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Sex and Gender

Guns in Dangerous Hands

In Rural Tennessee, Domestic Violence Victims Face Barriers to Getting Justice. One County Has Transformed Its Approach.

Despite being a rural area that’s steeped in gun culture, Scott County has emerged as a model for the state in trying to prevent domestic violence from escalating.

by Paige Pfleger, WPLN/Nashville Public Radio, photography by Stacy Kranitz, special to ProPublica,

Local Reporting Network

Coverage of Gender-Affirming Care Is an Unequal Patchwork

Lawsuits brought by transgender employees show how state agencies fight against paying for gender-affirming care for some people while others are covered.

by Aliyya Swaby,

Post-Roe America

How South Carolina Ended Up With an All-Male Supreme Court

An abortion ban struck down. The lone female justice retiring. And a majority-male legislature rallying behind the one male candidate to replace her. This is how South Carolina ended up with an all-male Supreme Court as new abortion legislation looms.

by Jennifer Berry Hawes,

Post-Roe America

Doctors Warned Her Pregnancy Could Kill Her. Then Tennessee Outlawed Abortion.

A Tennessee mother wanted to end her high-risk pregnancy, but doctors feared prosecution.

by Kavitha Surana, photography by Stacy Kranitz, special to ProPublica,

Featured Reporters

Portrait of Hannah Dreyfus Hannah Dreyfus
Portrait of Adriana Gallardo Adriana Gallardo
Jennifer Berry Hawes
Kyle Hopkins
Jessica Schreifels
Portrait of Kavitha Surana Kavitha Surana

Impact of Our Reporting
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Liberty University Hit With Record Fines for Failing to Handle Complaints of Sexual Assault, Other Crimes

Spurred by a ProPublica investigation, the federal Department of Education found the evangelical school in Virginia had discouraged students from reporting rape and other crimes.

by Eric Umansky,

Senators Call for Federal Investigation Into Liberty University’s Handling of Sexual Assaults

Following a ProPublica report that detailed how the evangelical college discouraged and threatened to punish students who report being raped, Sen. Tim Kaine says his office is “urging the Department of Education to investigate.”

by Hannah Dreyfus,

The NYPD Files

New York Lawmakers Demand NYPD Halt Undercover Sex Trade Stings

A dozen city and state officials also called for the disbandment of vice, the primary division that polices the sex trade; some want investigations into misconduct allegations against the unit, including withholding of evidence.

by Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan,

Series

Series: Campus Complicity: Faculty Sexual Misconduct in Illinois

Series: Lawless: Sexual Violence in Alaska

Series: Lost Mothers: Maternal Care and Preventable Deaths

77 stories published since 2014

Liberty University Hit With Record Fines for Failing to Handle Complaints of Sexual Assault, Other Crimes

by Eric Umansky,

Ayude a ProPublica y The Salt Lake Tribune a investigar las agresiones sexuales en Utah

por Jessica Schreifels, The Salt Lake Tribune, y Adriana Gallardo, ProPublica,

Help ProPublica and The Salt Lake Tribune Investigate Sexual Assault in Utah

by Jessica Schreifels, The Salt Lake Tribune, and Adriana Gallardo, ProPublica,

Her Ex-Husband Is Suing a Clinic Over the Abortion She Had Four Years Ago

by Nicole Santa Cruz,

What You Need to Know When You Give Birth in a Country With Rising Maternal Mortality Rates

by Adriana Gallardo,

Senators Call for Federal Investigation Into Liberty University’s Handling of Sexual Assaults. School Promises Independent Probe.

by Hannah Dreyfus,

“The Liberty Way”: How Liberty University Discourages and Dismisses Students’ Reports of Sexual Assaults

by Hannah Dreyfus, photography by Sarah Blesener for ProPublica,

“Unheard” Wins SPJ Ethics in Journalism Award

by ProPublica,

Alaska Requires DNA Be Collected From People Arrested for Violent Crimes. Many Police Have Ignored That.

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

After 3 Years and $1.5 Million Testing Rape Kits, Alaska Made One New Arrest

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

New York Lawmakers Demand NYPD Halt Undercover Sex Trade Stings

by Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan,

A black-and-white illustration of two police officers watching a woman lean against a car door, talking to the driver.

