Kurdish Peshmerga female fighters march during combat skills training before being deployed to fight the Islamic State at their military camp in Sulaimaniya, northern Iraq September 18, 2014. © Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah

Shiwa left her home country Iran to fight against “Islamic State” because she believes their ideology goes totally against women’s rights. She feels it’s her duty to try to stop them. Listen to her story here!

Gundo, a Senegalese woman working to stop female genital mutilation (FGM). But this isn’t a problem limited to Africa. Our reporters meet women speaking out in Germany and the UK as part of our upcoming webisode #endFGM. Watch these hopeful stories about a tradition that needs to change – and join in using the hashtag #endFGM

Female migrants coming to Europe are exposed to physical and sexual violence while living in cramped shelters with other refugees. But cultural prejudices and trauma make it difficult for them to talk about abuse.

Many FGM traditions are rooted in a transition to womanhood. Maasai girls in Kenya are continuing rich, coming-of-age rituals – without genital mutilation – and learning about their bodies instead.

Sita’s face beams with happiness as she dances (picture). After enduring severe hardship, a group of Nepali girls are now on a tour performing traditional dance across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. DW takes a look at how the Maiti organization offers them aid and shelter.

@ Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis

As thousands of refugees keep ariving in Germany, the DW takes a look at women who undertake the long and arduous journey from their home in Syria to Europe. Many of them carry their babies or small children with them.

Fatima Kurdi, from Canada, stands next to a painting of her late nephew, Aylan Kurdi, on a board outside of EU headquarters on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015. Aylan Kurdi (3) and his family was on the way to her when the small rubber boat he and his family were in capsized in a desperate voyage from Turkey to Greece. © picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Mayo

The refugee crisis in Europe has led ‪#‎CharlieHebdo, the satirical French magazine, to publish some highly provocative cartoons. I won’t be buying this edition, said DW’s Grahame Lucas.