“Women in Somaliland, especially younger women and girls, are now beginning to have hope for a better future,” 25-year-old Ahmed said of the bill, which is the country’s first piece of legislation to address sexualized violence.

Each year, hundreds of people—most of them women—have been killed for being suspected witches. Rights activists say raising awareness and investing in development can help stop communities from turning on their elders.

Choosing journalism as a profession in Syria in the late 1990s was almost as unusual for a young girl as choosing to become a professional soccer player. “There were a lot of women studying media, but we already knew that we [would] not work as journalists,” said Rula Asad.