What Girls Want: A Podcast

Sexual health discourse often focuses on harm, disease, and risk. In this episode, we speak to Tiffany Mugo, who reframes sexual rights through pleasure, consent, and autonomy, examining how patriarchy, religion, colonial morality, and stigma suppress sexual agency, and why joy and desire are essential components of sexual and reproductive justice.

Pandemics, authoritarianism, and economic instability are reshaping feminist organising. This episode and in conversation with Marline Oluchi we explore what leadership looks like in a polycrisis focusing on adaptability, care-centred leadership, collective decision-making, and sustaining movements for sustainable change.  

What does it mean to create digital spaces rooted in joy, care, and liberation? In this episode, we center feminist digital creativity, from storytelling and visual art to movement-led tech innovation, as powerful strategies for advocacy and connection. In this conversation with Amna Nasir we explore how feminist approaches to technology can disrupt harm, amplify marginalized voices, and build sol...

Rather than framing FGM as a cultural practice, this episode interrogates it as a failure of governance, public health systems, and political will. The discussion explores how weak enforcement, cross-border dynamics, medicalisation, and underfunded prevention efforts perpetuate harm and what state accountability, survivor-centred responses, and feminist policy change should look like.

In this episode featuring Marylize Biubwa, we dive deep into the rising wave of digital violence targeting feminist and queer activists around the world. From harassment and threats to coordinated disinformation campaigns, online spaces have become powerful tools for silencing those who challenge patriarchy, homophobia, and authoritarianism. We explore why outspoken women and LGBTQI+ leaders — esp...

In this episode, we head to Uganda to meet Olive Nazziwa, ATHENA’s #WhatGirlsWant focal point — a passionate advocate for adolescent girls’ rights, SRHR, and gender equality. Olive is part of a vibrant generation of young feminists leading movements for bodily autonomy, access to health services, and the right of girls and gender-diverse people to live free from violence and discrimination. Join u...

In this episode, we explore a condition that affects millions of women and gender-diverse people worldwide but remains widely misunderstood and under-discussed: endometriosis. Our guest, Malebo Mukhari, shares her personal journey with endometriosis, shedding light on the challenges of diagnosis, treatment, and living with a chronic condition. Together, we discuss the broader implications for girl...

In this episode, we have a critical conversation about bodily autonomy, the right to make decisions about one’s own body, free from coercion, discrimination, or violence. Our guest, Lily Dong Li Rosengard, shares her insights on the importance of bodily autonomy for gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and social justice. We explore the ways systemic barriers, cultural norms...

In this episode of #WhatGirlsWant: A Podcast by the ATHENA Network , we explore the realities of access to contraceptives, a key part of sexual and reproductive health and rights that too often remains out of reach for many girls, young women, and gender-diverse people. Our guest, Warona George, is a passionate advocate for bodily autonomy and youth-led access to health services. Together, we unpa...

Across Africa, young women and gender-diverse people continue to face stigma, criminalisation, and systemic barriers when seeking care that should be their right. But despite these challenges, activists and communities are organizing, educating, and demanding change. Our guest, Mpho Masimong, is a fearless advocate for reproductive justice and gender equality. In this conversation, Mpho shares ins...

In this episode, we’re diving into a crucial conversation about gender-affirming healthcare — what it means, why it matters, and how it connects to our broader fight for bodily autonomy, dignity, and justice. Across the world, trans and gender-diverse people continue to face barriers, stigma, and violence in accessing care that affirms who they are. Yet, gender-affirming healthcare isn’t special t...

In this episode, we travel to the Kingdom of Lesotho to meet Puseletso Mpeisa, ATHENA’s #WhatGirlsWant focal point. Puseletso Mpeisa is a dynamic advocate working at the intersections of gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and youth leadership. She’s part of a powerful generation of young Basotho women and activists redefining what it means to lead with courage, community,...

In this special episode of #WhatGirlsWant: A Podcast , we mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action with an intergenerational conversation between two Kenyan feminist activists, Rachael Mwikali and Esther Mwaura . Rachel has been organising and mobilising for over three decades, long before the Beijing commitments were set. Easter began her activism in the years that followed. T...

