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Feminism

Feminism is the belief in full social, economic and political equality for women. It is based on the idea that all human beings deserve equal rights, regardless of sex or gender.

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All Content on this topic

A crowd of people holding Polish flags and a protest placard with a silhouette of Donald Tusk and the word Dicktator

A crowd of people holding Polish flags and a protest placard with a silhouette of Donald Tusk and the word Dicktator

Still divided? Poland under new management

Poland may have voted out a right-wing populist government, but has society really come together?

Afghan women at a shopping area in Kabul

Afghan women at a shopping area in Kabul

Harsh dress codes hamper Afghan women's rights

Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, Afghan women and girls have lost access to education, employment and public spaces.

Illustration of three women in front of the Bundestag, one putting her ballot into a ballot box

Illustration of three women in front of the Bundestag, one putting her ballot into a ballot box

If only women voted, what would Germany look like?

What would be different in Germany if only women voted? Which parties would be in power?

DW Podcast | Inside Europe | provisorisch f ROAD

DW Podcast | Inside Europe | provisorisch f ROAD

Inside Europe - 7 March 2024

An International Women's Day Special, featuring the voices of Russian opposition figurehead Yulia Navalnaya, female NATO recruits as they take to the skies, and a French abortion activist celebrating a constitutional victory. Also in the show: pioneering business anchor Karen Tso, the only female watchmaker in Bosnia, Spanish football players and Estonia's Smoke Sauna Sisterhood.

Historical photo, digitally colorized, of a group of female protestors on their way to a gathering.

Historical photo, digitally colorized, of a group of female protestors on their way to a gathering.

The pioneers of Germany's women's movement

Though Germany's women rights activists weren't as radical as their sisters in Britain, they began early and persisted.

Woman wearing cleaning gloves

Woman wearing cleaning gloves

Congo: From cleaning rags to business riches

How a DRC entrepreneur started cleaning houses and turned it into a multi-city business.

DW 77 Percent | Edith Kimani at the 77 Percent Street Debate

DW 77 Percent | Edith Kimani at the 77 Percent Street Debate

Street Debate: Are our gender roles outdated?

Should women be left alone to run the house and raise the kids? We asked young Liberians how they handle gender roles.

Im Herzen Massai - Kenias erste Rangerinnen

Im Herzen Massai - Kenias erste Rangerinnen

Team Lioness - Kenya’s First Female Maasai Rangers

Maasai women Leah and Purity are rangers in the Kenyan bushveld.

DW Sendung The 77 Percent | #207

DW Sendung The 77 Percent | #207

KAZ: Equality in relationships

Should we stick to traditional gender roles in relationships? KAZ reacts to our Street Debate.

About a dozen competitors at Tour du Rwanda on bicycles

About a dozen competitors at Tour du Rwanda on bicycles

Tour du Rwanda: Probe underway into sexual abuse claims

Rwanda's Investigations Bureau says anyone implicated in sexual abuse will be prosecuted. But will victims come forward?

People stand in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and wave flags to celebrate the vote to include abortion in the constitution.

People stand in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and wave flags to celebrate the vote to include abortion in the constitution.

France: First to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

Women's rights groups celebrate as France's parliament voted to guarantee women's freedom to abort in the constitution.

French activists dressed in white, protesting.

French activists dressed in white, protesting.

Why France enshrined abortion rights in its constitution

By including the freedom of abortion in the constitution, French lawmakers want to ensure it cannot be reversed.

A woman stands behind a banner reading 'Women decide' during a rally to support women's right to abortion on the occasion of the International Safe Abortion Day

A woman stands behind a banner reading 'Women decide' during a rally to support women's right to abortion on the occasion of the International Safe Abortion Day

France makes abortion a constitutional right

French lawmakers have approved a historic bill that would enshrine a woman's right to an abortion in the constitution.

Smoke swirls around three women in gas masks protesting the poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran

Smoke swirls around three women in gas masks protesting the poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran

What's behind Iran's 'woman, life, freedom' protests?

The death of a young Iranian woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, in police custody in 2022 sparked an unprecedented revolt.

CVS Health Corp., store seen here, is the nation’s largest drugstore chain, with some 9,400 locations

CVS Health Corp., store seen here, is the nation’s largest drugstore chain, with some 9,400 locations

US pharmacy giants to start selling abortion pill

Mifepristone will soon be available in leading drugstores, in a major development surrounding abortion rights.

The 77 Percent Magazine #207

The 77 Percent Magazine #207

The 77 Percent - The Magazine for Africa's Youth

Should gender roles define how we live and how traditional are young Africans in their relationships?

