A girl in India is on the brink of being sold into the commercial sex trade. A young mother in Somaliland may die giving birth. In Sierra Leone, a girl has been raped and must confront the norms of her community. A women whose husband abused her now helps those suffering at the hands of their spouses. 

These are the stories of individuals who represent hundreds of millions of women and girls around the world who are victimized and abused, denied access to education, medicine or property, prevented from reaching their full potential and contributing in more meaningful ways to their communities. These are stories of dehumanizing violence and discrimination. But these are also stories of struggle and victories, large and small, in the face of the longest odds.

A women whose husband abused her now helps those suffering at the hands of their spouses. With a book, a teenage girl in Vietnam takes the first steps towards breaking the cycle of grinding poverty that plagues her family. Dozens of former impoverished individuals, seeking economic independence, band together to establish what will become Kenya's fastest-growing microfinance organization.

Each of these stories puts a human face to an otherwise abstract idea or string of statistics that could never convey the true human cost of the discrimination and abuse suffered by hundreds of millions. These stories also illuminate the spirit of perseverance that is embodied by the women and girls who face these violations each day, and those who have made it their life's mission to help them.