In this episode we dive into the rapidly evolving world of generative AI through a feminist lens. Our guest, Alpha Androgenius – a fashion designer, thinker, and activist at the intersections of technology, gender, and culture – unpacks how AI is reshaping creativity, identity, and power. Together, we explore the risks of bias and exclusion coded into AI systems, and the possibilities for reimagin...

Crises, whether conflict, climate disasters, or pandemics, leave deep scars, not only on our communities but also on our mental well-being. Too often, mental health is sidelined in emergency responses, leaving girls, young women, and LGBTQI+ people to cope alone with trauma, anxiety, and loss. In this episode, we spoke with Natasha Chilambo, who reflects on mental health challenges in the midst of...

On this episode, we dive into a vital but often overlooked topic: the intersection of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and disability. Around the world, people with disabilities, especially women, girls, and LGBTQI+ people, face systemic barriers to accessing SRHR services, information, and decision-making spaces. Stigma, discrimination, and assumptions that deny people with disabi...

Colonial legacies continue to shape the healthcare systems that impact girls, women, and marginalised communities globally particularly countries in the global majority. However, what does decolonising healthcare systems really mean, and why is it so urgent, particularly withing the context of the UASAID freeze and Dutch, Swiss and Belgian funding cuts? In the latest episode of #WhatGirlsWant: A P...

We're tackling the intersection between the urgency of addressing climate change and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) with our guest, Sihle Motsa — an advocate passionate about feminist climate justice. In this episode, we explore: - How climate change impacts SRHR, from migration to healthcare access - The rise in gender-based violence during climate crises - The link between...

 On this day, ATHENA Network brings you a powerful new episode of #WhatGirlsWant: A Podcast featuring Ayo Bello, affectionately known as Ayo, a Nigerian feminist and FGM activist.  In this episode, we take a deep dive into the realities of FGM exploring: Different forms of FGM and the prevalence in Nigeria and beyond The devastating impact on the lives of girls and women The intersections of FGM w...

As part of this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we’re excited to announce a powerful new episode of our podcast.  In this episode, we dive into the pervasive yet often overlooked issue of gender-based violence (GBV) within healthcare systems. From dismissive attitudes and discriminatory practices to outright abuse, healthcare spaces can sometimes become sites of harm inst...

On this episode we spoke to ATHENA’s Young Women’s Advocacy Program Officer Irene Ogeta from Kenya about the growing anti-rights, anti-gender and anti-choice movement.  We reflected on: What the anti-rights movement is How the anti-rights movement is contributing to increasing gender equality How the opposition affects sexual reproductive health and rights, and progress made with reducing HIV tran...

On this episode we spoke to Baleseng Maeneche from South Africa!  We reflected on and unpacked: What is technology based GBV and the different ways it manifests  How gender-based violence and stereotypes manifest in media representations? The politics of genocide, violence and erasure  How technology facilitated gender-based violence contributes to gendered inequalities  The disproportionate viole...

On this episode we spoke to Justine Wanda from Kenya!  We reflected on and unpacked: Kenya’s 2023 and 2024 Finance Bills and how they affect Kenyans The #RejectFinanceBill2024 protests, direct action and the power of youth taking the lead The gendered implications of the 2024 Finance Bill Kenya’s public debt, corruption and sustainable development Police brutality and classism How the 2024 Finance...

In this episode, we spoke to Thato Thinyana, a fierce feminist activist from the Kingdom of Lesotho!  We reflected on and unpacked the following: SRHR challenges that create healthcare barriers for AGYW and young gender-diverse people across Southern Africa Challenges that arise as a result of fragmentations in the SRHR movement  What do we mean when we speak about an inclusive and feminist SRHR m...

On this episode, we spoke to two feminist disability activists Nyasha Maseruka from Zimbabwe and Makgosi Letimile from South Africa.  They reflected on their experiences as women with disabilities; the lack of access to healthcare services and other basic services; stigma and discrimination; peer education as a source of empowerment; pleasure as a healing tool; access intimacy; transformative just...