It took Dimos Sakellaridis about six years to build Kiss condoms into one of Nigeria’s top brands, with approximately 91 million sold in 2019. The prophylactics are available in shops, markets, and kiosks across the country, and…
America’s Guns Fuel Mexico’s Domestic Violence Epidemic
Lockdowns and an easy supply of weapons have been a fatal combination for Mexican women.
‘They Came to Kill the Mothers.’ After a Devastating Attack on a Kabul Maternity Ward, Afghan Women Face Increased Dangers
An attack on a Kabul maternity ward comes at a time when the future of women’s health efforts in Afghanistan is already complicated.
Could the coronavirus make telemedicine abortion the new normal?
During the coronavirus pandemic, telemedicine abortion has become a way of bringing providers directly into patients’ homes, bypassing clinics altogether. Could this become the new normal?
Surrogacy Is Complicated—Then Add a Global Pandemic
At 37 weeks pregnant, Arina* doesn’t leave her Kiev apartment often. The pandemic ricocheting around the globe means the 28-year-old surrogate can’t ride the now-closed subway or tram to the city center. To pass the…
A Transport Ban in Uganda Means Women are Trapped at Home with Their Abusers
Seconds after Veronica opened her eyes in the hospital, she knew who had put her there. Her body ached; her head throbbed. The night before, the 25-year-old mother-of-five was busy buying medication for her children…
Is Getting Pregnant “Medically Necessary” Right Now?
Tens of thousands patients' fertility treatments have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Should IVF treatments be considered essential?
Pregnant Black women navigate two public health crises during COVID-19 in Milwaukee
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare a 'perfect storm' of health inequalities that further risk pregnant Black women's lives.
The Pandemic’s Hidden Human Trafficking Crisis
For anyone familiar with the mechanisms and methods that drive trafficking, it’s obvious why rates of exploitation spike during international crises.
‘Don’t Have to Fight for Pennies’: New Zealand Safety Net Helps Sex Workers in Lockdown
The week before New Zealand went into full lockdown on 26 March, Lana*, 28, had taken a break from work at the high-end Wellington brothel where, since September, she had made around NZ$2,200 a month…
‘Grammie’s Taking Food to Other People’: A Trucker Keeps Trucking
Ingrid Brown loves the peace of the night, especially these days. When the sun sets, it’s just her and the road, her truck lights illuminating the highway stretching out ahead. The quiet is “like a…
Sex Workers’ Dilemma amid Covid-19
At 6:30pm every evening, Emelda Ngieno’s alarm clock buzzes her out of a deep sleep. As the sun sets, she gets up, throws on tonight’s chosen outfit and heads to her designated location: Pipeline, a…
Iran’s Nurses Are Martyrs to Trump’s Maximum Pressure
Dozens of nurses have been infected with COVID-19, in part as a result of restrictions imposed by the Trump administration.
Experts Apply Lessons From Ebola to Ensure Girls Return to School Post-Pandemic
In April of 2015, after Ebola ravaged Sierra Leone and paralyzed West Africa, schools finally began reopening. Thousands of children eagerly returned to school after nine months stuck at home, but 13-year-old Isatu and her…
‘The Reality Is, It’s Incredibly Hard’
Shelly Hughes’s typical day starts at 9 p.m. She’s used to not wanting to get out of bed and go to work, but now the feeling is much stronger. Her son, home from college because…
‘There’s No Backup’: Single Moms on Quarantining with Kids
I started taking the pandemic seriously when schools closed. I’ve never seen day-to-day life change so drastically for so many Americans. Friends began posting pictures with their kids online, with #homeschooling. I couldn’t help but…
Coronavirus Locks Down the Philippines, but Children Face Threat of Online Abuse
Wearing pajamas and a pair of plastic slip-on shoes, the 12-year-old girl crouched in a doorway and texted a friend to say she’d run away. It was raining, and the mud stuck to her flip-flops…
Coronavirus threatens an already strained maternal health system
On Wednesday, March 18, 28-year-old Latoyha Young and her mother, Thomasina Hayten, rushed to Sutter Health Hospital in Sacramento, believing that Young was in labor. Hospital staff sent her home — she wasn’t far enough…