NEWSNational Geographic gender issueNawar Kagete, Kaputir, Kenya -- “You are seduced wherever you go. You are chased by men. If you go to fetch water, you are chased; you go to collect firewood, you are chased.”© Robin HammondNational GeographicMikayla Mcdonald Ottawa, Canada -- “There isn’t anything I can’t do because I’m a girl. Everyone is equal. There is always the same amount of opportunities for everyone, but in the olden days everyone wasn’t equal.”© Robin Hammond/National GeographicWhen Massachusetts twins Caleb (left) and Emmie (right) Smith were born in 1998, it was hard to tell them apart. Today Emmie says, “When we were 12, I didn’t feel like a boy, but I didn’t know it was possible to be a girl.” At 17 Emmie came out as transgender, and recently she underwent gender-confirmation surgery. She plays down its significance: “I was no less of a woman before it, and I’m no more of one today.”© Lynn Johnson/National GeographicAssigned female at birth, Hunter Keith, 17, has felt himself to be a boy since fifth grade. By seventh grade he told his friends; by eighth grade he told his parents. Two weeks before this photo was taken, his breasts were removed. Now he relishes skateboarding shirtless in his Michigan neighborhood.© Lynn Johnson/National GeographicJohan Ekengård and his wife equally split the allowed parental leave. Erik manages the morning routine with their children, from left, Tyra, Stina, and Ebbe.© Johan Bävman/National GeographicMehayle Lynnea Elliott, seven, has competed in about 120 pageants. A room in her Humble, Texas, home is dedicated to her awards and portraits, which are sometimes retouched. She recently appeared on the reality TV series Toddlers & Tiaras.© Kitra Cahana/National GeographicBy attending an alternative Bondo ceremony that does not include genital mutilation, these girls in the Masanga community receive a free education guaranteed by Masanga Assistance Education, a Swiss nonprofit. A woman known as the Bondo devil, a high authority in the secret society, participates in the ceremony.© Stephanie Sinclair/National GeographicGhazipur landfill, 70 acres of trash in Delhi, India, provides a hunting ground for seven-year-old Zarina, who salvages items to sell. Like girls in many parts of the world, she lives in poverty with little access to education.Stephanie Sinclair, © Stephanie Sinclair/National Geographic