Two female health professionals looks at a scan of baby

Two female health professionals looks at a scan of baby

Bangladesh: Sex scan verdict could help moms-to-be

Could this new directive from the High Court of Bangladesh help protect women during pregnancy?

Team India celebrates after Gurjit Kaur scores during a women's field hockey match against Australia

Team India celebrates after Gurjit Kaur scores during a women's field hockey match against Australia

How can India stop sexism in women's sports?

Female athletes in India say they've experienced sexism, favoritism and sexual harassment. DW Asia take a closer look.

A woman wearing a grey dress lays on a bed with a light green sheet as the female camera crew talks to her.

A woman wearing a grey dress lays on a bed with a light green sheet as the female camera crew talks to her.

African female filmmakers converge in Benin

The International Women's Film Festival features 18 films, all made by women.

Magazin Global Us | Kolumbien Care Blocks

Magazin Global Us | Kolumbien Care Blocks

Colombia: Caring for unpaid caregivers

Over 1 million women in Bogota work as full-time family caregivers. A city-led scheme aims to lighten their load.

DW "Global Us" Sendungslogo Composite

DW "Global Us" Sendungslogo Composite

The search for justice

Rio de Janeiro tackles its garbage problem, and ‘Care Block’ centers in Bogotá assist overburdened female caregivers.

A young woman wearing a yellow headscarf looks into the camera

A young woman wearing a yellow headscarf looks into the camera

Forgotten war: Stories of survival in Sudan

Ten million people have been displaced by the civil war in Sudan, more than in any other crisis worldwide.

A computer-generated illustration of in-vitro fertilization.

A computer-generated illustration of in-vitro fertilization.

Women in Germany demand better access to fertility treatment

Infertility affects one in six women in Germany. However, access to reproductive medicine is not available to all.

Female cadets undergo military training in South Korea

Female cadets undergo military training in South Korea

South Korea party urges mandatory military service for women

A new conservative political party is looking to tap into male discontent over women being exempted from conscription.

A picture of men wearing extravagant costumes during the Prince Carnival in 1884

A picture of men wearing extravagant costumes during the Prince Carnival in 1884

Germany: Is the Cologne Carnival still a man's world?

Why does a man still play a "maiden" in the Cologne Carnival? And what did the Nazis have against men wearing makeup?

DW Explainer | Africa’s Progress towards Zero Tolerance against FGM

DW Explainer | Africa’s Progress towards Zero Tolerance against FGM

Africa's slow progress toward zero tolerance against FGM

Is Africa advancing toward zero tolerance against female genital mutilation (FGM)?

Author and poet, Gertrude Stein dressed in dark clothes, sitting on a sofa with a side table to the right of the picture

Author and poet, Gertrude Stein dressed in dark clothes, sitting on a sofa with a side table to the right of the picture

Gertrude Stein: A complex pioneer of modernism

The Jewish-American lesbian experimental author and avant-garde art collector also had ties with pro-Nazi officials.

DW Vorschaubild | Love Matters S3 EPS9: Women’s sexuality

DW Vorschaubild | Love Matters S3 EPS9: Women’s sexuality

Sex positivity and women’s sexual agency in modern India

What does sexual agency mean for Indian women? And how does it differ from Western ideas of sexually liberated women?

A mother and children shop in an outdoor market.

A mother and children shop in an outdoor market.

Young single mothers in Morocco

Unwed mothers and their children are ostracized by society and stigmatized by their own families.

Portrait of a woman

Portrait of a woman

Loud and proud: Kashmir's female rappers

The rocky road of female rappers in male-dominated Kashmir.

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South Sudan's women work together for autonomy

Amid a humanitarian crisis, South Sudan's women are teaching each other useful skills to survive life in a refugee camp.

Close-up portrait of a smiling, dark-haired Ghazaleh Zarea

Close-up portrait of a smiling, dark-haired Ghazaleh Zarea

Iran sentences niece of DW journalist to jail

Ghazaleh Zarea, whose uncle Farhad Payar was an experienced DW journalist, faces three years in an Iranian prison.

A close-up of a young woman's brown eyes and thick eyebrows. She is standing behind bars; her eyes are made up, and she is wearing a red hijab.

A close-up of a young woman's brown eyes and thick eyebrows. She is standing behind bars; her eyes are made up, and she is wearing a red hijab.

Afghanistan: An online magazine for women

A group of female journalists are campaigning for women's rights in Afghanistan with the online magazine Zan Times.

