“Mary” was nine years old when her childhood abruptly ended. Three men fed her sedatives then raped her. Her mother, who had been washing clothes in a stream near their home in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, got home to find her child lying on the ground distraught, her legs and dress stained with blood.

Gracie Hee, Muay Thai coach and contender © Gracie Hee

In a small but significant way, Gracie Hee is empowering women both physically and mentally thanks to an ancient martial art form from Thailand.

Katrin Jakobsdóttir is prime minister of Iceland, and a mother of three

Iceland is often held up as the poster child of gender equality, but as Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir told DW ahead of the 2018 Women Leaders Global Forum, even her country has to keep fighting.

Siti Aishah © SPOT

Siti Aishah Hassan Hasri was first sexually assaulted at age eight. Then she was molested four times between the ages of 14 and 26. When she told her parents the first time it happened, they didn’t know how to handle the issue because the perpetrator was a close family friend.

Indian women protest against the rape of the eight year old in Mandsaur, Madhaya Pradesh, in New Delhi on June 30, 2018.

Less than half of the more than 25,000 cases that go to labs each year are processed, while 20 percent of lab reports do not hold up in court due to contaminated evidence

Online abuse against women has real life consequences including self-censorship and psychological damage. An international survey shows nearly one in four women have experienced such abuse, including physical threats.

At least 15 million girls have been victims of sexual violence, yet only 1 in 100 sought help, according to the UN’s children’s agency. Most children knew their abusers, says the report’s author Claudia Cappa.