In this picture taken on July 10, 2023, women belonging to the “Meira Paibis”, a group of women representing Meitei society, hold torches during a demonstation demanding for the restoration of peace in India's north-eastern Manipur state in Imphal, following ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

Group leader Jane Waithageni Kimaru, 60 years old, shows women how to fight off a potential rapist and escape, during a Taekwondo self-defense class for women in the Korogocho slum of Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, September 16, 2021. (Photo by Brian Inganga/AP Photo)

Norma Galicia aka “Pirulina” takes part in a demonstration during the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, in Guatemala City on November 25, 2013. So far this year, 696 women have died due to violent events in Guatemala. (Photo by Johan Ordonez/AFP Photo)

Members of Ankara Women's Orchestra, playing different instruments, are seen in Ankara, Turkiye on November 13, 2024.The orchestra, founded by 19 women of different ages and professions, gives concerts to female audiences with their wide repertoire in different languages and styles. (Photo by Esra Hacioglu Karakaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Nepalese women performs ritual as they take a holy bath in the Bagmati River, during the Rishi Panchami festival, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. Rishi Panchami is observed on the last day of Teej when women worship Sapta Rishi (Seven Saints) to ask for forgiveness for sins committed during their menstrual periods throughout the year. The Hindu religion considers menstruation as a representation of impurity and women are prohibited from taking part in religious practices during their monthly menstruations. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Villagers from Jiexi Jiantan village perform a ritual of “Zha Laoye”, or “Cracking local spirits”, in Chaoshan, Guangdong Province, China, 10 February 2019. Jiexi Jiantan Village celebrates the annual custom of “Zha Laoye” where Laoye are local spirits. Every third day of the lunar New Year, statues of local spirits known as the “Thousand-mile Eye” Laoye and “Ear Following the Wind” Laoye are brought out to the village committee to receive incensed tea offered by believers. (Photo by EPA/EFE/ZNSEN)

An Israeli soldier waits at the bus station, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel on August 15, 2024. (Photo by Florion Goga/Reuters)

In his series “Ballerinas of Cairo”, photographer Mohamed Taher documents Egyptian dancers making the city streets their stage – pirouetting, leaping and posing their way through their country’s sprawling capital. The photos are, at first glance, stunning snapshots of a city’s vibrant culture in motion. (Photo by Mohamed Taher/Ballerinas of Cairo)