Doku YT Plan KW 03 | Wir und Ihr - Generationen im Clinch Kämpfe

Doku YT Plan KW 03 | Wir und Ihr - Generationen im Clinch Kämpfe

Us and Them - When generations clash - Struggles

María in Mexico wants an end to violence against women; Somkele is fighting for democracy in Nigeria.

An empty classroom with a teacher wiping the whiteboard clean, September 22, 2021, Kabul

An empty classroom with a teacher wiping the whiteboard clean, September 22, 2021, Kabul

Afghanistan: Crackdown continues on women's rights, UN says

A new UN report has said women are being denied healthcare unless accompanied by a male guardian.

A family, a mother and three children, eat a meal together

A family, a mother and three children, eat a meal together

Family planning isn't easy in South Sudan

In conservative South Sudanese society, health workers are attacked and young couples are judged.

A young woman kneels while making bread

A young woman kneels while making bread

Pakistan election: Why are rural women more willing to vote?

In the last general election in Pakistan, women from five remote areas of the country were surprisingly eager to vote.

A woman in a pink headscarf speaks into a microphone

A woman in a pink headscarf speaks into a microphone

Bilkis Bano: Top Indian court sends rapists back to jail

India's top court said the Gujarat government was being "complicit" by freeing the men who had raped a Muslim woman.

A Pakistani woman applying makeup, her face blurred

A Pakistani woman applying makeup, her face blurred

Pakistani women forced into digital sex work to earn living

A lack of education and income opportunities has forced this Pakistani woman and others to engage in online sex work.

A woman sits on a sofa in a makeshift shelter, speaking to the camera

A woman sits on a sofa in a makeshift shelter, speaking to the camera

For women in Gaza, life is increasingly difficult

A lack of hygiene products and clean water is causing further health problems for women in the Gaza Strip.

Empty classroom in an Afghan school for girls, with a woman clearing off the white board at the front of the class

Empty classroom in an Afghan school for girls, with a woman clearing off the white board at the front of the class

Worries grow for mental health of Afghan girls under Taliban

The Taliban have barred girls from schools beyond the sixth grade and women from almost all jobs and public spaces.

DW "Global Us" Sendungslogo Composite

DW "Global Us" Sendungslogo Composite

Strong women: Impressive doers who get things done

Getting women on comedy stages in Pakistan. Plus, turning to surfboards to prove a point and fight racism in Brazil.

Community worker Abagna Patience sits outside and talks

Community worker Abagna Patience sits outside and talks

Ghana: Women's network fights tradition of domestic violence

Network in Ghana's north helps counter the traditional beliefs and barriers that stop women leaving violent marriages.

A burqa-clad woman walks with a girl along a street in Kabul

A burqa-clad woman walks with a girl along a street in Kabul

Afghanistan: Calls for ending Taliban's 'gender apartheid'

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and Afghan activists have slammed the world for paying lip service to women's rights.

A teacher leads a class of girls on the first day of the school year, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday, March 25, 2023

A teacher leads a class of girls on the first day of the school year, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday, March 25, 2023

Can the US force Taliban to lift ban on girls' education?

The US has imposed sanctions on two Taliban ministers over their stance on girls' education.

Iranian women hold up a flag supporting their football team

Iranian women hold up a flag supporting their football team

Iran: Women attend Tehran derby, but equality fight goes on

FIFA hailed the attendance of women at the recent Tehran derby as "progress," a term which a key activist has rejected

This picture taken on February 22, 2023 shows Rina Gonoi, a former member of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force who was sexually assaulted by colleagues, checking old photos on her phone

This picture taken on February 22, 2023 shows Rina Gonoi, a former member of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force who was sexually assaulted by colleagues, checking old photos on her phone

Rina Gonoi: Japan soldiers found guilty of sexual assault

The case has put a spotlight on the problem of sexual violence and harassment within the Japanese military.

An Iranian women holds up her arm at a 2022 protest

An Iranian women holds up her arm at a 2022 protest

What does Mohammadi's Nobel Peace Prize mean?

Narges Mohammadi's Nobel Peace Prize marks a milestone in a decades-long women's rights movement.

Bollywood actors Warina Hussain (right) and Aayush Sharma dance during the promotion of their film

Bollywood actors Warina Hussain (right) and Aayush Sharma dance during the promotion of their film

What happened to Bollywood's #MeToo movement?

Five years ago, reports of sexual harassment and assault in Bollywood sent shock waves through the industry.

Beyonce wearing a crown, surrounded by performers with their hands up in adulation

Beyonce wearing a crown, surrounded by performers with their hands up in adulation

How Beyonce became a pop culture phenomenon

Beyonce's "Renaissance" film is a monument to the superstar's perfectionist approach. Queen Bey plays by her own rules.