Liberia, May 13 -- Summary:

By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives

S.D. COOPER ROAD, Paynesville - At a Valentine's Day gathering earlier this year, a teenage girl stood before her peers. She described a boy in her community who had been giving her gifts and telling her she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She was flattered by his attention, according to one of the club leaders, and was thinking about loving him.

But then she joined this club. Paramount Young Women Initiative is a school-based mentoring program in about 35 high schools across Liberia. It teaches girls about menstruation, puberty, teen pregnancy, consent, and coercion. It also builds bodily autonomy, confidence, and leadership. After joining it...