South Africa anti-immigrant group blocks access to hospitals
This week, we start in Nigeria, where two boarding students lost their lives after being accused of being gay. Next, we travel to Rwanda, where a new bill bars same-sex couples from becoming parents through surrogacy or IVF. Finally, we stop in The Gambia, where the tragic death of a one-month-old baby from FGM has sparked outrage.
But first, in Zimbabwe, survivors of domestic abuse are finding purpose and protection in Akashinga, an all-women ranger unit where they defend endangered wildlife — and themselves.
Read an excerpt here👇🏽:
They escaped their husbands. Then they took on poachers
Since childhood, 40-year-old Namatai Torerai* has always dreamt of becoming a police officer. Growing up in Raffingora, 45 km northeast of Chinhoyi, she was inspired by the confidence of women officers and admired their bravery. However, her aspirations were shattered when she married and divorced twice—the second marriage marked by sexual and physical violence.
“My ex-husband was unemployed, and I was working, so he would collect all my earnings to spend with his girlfriends, and if I asked, we would end up fighting,” Torerai recounts. She endured this abuse for two years, as fellow women encouraged her to be strong, since it was considered part of marriage.
This trend is prevalent in many African societies, where gender norms often normalise gender-based violence (GBV) as a way to control or discipline a woman, particularly by their intimate partners.
Statistics reveal that in Zimbabwe, approximately 39.4% of women have been subjected to physical violence, and an estimated 11.6% have faced sexual violence.
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“I decided to be free”: These Nigerian women are okay with being just the ‘Cool Aunties’
For Jewel, falling in love isn’t about chemistry. It’s about children. She meets someone, they connect, and they dream out loud together. But once the conversation turns to the future, children, family, and domesticity, the air shifts.
Jewel doesn’t want children. Not now. Not ever. It’s not a temporary phase or the residue of heartbreak; it’s a conscious decision. And in Nigeria, where motherhood is still widely regarded as a woman’s ultimate calling, that decision is radical.
“I just decided to be free,” she says. And by free, she means childfree.
For Jewel, 30, the decision is deeply personal, yet not accidental. As the first daughter in a large family, she practically raised her siblings, nephews, and nieces. That early, prolonged immersion in childcare taught her something important: she loved children, just not enough to become a mother herself. “I love being a doting aunty,” she says. “That’s where it ends for me.”
“We don’t rent to people like you”: A trans woman’s search for a home in Lagos
For Kim, a trans woman living in Lagos, the search for a home began like any other: visiting apartments, speaking to agents, and making plans for a new life. But each time she thought she’d found a place, something changed. “I’d walk in, and the caretaker or landlord’s face would shift when they saw me. It was always the same reaction—shock, discomfort, rejection,” Kim recalls.
It didn’t take long for her to realise that the door to safe housing was not easily opened. Her identity as a trans woman was a dealbreaker for many landlords.
“It’s not even about the money. If you’re trans in Nigeria, you’re not welcome. I had the cash to pay, but they would look at me and see someone who doesn’t belong,” Kim explains. Landlords rejected her, with a few bluntly stating they “didn’t rent to people like her.”
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Outrage as baby dies after genital mutilation in The Gambia
The death of a one-month-old baby girl who was the victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia has sparked widespread outrage.
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The loneliest continent: epidemic of social isolation hits Africans as western culture spreads
Loneliness has been a constant feature of Macyleen’s life since she was nine years old and her mother died in their home town in Zimbabwe. She was sent to live with her father, but he worked away from home a lot. His new wife resented his other children and was emotionally abusive.
Macyleen lived with three half-siblings, but they were much older. “We were there to survive and just get to the next day. I knew I was alone,” she recalls.
That feeling has never really left Macyleen, who is now 33, building a childminding business and bringing up four children on her own in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), South Africa.
There are many people in Africa experiencing loneliness, like Macyleen. According to a report in June by the World Health Organization, Africa is the loneliest continent on Earth.