Kala’s beautiful portrait is the cover photograph of Mark Tuschman’s compelling and important new book, "Faces of Courage: Intimate Portraits of Women on the Edge" ( Val de Grace Books, October 2015). Her moving story is one of many told here that address one of the most searing humanitarian issues of our time: the struggle of millions of women and girls to gain freedom over their own lives and bodies. Tuschman’s powerful images and illuminating texts reveal that for many women around the world “being born female is dangerous to your health.”

A Glimmer of Hope in Northern Nigeria: girls surround a computer. An hour outside of Kaduna, Nigeria, the Bixby Girl Child Education Project works to increase access to education for girls in rural areas. When the instructor brought out a single laptop computer, which seemed out of place in the water-drenched mud hut, all of the girls jostled with each other to get a view of the image on the screen. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

Microfinance: Evelyn stands in her bakery. Evelyn Quarty, who has been a baker all of her life, fell ill four years ago and was told by her doctor that she should no longer bake. She is not the type of person to sit idly at home, so instead she started selling flour. In the beginning, she could sell only enough flour in a day to fill an empty can of tomato paste. With the help of loans from Womens Trust, Evelyn is now the main distributor of flour for Pokuase, Ghana.The loan also allows her to purchase items in bulk. The income she earns from her investment enables Evelyn to comfortably support her entire household. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

Teenage pregnancy: a nurse attends a teenage mother's baby in Dacca Bangladesh. The young mother, who is 15 years old, is in the background, very detached from her newborn infant. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

To be born female: A mother holds her baby in Luang Prabang, Laos. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

Maasai girls read in Kenya. Two young Maasai girls work together on a homework assignment outside one of the mud-huts in their villages. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

There are still 31 million girls who don't even have a chance to attend elementary school.

Girls' education in rural India: a mother and daughter study together. Nishi, a young woman from rural Rajasthan is pictured here with her mother, who supports and encourages her studies. Her mother, who had the chance to travel outside of her local community when she was younger, realized that her lack of education was a major limitation to her quality of life. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

A mother before giving birth is advised by a counselor. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

In Delhi, Rani is trapped in an abusive marriage. Her husband has beaten her many times, going so far as to slash her arm deeply with a blade. She is telling her story to a support group funded by Global Fund for Women.

(Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

Scholarship girls in Ghana: a school girl, supported by scholarships provided by Womens Trust, holds a bell in her classroom in Pokuase, Ghana. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

Dowry abuse: Nazia tells her story. Nazia is 21 years old and has been married for two years. Her husband's family demanded a motorcycle as part of her dowry; then her husband demanded a car, which Nazia's parents could not afford. One day when she was riding with her husband on the new motorcycle, he pushed her off. She was seven months pregnant at the time. After she survived the "accident," Nazia's husband gave her some medicine that made her ill and sent her to a hospital where she delivered a stillborn child. Her husband left her afterward, and Nazia has been living with her mother. She wants a divorce and the return of her dowry. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

Family Planning: a woman confers with her doctor in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has just undergone a Norplant birth-control procedure, in which the medication has been implanted sub-dermally in her upper arm. The contraceptive is effective for six months. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

1 in 9 girls in the developing world is married by the age of 15. --Girls not Brides

(Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

Human Trafficking: Seni stands in the foreground, apart from her husband and son. Seni was trafficked from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia, where she was held as an indentured servant, unable to communicate with her family for three years. Seni has since been reunited with her husband and son (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

(Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

(Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

Waiting for healthcare: women wait to see healthcare workers at clinic in a village outside of Kano, Nigeria. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

This is Meera again. Her mother is a sex worker, her brother is a petty thief, and they were physically and mentally abusing her, pressuring her to join the sex trade. Humsafar, A GFW grantee in Lucknow, India intervened and now she is back at school. This is Meera doing her homework.

In Rajasthan, this young girl was not allowed to attend school; instead, she has to babysit her younger sister and tend to the family goats.

A mother with her children in her home in rural Ethiopia. “Being born a female is dangerous to your health.”- Anne Firth Murray

There are still 31 million girls who don't even have a chance to attend elementary school. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

This photo book will promote #womensrights & the work being done to enhance them. This is an Otavalan midwife helping an expectant mother in Ecuador.

In Rajasthan, Payal is thirteen years old and in the sixth grade. Educate Girls works to keep girls in school and prevent child marriage. She is not a child bride. In Rajasthan, 68 percent of girls are child brides, out of which 15 percent are married below the age of ten. (Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

(Photograph by Mark Tuschman)

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