Angola has one of the highest fertility rates in the world, and in some rural regions the rate of teen pregnancies is more than double that in urban areas. In the Moxico region of Angola, teenagers, young mothers, nurses and NGO workers share their stories.
Abrupt cuts to HIV funding, sparked by Donald Trump’s “America First” policy, could result in 6 million new HIV infections and up to 4 million HIV-related deaths by 2030. Archibong Bassey finds the cuts are devastating the global goal to end AIDS as a public health threat in the next four years.
In the 1960s, the Black Supplementary School Movement opened voluntary Saturday schools to address the gaps in an education system that were leaving Black children behind. Sixty years later, more than 3,000 grassroots supplementary schools are still supporting minoritised children across the UK. In Leicester, teacher Julie Walters-Nisbett says the community’s Phoenix Agenda Supplementary School is as relevant as ever
Spain’s Canary Islands have become one of Europe’s main arrival points for unaccompanied migrant children. One in five people dies on the Canarian migration route with ocean crossings that take several days. Teenagers Mariama and Mohamed describe their own journeys and their hopes for the future.
“How can I focus on the laws of physics or the rules of language when the sound of gunfire or raids fills the classroom?” As conflict tightens its grip on the West Bank, classrooms are becoming frontlines of a quieter crisis: the erosion of education. For students like 17-year-old Ahmad Haje, daily life is shaped by checkpoints, raids and fear, forcing learning under constant violence, disruption and uncertainty.
Agnes Wanjiru went missing 14 years ago. Two months later, her body was pulled from a septic tank. Now, Robert James Purkiss could become the first British soldier in history to face trial abroad for the killing of a civilian. Agnes’s niece, Esther Njoki, says the case goes far beyond one unresolved murder, uncovering an arrangement that has ensured British military presence in Kenya since independence and shielded British soldiers from the reach of Kenyan law.
Lacuna Magazine is always proud to feature human rights stories by new writers, alongside articles and photography by established and award-winning journalists from around theworld. The Lacuna Writing Competition is an annual opportunity organised by the Centre for Human Rights in Practice, open to both undergraduate and postgraduate students at the Warwick Law School. Students can submit a short piece of journalism, creative writing, memoir or some other artistic expression that appeals to the general public, on a current issue of their choosing that includes themes of injustice and human rights. Below you can find the piece by our 2025-26 competition winner, Balsher Singh Tiwana, along with other stories from our previous winners and runners-up
When Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was introduced in 2005 by a “tough on crime” Labour government, it was expected the indeterminate sentence would be rarely handed out. But when the highly criticised scheme was abolished in 2012, 6,000 people were still serving their sentence – and 900 remain imprisoned today. IPP’s indefinite sentences have taken a devastating toll on the health of prisoners, including Taylor Atkinson, who was originally sentenced to less than four years, but ended his life after being held for more than 13.
Many people dream of a human rights career, helping others and creating change, but how do you take the first steps? We asked human rights lawyers, humanitarians and journalists to tell us about essential qualifications and experience, and offer valuable advice to students just starting out.
