16 Girls Tell 16 Very Different Stories

Around the world, more than 50 million girls who may not speak the same language, wear the same fashions, or chase the same dreams share one major milestone: They’re 16 years old in 2016.

TakePart traveled the globe to take you inside the lives of 16 teenage girls today, and to show you their similarities and differences across borders, cultures, and social strata. They’re approaching adulthood in a world where a woman earns 70 cents for every dollar a man earns, just 19 countries have a female head of state or government, and women are legally bound to obey their husbands in 10 countries.

You’ll meet Haiana, a Syrian refugee who fled death and destruction for an uncertain future in Germany, and Tolly, a budding designer in England who started a fashion blog at age 11. In Kentucky, Carli touts her small-town roots, while in Las Vegas, Savannah opens up about her mother’s drug addiction.

What most defines them—the past, the present, or the future? These young women are growing up under markedly different circumstances, but all are bound by the familiar ties of navigating adulthood, heartbreak, and just who it is they want to be.