Women

Inside Canada’s only witch school

by Vanessa Chiasson

A Quebec program teaches ritual, leadership and connection for those seeking more than conventional faith

Iraq’s child brides

by Robert Bociaga

Girls as young as nine are being forced into marriage in Iraq. Women’s rights activists are risking everything to fight back.

A person in a peach knitted vest and white shirt with hands in pockets. They stand confidently against a plain background, conveying a calm, poised demeanor.

Meet the woman who’s scrapping the pap

by Ghazal Azizi

Using a nanotech gel on everyday period products, Ibukun Elebute aims to revolutionize cervical-cancer screening

Shannon K. Evans finds inspiration from medieval mystics in new book

by Marie Trotter

"The Mystics Would Like a Word" shares lessons from the early church's holy women

Illustration of a woman in a black niqab hugging a girl in a purple and pink striped shirt with brown hair and bangs. There is a boy sleeping next to them. They are in a tent and outside are two women in a niqab walking by, along with a boy in a long hooded shirt, shorts and sandals. A man with a beard, in a thawb and sandals is also walking by.

Stuck in a Syrian refugee camp, this mother could send her children to Canada. But she may never see them again.

by Katharine Lake Berz

Samia's Canadian children are in danger of dying or becoming victims of violence, but she faces an impossible choice

Cardboard sign about preventing homelessness

Homeless shelters are seeing more women in need of their help

by Trisha Elliott

Women are the fastest-growing segment of Canada's homeless population, but many shelters aren't designed to take care of them

Older white woman in colourful shirt

United Church Women faces challenges as family time constraints rise

by David Wilson

"There's no question, we were the backbone of the church," UCW president Joyce MacKinnon tells The Observer