© DW/M. Magunia

Scilla Elworthy Ph.D., Councillor of the World Future Council and founder of the Oxford Research Group and Peace Direct, was the one of the first women to publish a report on female genital mutilation that led to the World Health Organization campaign to eradicate the practice. Three-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, she recently published her latest book “Pioneering the Possible – Awakened Leadership for a World that works” and is certain that a different future for all of humanity is possible, if humans wake up.

© Picture-alliance/dpa

In some countries women have to pretend to be men to be able to work and earn money for the family, or girls have to pretend to be boys to be accepted or even to protect themselves from rape and other form of violence. The post about a mother who pretends to be a man to be able to earn money for her family got a lot of respond from readers this week. Check out here if your comment has been chosen for this week’s Comment of the Week and stay tuned for next week’s edition!

An Indian woman carries stones on her head at a rock processing area in Assam © Anuwar Hazarika/AFP/Getty Images

The belief in witchcraft, sorcery and the occult often times causes people to be wrongly accused of being a witch. In the last couple of months this has led to several killings in India’s eastern state of Assam. Read this story and other news about women here!

A mother feeding her malnourished child in the nutrition rehabilitation centre at Khalwa village, district Khandwa, 350 kilometers away from state capital Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India © picture-alliance/dpa

A UN-backed survey in India has shown that simple interventions such as distributing iron folic acid tablets to children and engaging community workers to promote breast feeding has led to considerable improvement in the health of children and women in India. Saba Mebrahtu, chief of child development and nutrition at UNICEF India tells DW how these simple models could be easily replicated by other developing countries facing the problem of child malnutrition, the underlying cause of death for 3 million children annually around the world. She also talks about the challenges that remain as far as child and women nutrition status in India is concerned. The survey is the first national survey of child and maternal health in India in the last decade.

An Indian girl (Copyright: picture-alliance/dpa)

For the first time, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi utilized his social media presence and fan following to bring about awareness on the delicate subject of female feticide in the country.

Indian students of Saint Joseph Degree college participate in an anti-rape protest in Hyderabad on September 13, 2013. (© Getty Images/N. Seelam)

In the backdrop of the numerous reported cases of rapes, gang rapes and widely visible discrimination against women in India, the German author, artist and social worker Dr. Katharina Poggendorf-Kakar spoke about the India-specific form of such violent acts. Dr. Poggendorf has lived in India since 2003 and travelled extensively through India to understand the basis of such atrocities on women.

Painting from Catita Dias that illustrates the Elsa Figueira film poster. The film titled “Elsa Figueira” deals with a young woman standing up to violence from the man she loves. (© DW/C. Dias)

Turkish authorities arrested a 28-year-old woman who killed her husband with his handgun. She insisted that she was defending her “honor.” Her husband had allegedly beaten, drugged and abused her. Read more here, and other news about women that made it to the headlines.