold Queens Is a New Children's Book Celebrating Women in Ghana's History

A new children's book, Black and Bold Queens: Women in Ghana's History explores the lives of 16 notable female pioneers and leaders in the West African country, with a strong focus… Read more »

East Africa: Children's Book Revolution - How East African Women Took On Colonialism After Independence

As independence from British colonial rule swept across East Africa in the early 1960s and freedom was won in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, parents and teachers worried about what… Read more »

Africa: Four Things You Need to Know About Having a Caesarean Section

If you're pregnant or planning to have a baby soon, you've probably been given lots of advice and information about what you might experience during and after the birth. But less… Read more »

Africa: Why Menstrual Leave Could Be Bad for Women

Spain recently adopted a menstrual leave policy, which makes additional (paid or unpaid) days off work available to "only and all cisgender women". Read more »

Ghana: Amma Darko Uses Fiction to Portray the Real Plight of Women and Street Children in Ghana

Amma Darko is one of Ghana's leading novelists, known for exploring gritty social issues and the lives of women. There is much to be unearthed in the childhood narrative of… Read more »

Libya: Social Media Now Trumps Traditional Family Networks in Libya - My Facebook Survey Reached 446,000 Women

When I told my family and friends I intended to pursue a PhD researching HIV awareness among married women in Libya, my home country, the reaction was not encouraging: "You'd be… Read more »

Senegal: Only 1 in 3 Girls Makes It to Secondary School in Senegal - Here's Why and How to Fix It

Senegal has a young population, with about half of its 18 million people aged below 19. This indicates a potentially high demand for education. Of those aged six to 11, however,… Read more »

Nigeria: Water Scarcity On Nigeria's Coast Is Hardest On Women - Six Steps to Ease the Burden

Imagine waking up before dawn every day to fetch water for your family. You trek to the nearest water source, miles away, with only a jerrycan to carry the precious liquid. You… Read more »