Women

(L to R) Natalia Tsoi, boxing referee from Kazakstan; Farida Abdueva, Muay Thai fighter from Kyrgyzstan; Shoira Zulkaynarova, boxer from Tajikistan; Aziza Yakubova, boxer from Uzbekistan. © Courtesy of N. Tsoi, F. Abdueva, S. Zulkaynarova and A. Yakubova.

Central Asia: Fighting, Inside and Outside the Ring

Women who dream of taking on combat disciplines have to first defy conservative traditions.

8 Mar 23

In many liberated Ukrainian villages police have discovered buildings that appear to have been used by Russian soldiers as prisons and suspected torture chambers. © Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

Torture in the Chernihiv Region

Case brought over brutal detention and abuse of local man randomly shot at and imprisoned.

22 Feb 23

An aerial view of artillery craters scarring the landscape next to a destroyed house on October 24, 2022 in Sulyhivka, Kharkiv oblast, Ukraine. © Carl Court/Getty Images

Environmental Damage as a War Crime

Despite widespread destruction, prosecuting Russia will come with many challenges.

21 Feb 23

Bohdan Oleksandrovych Lukavenko, a senior investigator of special importance cases of the administration of the of Kharkiv oblast, dusts for fingerprints on items found in a building used as a local headquarters by Russian occupying forces in Vyshneve, Ukraine. © Carl Court/Getty Images

Ukraine: International Support for War Crimes Investigations

Aid efforts extend from legal expertise to practical assistance in crime scene investigation.

14 Feb 23

In a telephone conversation intercepted by the Ukrainian security service, Olga Bykovska was heard apparently giving her 28-year-old husband Roman Bykovskyi permission to commit sexual assault. © Olga Bykovska/VK

“Go Ahead and Rape Ukrainian Women”

Soldier’s wife accused of inciting her husband to commit sexual violence.

14 Feb 23

A mother holds the children she gave birth to as a result of in-vitro fertilisation. In January, the Armenian government announced a large-scale free programme to address the country's low infertility rate. © Fertility Center of Armenia

Armenia Offers Free IVF to Tackle Population Decline

Authorities are taking measures to address high infertility rate and address demographic challenges.

3 Feb 23

A woman takes part in a Women's March on August 13, 2020 in Minsk, Belarus. There have been nightly protests since the presidential election, in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory and another term in his 26-year rule of the country. Preliminary results gave him 80% of the vote, which opposition candidates alleged is a rigged count. © Misha Friedman/Getty Images

Flower Power: Women Prisoners in Belarus

The combined sentences of those jailed in demonstrations amount to nearly 500 years.

18 Jan 23

Ukraine: Giving Birth Under Fire

Maternity wards have been among the hundreds of healthcare facilities struck since the start of the full-scale invasion.

28 Nov 22

Ukraine: Release from Russian Captivity

Freed women relate stories of violence, starvation and emotional abuse.

28 Nov 22

Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk with exchanged prisoners.

Ukrainian Female Prisoners Suffer Inhumane Conditions

Civilians and soldiers alike are denied medical care and subjected to arbitrary punishment by Russian forces and their proxies.

31 Oct 22

Support local journalists

DONATE