Even in 2014, the rights of women and girls are severely threatened by sex trafficking, slavery, child marriage and other violations around the world. International Women's Day (IWD), observed annually on March 8, continues to spread awareness and garner support — and change — for women across the globe.
Catapult, a crowdfunding site dedicated specifically to the advancement of women and girls, has released a startling new visual campaign in an attempt to make this year's IWD "more than just a cover story." The "Cover Stories" campaign features three mock magazine covers that highlight terrifyingly real human rights issues to push the conversation forward.
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The magazines display the grisly names Child Bride, Good Slavekeeping and Thirteen — wordplays on the popular magazines Brides, Good Housekeeping and Seventeen, respectively.
Headlines such as "The Wedding You'll Never Forget But Wish You Could" and "Who Needs a Childhood Anyway?" float next to the young models. The cover of Good Slavekeeping pretends to cater to the human rights violators themselves, adding another dark layer to the already serious campaign.

Image: Catapult
"International Women's Day is a time of year that girls' and women's equality gets a little bit of attention," Maz Kessler, Catapult's founder and creative director, tells Mashable. "Our partner organizations hold events and media outlets often feature articles about inspiring women or important causes associated with women. That's great, but we really want people to get fired up and take action to make a difference in the world."
Kessler came up with the idea to use the iconography of women's magazines to bring gender justice issues to a wider audience. She was inspired by similar work, such as the Economist pastiche "The Pigs" and "¡AHLAN!" by artist Nuria Carrasco.
"Thankfully, these are fake magazines," Kessler says. "Unfortunately, these are real problems."
She depicts that reality in three facts, which also appear next to each cover on the campaign page:
14 million girls — some as young as 8 years old — will be married against their will
in 2014.
An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked into slavery each year; 80% are girls.
In New York City, the average age at which a girl first becomes a victim of commercial sexual exploitation is 13.
Next to each fact, a button that reads "Do Something About It" encourages visitors to find and donate to one of the 140 relevant organizations that Catapult supports.

Image: Catapult

Image: Catapult
Launched in October 2012, Catapult has been busy in its first 16 months. It has funded 314 projects in 81 countries, with a total of $5.5 million raised in 2013. It currently has 56 open projects dedicated to women's rights, and boasts a 94% project success rate.
"You may think that we're poking fun at serious issues, but ... Catapult is very serious in our efforts to change the world," Kessler says.
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