by Lesley D. Biswas
-India-

On March 24, 2011 India woke up to a chilling headline that read: “Man held for raping his minor daughter.” The victim, a 13-year-old girl from North Delhi allegedly had been raped several times over a period of two years by her own father before she mustered the courage to tell her sister-in-law about the abuse that had him arrested.

by Mandy Van Deven
-USA-

An unfortunate oversight of the recent media attention on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) bullying is the advocacy potential that decades-old legislation has to prevent gender-based harassment in schools. Title IX of the Education Amendment is the federal civil rights law passed by the United States government in 1972 that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funds.

by Nusrat Ara
-Indian-administered Kashmir-

As a little kid my elder brother and I spent most of our time at our maternal grandparent’s house. A room in the house held the fascination of all the children. It belonged to my uncle and the cause of our fascination hung obliquely across a wall.

by Rachel Muthoni
-Kenya-

Since they were evicted from the Mau Forest complex two years ago, more than 10,000 families have known no better life than that of suffering, sleeping in the cold, hunger, and lack of access to basic amenities.

by Moyara deMoraes Ruehsen
-USA-

UPDATE: Yesterday, the IMF’s board blocked Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer from the race for the top IMF job. -Ed.

With her distinctive silver coiffure and impressive couture wardrobe, it is hard not to take notice of Christine Lagarde, France’s highly-respected Finance Minister. But let us not forget that beneath that elegant exterior is an impressive mind, a wise and experienced manager with proven leadership skills, an astute negotiator with keen diplomatic instincts, an eloquent and insightful orator, and most important of all: a person of integrity.

by Sarah Irving
-Australia-

For a piece of cloth, the burqa arouses an extraordinary amount of emotion. In France women wearing it have been criminalised, and politicians throughout the Western world seem keen to capitalise on it as an emblem of ‘otherness’. This sheet of dark fabric unites some right-wing patriarchal men and some left-wing feminist women in opposition, whether because it is interpreted as a symbol of women’s oppression or as a tool of terrorists. But, for those who choose to wear the burqa or the niqab, it can confer "a sense of value, control, and security."

by Katharine Daniels
Executive Editor

June 8 is World Oceans Day – a growing global celebration of the big blue body of life that covers 71 percent of the earth’s surface.

“The ocean makes life on Earth possible,” reads the 2006 United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) publication "Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas." Generating nearly half of the oxygen in the atmosphere, the ocean “absorbs huge quantities of carbon dioxide, governs our climate and weather, regulates temperature, drives planetary chemistry, harbors most of the water and contains the greatest abundance and diversity of life on Earth.”

by Andrea Dulanto
-USA-

When attending an event produced by Wizard World, it is hard not to feel a bit geeky.

Currently on tour throughout the U.S. and Canada, Wizard World made its first stop in Miami, Florida. Same as other comic book conventions, Wizard World presents artists and merchandise from different genres—not just comics, but graphic novels, sci-fi, anime, gaming, cosplay, and cult comedy.