According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 3 women in the world will experience physical or sexual violence during their lifetime. Intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence, impacting an estimated 641 million women worldwide. Lockdowns and disruptions in access to support services due to the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated the prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV).

“Midwives and nurses contribute to the health of women, families, communities, and society at large, but the impact of their care goes much further… Their care is transformational,” said Diene Keita, Deputy Executive Director for Programmes at UNFPA. She spoke at a recent event hosted by Women in Global Health, which virtually convened nurses and midwives from around the world to celebrate 100 outstanding women nurse and midwife leaders from over 50 countries. The event occurred in honor of the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, as designated by the World Health Organization (WHO). The list of 100 leaders is the first global recognition of its kind and commemorates women’s unique stories of resilience, leadership, and hard work.

“How do we incorporate more men into the work that we’re doing?” said Dominick Shattuck, Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning for Breakthrough ACTION at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP), at a recent event hosted by the MenEngage Alliance. The event focused on interventions to meaningfully engage men and boys in health programming, and how “life course theory” can help determine the best timing for male engagement.

The United States imprisons the most women in the world. Across the United States, approximately 200,000 women are incarcerated—nearly an 800 percent increase since 1980. Women of color are disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system. In 2017, twice as many Black women and 1.3 times as many Hispanic women were incarcerated compared to white women. An often overlooked aspect of the increasing rates of women’s incarceration is the impact on the sexual and reproductive health needs of these women. “Despite being the fastest growing incarcerated population, women and girls are correctional afterthoughts,” writes Kimberly Haven, an activist and formerly incarcerated woman who had to undergo a hysterectomy—a surgical procedure to remove the uterus (and, with it, childbearing possibilities)—after being denied proper menstrual products while incarcerated.

“Despite national action plans and legislation in 84 countries, women remain undervalued in peacebuilding, and we know today [women are] seriously underrepresented in peace processes,” said Kathleen Kuehnast, Director of Gender Policy and Strategy at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), at a recent event with USIP and the U.S. Civil Society Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (U.S. CSWG).