Mick Hartley

From a gallery at The Big Picture on the The World's Most Dangerous Countries for Women:

[Photo: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters]

War-displaced Helene Namikano, 71, Rebecca Martha Kanigi, 75, Venancia Ndamkunzi, 65, and Atia Egenia Mobato, 74, sit together on the steps of a building in the village of Mugunga, just west of the eastern Congolese city of Goma, August 24, 2010. All four women have repeatedly fled fighting in North Kivu province over the past four years despite efforts to bring peace to Democratic Republic of Congo. 

The dignity of these women is about the only positive moment from a generally grim selection of photographs.

The countries featured – Afghanistan, Congo, Pakistan, India, Somalia – are those ranked worst in a "global survey of perceptions of threats ranging from domestic abuse and economic discrimination to female foeticide (the destruction of a fetus in the uterus), genital mutilation and acid attack, compiled by the Thomson Reuters Foundation to mark the launch of TrustLaw Woman", a website aimed at providing free legal advice for women’s groups around the world.