This mobile cinema is helping women in Pakistan learn their rights

The stock photo community is taking steps to offer more diverse options with a partnership by Getty Images, Dove, and GirlGaze to produce 5,000 newly available photographs of 179 women from 39 countries. The photos are their own collection on Getty's website and has customizable tags written by the subjects in the photo (recent ones include “blackgirlmagic,” “confident,” and “bosslady.” Already searches for terms like “strong women” and “women leaders” are up 187% and 202% respectively, and Getty plans to donate 10% of each licensing fee to promote further work in this area.

One Nigerian couple is committed to ending female genital mutilation, or the practice of removing a women’s external genitalia. Gift and Augustine Abu travel all across Nigeria to end FGM, which can sometimes lead to death. The couple has devised a master plan, has 84 volunteers, and offer workshops to cutters so they can find alternate sources of income.

A program launched by the Equal Community Foundation (ECF) in 2011 called Action for Equality (AFE) educates more than 5,000 teenage boys in Pune, India about violence against women. They spend 43 weeks learning curriculum designed to help them spot gender-based violence, how to intervene and be a model for change, and how to disrupt gender norms. The program is especially effective, because it is coordinated by young men in their 20s whom the teenage boys look up to. About 80% of participants graduate, and many families testify to their son/brother/nephew's changed behavior.

A program called RAPP (Relationship Abuse Prevention Program) uses safe spaces for teens to talk about their romantic relationships with both peer and adult leaders as a way to prevent abusive relationships through education. It is supported by New York City's Human Resources Administration, the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, Day One, and Steps to End Violence and Urban Resource Institute (URI). The program is now in 94 schools across the city, and participants / peer leaders testify to how much it changed their lives.

For two hours every Thursday, a support group for transgender Latina women called Transgéneros Unidas is held in Long Beach, California. Run by an organization called Bienestar, several cities in CA host these meetings for the women to discuss issues in their communities, health risks as transwomen, and past trauma. Group members view the group as an essential part of their support system and are greatly comforted by the community.

Sheroes’ Hangout is a cafe entirely run by acid attack survivors in Agra, India. Acid attacks are unfortunately still prevalent worldwide, usually as a result of a woman turning down a man's advances, but punishment for committing these crimes is still lackadaisical. This cafe, founded in 2006 by an activist organization called Stop Acid Attacks, allows women to not cover their faces, talk openly about their attacks, and just be comfortable with themselves.

Preventing sexual violence against women begins with men. In a country faced with a high incidence of gender-based violence, Masculinities for Peace, a non-governmental organization, is working to change the norms of El Salvador’s patriarchal culture. Going beyond punishment to encourage long-term behavioral change, the NGO provides rehabilitative courses on masculinity to convicted offenders.

In a post-war Iraq, a salon has become a gathering place for women to share their stories of trauma, and heal. “The salon is necessary. For women to continue, they need it. Women must have it.”

We rarely think of Female Genital Mutilation, which is the total or partial removal of the external female genitalia, as an economic practice. It’s often thought of in cultural terms. However, that’s exactly what Seleiman Bishagazi did. He realized the practice was popular in his community because poor families made a profit from it. So, he “decided to attack the issue with economics and education.”

Tunisian women have more rights than any other Islamic country. Since their revolution in 1956, the country has led the Arab world in establishing rights for women. Since then, legislation is still being pushed forward that safeguards women’s rights. Tunisian women have more rights than any other Islamic country. Since their revolution in 1956, the country has led the Arab world in establishing rights for women. Since then, legislation is still being pushed forward that safeguards women’s rights. “Tunisia is the role model regarding gender legislation in the Arab world.”