The Fuller Project

At The Fuller Project, we take the long view, following ongoing patterns and major trends. Last year, we tracked the ways that women are changing the face of politics around the world, the continuing surge in domestic violence, the increasing impact of climate change on every aspect of our lives, and how, even through a post-pandemic labor participation recovery, women workers are disproportionately suffering the drawbacks of the rapidly evolving global economy. The stories we reported exposed these underlying currents and moved the needle on gender equality around the world. Read more in our 2023 Impact Report: https://lnkd.in/gzG725eE

16.6M - the number of women globally who give birth in hospitals and clinics every year without adequate water. Read the story on our website: https://bit.ly/3ScS1Rk

Quick take with The Fuller Project's Erica Hensley

Most of the 20,000 yearly stillbirths in the U.S. take place after 37 weeks gestation. They happen suddenly, blindsiding parents who had names, onesies and nurseries ready to welcome a new member of their family at any moment. A new piece of legislation might finally direct attention to this long-standing and long-overlooked problem. This week's newsletter provides a preview from our reporting about what will and won’t change with new federal attention. Watch this space for more in this series, from Erica Hensley for The Fuller Project. Read here: https://bit.ly/3W0xSyV

The Fuller Project reporter Hanisha Harjani has been named a 2024-2025 Rosalynn Carter Fellow for Mental Health Journalism. During the yearlong fellowship, Harjani will explore the mental health impact of Gender Exploratory Therapy (GET), an emerging therapeutic model aimed at transgender youth. Patients who have undergone this practice say that they have been discouraged from questioning their gender and from accessing widely accepted forms of gender-affirming health care. Human rights lawyers, academics, and mental health professionals say that GET mirrors conversion therapy — a widely discredited and harmful protocol that has been banned in over 20 states — which claims to “fix” homosexuality or gender nonconformity. Conversion therapy has been linked to higher rates of suicide and depression and has been used to justify discriminatory policies against the LGBTQ+ community. Congratulations to Nish and the other outstanding journalists in this class of fellows! https://lnkd.in/eEmwz2hg

A contractor at the center of a BBC investigation exposing the sexual exploitation of women working on Kenyan tea plantations has been allowed to run in an election for a key tea agency, sparking protests. Allan Olingo for NationAfrica: https://bit.ly/3xQIMz4

#BlackWomensEqualPayDay

We’re thrilled to have received a 2024 Covering Climate Now award for our story investigating how extreme weather events, made more frequent and intense by climate change, are increasing violence against women. Published in partnership with The Washington Post and NationAfrica, The Fuller Project reported from India, Kenya and the Philippines on how floods, storms and droughts are combining with poverty and acting as a force multiplier to increase the pressures that make women vulnerable to domestic abuse. Reported by Disha Shetty, Geoffrey Ondieki, and Aie Balagtas See, and edited by Claire Cozens, the piece was among 51 selected out of more than 1,250 entries from journalists in dozens of countries working in every medium. A judging panel of 117 distinguished journalists selected three winners in each of 14 subject-based categories, including solutions, justice, politics, and health, among others. "The women in this story are trapped by flooding, both literally and figuratively," one judge said. "I found myself feeling claustrophobic at the descriptions of being trapped by floodwaters in a home with an abusive husband." Read the story here: https://lnkd.in/eiFMK72B https://lnkd.in/eXjvc5ue

Nearly half of new HIV infections are among women. Condoms are the most effective but men often refuse to use them, leaving women with less agency & protection against STIs. So why aren't there more products for women in the market? Current multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) that protect against pregnancy and STIs face regulatory and funding challenges, slowing their availability. Researchers are developing solutions like vaginal rings and combination pills, but progress is slow. Maggie F. writes more in this week's newsletter: https://bit.ly/3XWikyQ

9/11 survivors and first responders who have enrolled in health care for uterine cancer since our investigation.