They may not have been elected but they still hold considerable power and influence. Some of Africa’s first ladies even have an eye for the presidency. Meet the women behind these leaders.

An indian woman walks on a dried and cracked water pond as she carries bucket to take drinking water. © Imago/Zuma Press

In the baking sun and swirling dust, Madhu, 37, looks dejected as she surveys the parched field of kharif paddy and pulse crops in Hamirpur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

The girlband Yegna @ DW/A. Getmann

Women and girls in Ethiopia face a daunting number of challenges, including violence. Two out of three women actually believe that wife-beating is justified. All-female band Yegna is confronting the entrenched beliefs that hold Ethiopian women back.

Women’s empowerment and freedom are considered to be directly connected to the employment of women, and it is generally believed that if a woman does a job and is financially independent, the chance of her being exploited on the basis of her gender are minimal. But is it just a theory or is it actually so?

This is a blog from one of our readers, Roheena Sajid from Pakistan. We welcome other readers that would like to write for us.

© Reuters/R. Cheyne

The queen in pink with a pink hat, the queen in blue with a blue hat, the queen in green with a green hat: that’s how we know her now. But was it always that way? Here’s a look back at her carefully planned style.

© AFP/Getty Images/D. Dutta

The narrative of sex in India tends to have got stuck on the issues of violence, rape and harassment. This is not surprising considering that India is a country in which a majority of the women face sexual violence on a daily basis.

A man walks in front of an ad for a skin-brightening product © picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sen

It is an obsession that literally goes under the Indian society’s skin! “Don’t go out in the sun to play, you’ll turn into a dark-skinned witch and then nobody will marry you!” Sounds funny?!