NYPD Cops Cash In on Sex Trade Arrests With Little Evidence, While Black and Brown New Yorkers Pay the Price

by Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien,

Junior Staffer Says Top Alaska Official Told Her to Keep Allegations of Misconduct Secret

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

Alaska’s “Him Too” Moment: When Politicians and Allies Come With Accusations of Their Own

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News and Greg Kim, KYUK,

Her Stepfather Admitted to Sexually Abusing Her. That Wasn’t Enough to Keep Her Safe.

by Nadia Sussman,

The Woman Propositioned by Alaska’s Former Lieutenant Governor Tells Her Story for the First Time

by Kyle Hopkins and Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News,

Trabajadoras temporales luchan contra supuesto acoso sexual y dicen que sufren represalias por hacerlo

por Melissa Sanchez,

Temp Workers Fight Back Against Alleged Sexual Harassment and Say They Face Retaliation for Doing So

by Melissa Sanchez,

She Asked to Be Saved From Him. Now She’s Dead.

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

The Bizarre Fall of the CEO of Coach and Kate Spade’s Parent Company

by William Cohan for ProPublica,

Agonizing Lag in Coronavirus Research Puts Pregnant Women and Babies at Risk

by Nina Martin,

An Opportunity to Listen as Our “Unheard” Project Becomes a Museum Installation

by Adriana Gallardo, ProPublica, and Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News,

For Decades, She Blamed Herself for the Abuse. Writing Her Story Was an Act of Survival. Publishing It Was an Act of Rebellion.

by Adriana Gallardo,

Her Addiction Landed Her in a Prison Segregation Wing. The Man She Says Abused Her Lives Free.

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

Her Attacker Was Stopped in the Act and Arrested, but This Assault Was Only the Beginning of Her Trauma

by Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News,

“They Were the Authority and I Didn’t Argue With Authority”

by Agnes Chang,

The Teacher Who Returned to the Small Village Where She was Abused is Not Staying Silent

by Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News,

Trapped at Sea, Alone With Her Assailant, He Told Her “You’re Mine for the Week”

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

Giving Voice to Alaska’s Unheard Sexual Assault Survivors

by Charles Ornstein, ProPublica and Ariana Tobin, ProPublica, and David Hulen, Anchorage Daily News,

How Photographers Sought to Redefine the Image of Alaska’s Sexual Assault Survivors

by Anne Raup, Anchorage Daily News, and Agnes Chang, ProPublica,

Here’s What Experts Say to Do After Experiencing Sexual Assault

by Adriana Gallardo and Nadia Sussman,

Unheard

by Adriana Gallardo, Nadia Sussman and Agnes Chang, ProPublica, and Kyle Hopkins and Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News,

How We Worked With Survivors of Sexual Assault in Alaska to Tell Their Stories

by Adriana Gallardo and Nadia Sussman,

“I’m Terrified”: Pregnant Health Care Workers at Risk for Coronavirus Are Being Forced to Keep Working

by Nina Martin and Bernice Yeung,

Lo que significa el coronavirus para un embarazo, y otras cosas que deben saber las madres embarazadas y nuevas

por Nina Martin,

What Coronavirus Means for Pregnancy, and Other Things New and Expecting Mothers Should Know

by Nina Martin,

The New U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate Fails to Capture Many Deaths

by Nina Martin,

Did You Give Birth in Your Home? Help ProPublica and Vox Report.

by Nina Martin, ProPublica, and Julia Belluz, Vox,

VA Secretary Looked for Dirt on a House Staffer Who Reported Sexual Assault in a VA Hospital, Complaint Says

by Isaac Arnsdorf,

The Extraordinary Danger of Being Pregnant and Uninsured in Texas

by Nina Martin, ProPublica, and Julia Belluz, Vox,

Person holding bouquet of flowers, with face blurred.

We Are Investigating Sexual Violence and Dating Apps

by Keith Cousins and Elizabeth Naismith Picciani, Columbia Journalism Investigations,

Under Trump, LGBTQ Progress Is Being Reversed in Plain Sight

by Kirsten Berg and Moiz Syed,

Assaults, Bullying, Rape: A Lawsuit Against One Professor Claims a University Didn’t Stop Him

by Rachel Otwell and Mary Hansen, NPR Illinois, and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica,

She Leapt From a Moving Car to Escape Her Rapist. Then, She Waited 18 Years for an Arrest.

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Preserving the Reputations of Sexual Harassers

by Rachel Otwell, NPR Illinois, and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica,

One Campus. Seven Professors Facing Harassment Accusations. Few Consequences.

by Rachel Otwell, NPR Illinois, and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica,

Have You Experienced Sexual Misconduct at an Illinois University or College? We Want to Hear From You.

by Karim Doumar and Alex Mierjeski,

In Men, It’s Parkinson’s. In Women, It’s Hysteria.

by David Armstrong,

We’ve Heard From Nearly 300 Survivors of Sexual Assault in Alaska. But There Are More of You We’d Like to Reach.

by Adriana Gallardo and Nadia Sussman,

Clergy Abused an Entire Generation in This Village. With New Traumas, Justice Remains Elusive.

by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,