LONG READS | a selection
‘Doctors fitted a contraceptive coil without my consent’
‘It’s like hell in here’: The struggle to save Afghanistan's starving babies
‘Doctors fitted a contraceptive coil without my consent’
> REPORTER, PHOTOGRAPHER, ILLUSTRATOR
> 2023 Amnesty International Media Awards Feature story finalist
Thousands of women in Greenland, including some as young as 12, had a contraceptive device implanted in their womb - often without consent - as part of a Danish campaign to control Greenland's growing Inuit population in the 1960s and 70s.
The Danish government has announced an independent investigation into this so-called "Coil Campaign".
But the BBC has gathered accounts from women about recent involuntary contraception, amid growing calls for the investigation to go further...
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Giving birth under the Taliban
‘It’s like hell in here’: The struggle to save Afghanistan's starving babies
‘Doctors fitted a contraceptive coil without my consent’
> REPORTER, ILLUSTRATOR
Rabia is cradling her newborn baby, just days after giving birth at a small hospital in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan's east. "This is my third child, but the experience was totally different. It was horrible," she says.
In a matter of weeks, the birthing unit Rabia delivered her baby in had been stripped down to its bare basics. She was given no pain relief, no medicine and no food.
The hospital sweltered in temperatures topping 43C (109F) - the power had been cut and there was no fuel to work the generators...
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‘It’s like hell in here’: The struggle to save Afghanistan's starving babies
‘It’s like hell in here’: The struggle to save Afghanistan's starving babies
‘It’s like hell in here’: The struggle to save Afghanistan's starving babies
> REPORTER
Doctors in Afghanistan's crisis-hit hospitals, many of whom are now working without pay, spoke to the BBC about the country's deepening humanitarian crisis.
The young woman was crying, begging the doctor to kill her and her baby. Dr Nuri, an obstetrician in central Afghanistan, was about to deliver the baby by Caesarean section when the mother broke down.
"I don't know how I can stay alive," she said, according to Dr Nuri, "so how can I give birth to another human being?"...
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De-branding my body: The former sex slaves transforming their tattoos
Amazon Discoveries: The new species found where few scientists have gone before
‘It’s like hell in here’: The struggle to save Afghanistan's starving babies
> REPORTER
For 17 years, Hollie was forced to sleep with countless men by several pimps. Four years ago, she finally escaped from sex trafficking.
One of her traffickers, she says, branded her with a tattoo which read “Love is Loyalty”. It’s what he did to most of the women who worked for him - either that or “Love is Royalty”.
“He wants to put his name on you. Like a keepsake - like you’re his possession. Everybody knows you’re his bitch,” she says...
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Amazon Discoveries: The new species found where few scientists have gone before
Amazon Discoveries: The new species found where few scientists have gone before
Amazon Discoveries: The new species found where few scientists have gone before
> REPORTER, PHOTOGRAPHER, ILLUSTRATOR
Almost perpetually shrouded in clouds, Brazil’s highest mountain Pico da Neblina meaning 'peak of mist', towers 2,995m above the Amazon rainforest.
Stretching into dense jungle, the National Park has been closed to visitors since 2003 as a result of failed tourism and mining activities which infringed on the rights of the indigenous Yanomami people.
In November 2017, a team of leading Brazilian scientists were granted rare access by indigenous authorities and the army to embark on an expedition to the region...
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Earth Day: Meet the original eco warriors protecting the planet
Amazon Discoveries: The new species found where few scientists have gone before
Amazon Discoveries: The new species found where few scientists have gone before
> REPORTER, ILLUSTRATOR
Indigenous people account for less than 5% of the world's population - but they support or protect 80% of the planet's biodiversity.
They are often the most vulnerable to climate change, but have developed systems built on thousands of years of land management, sustainability, and climate adaption.
Dr Koko Warner from the United Nations climate change secretariat says their participation in fighting global warming is vital...
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