16 Stories From BuzzFeed UK You Need In Your Life Right Now

The best longform reporting, feature stories, and personal essays from BuzzFeed UK from April.

Sian Butcher / Tim Lane / Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed

1. Here’s What You Need To Know About The Global Fight To End Female Genital Mutilation – Ikran Dahir

Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed

From telling David Cameron to “grow a pair” to making a music video called "My Clitoris", anti-FGM activists are using their creativity and experiences to call for change.

2. My Father’s Poor Health Can’t Erase His Betrayal – Remee Patel

Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed

In this personal essay, Remee Patel unpacks her estranged relationship with a father who let her down time and again before a stroke and heart attack turned him into a different man altogether.

3. Trump And Brexit Have Made UK Scientists So Fed Up They Are Taking To The Streets – Kelly Oakes

Alex Cousins / SWNS / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

Scientists in the UK are not used to picking up placards. But after the March for Science movement began in the US, some are organising protests to stand up for their colleagues across the pond – and for themselves.

4. This Is What It's Like To Have Sleep Paralysis – Sarah Maria Griffin

Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed

There are two kinds of sleep paralysis, and over the past seven years writer Sarah Maria Griffin experienced both of them on the regular. In this personal essay she discussed her journey to understand and live through terrified, sleepless nights.

5. Shell Shocks: How An Oil Giant Secured A $1.3 Billion Deal Mired In Corruption Allegations – James Ball and Claudio Gatti

Tim Lane / Getty / BuzzFeed

A BuzzFeed News and Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore joint investigation that reveals that Shell’s top executives at the time signed off on a deal with full knowledge that the money would go to a front company connected to a former Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete.

6. I Asked My Siblings How They Handle Living With Autism And Depression – Hannah Woodhead

Sian Butcher

In this essay, writer Hannah Woodhead reflects on her own experiences with depression and reaches out to her siblings, both on the Autism spectrum, to find out how their mental health struggles differed and overlapped.

7. Why Aren't There Any Superheroes That Look Like Me? – Rachael Krishna

Sian Butcher / BuzzFeed

In conjunction with Burmese New Year, Rachael Krishna discusses the ways in which the absence of representation of Burmese people in mainstream media has made it difficult for her to see herself reflected or to offer others entryways into her culture and background.

8. Meet The Graduates Who Want To Solve Britain's Prison Crisis – Patrick Smith

Tim Lane / Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed News met three young people who have applied to join a two-year scheme that will see them working in prisons at a time when the sector is mired in problems.

9. Why Are Asking Prices For London's Luxury Flats Falling? –Patrick Smith

Tim Lane / BuzzFeed News

BuzzFeed News has identified more than £18 million worth of asking-price reductions among flats at the Nine Elms regeneration area on the south bank of the Thames.

10. These Europeans Are Already Leaving The UK Because Of Brexit – Emily Dugan

Tim Lane / BuzzFeed / Lynda Laird for BuzzFeed

In the four months after the referendum there was a sharp increase in Europeans leaving Britain, according to the latest official migration data. The number of people from eastern Europe leaving the UK rose by nearly a third, to 39,000. It is not known exactly how many have left since then, but there is anecdotal evidence that more still are leaving ahead of Britain’s formal exit from the EU. BuzzFeed News spoke to some of them as they prepared to wind up their life in the UK.

11. How Watching "Skins" Made Me Feel Seen – Sophie Brown

Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed

In this personal essay, writer Sophie Brown reflects on the influence the iconic British teen show "Skins" had on her while growing up, and wonders where contemporary teens can look for similar reassurance.

12. British Mothers With HIV Are Going Hungry To Pay For Formula Milk – Patrick Strudwick

Sian Butcher / BuzzFeed

According to the two charities behind the policy briefing Access to formula milk for mothers living with HIV in the UK, women in Britain are falling through a net of patchy provisions, problems with benefits, and in some cases the complexities of the asylum system. This leaves them with a stark choice: Go hungry to pay for the milk replacement or spend what little they have to feed themselves – but risk passing HIV on to their child.

13. This Is How Germany Fought Back Against Far-Right Populism – Alberto Nardelli

Stefanie Loos / Reuters / Matthew Tucker / BuzzFeed

Support for Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has slumped dramatically in recent weeks, down to single figures in most polls. Its collapse in its popular support follows infighting, a slowing of asylum applications, and a string of controversies. BuzzFeed News reports from Berlin.

14. How I Fell Back In Love With Swimming And My Body – Eleanor Jones

Sian Butcher / BuzzFeed

In this personal essay, writer Eleanor Jones explores the reasons she quit swimming as a child due to body pressure, and how she rekindled rekindled a positive relationship with the sport and her body fifteen years later.

15. This Woman's Horrific Domestic Abuse Story Shows How the System Lets Victims Fall Through the Cracks – Laura Silver

Tim Lane / Getty / BuzzFeed

Britain has just agreed to ratify the Istanbul Convention to tackle domestic violence. The big test now is whether Theresa May delivers on her promise to introduce new laws to help women.

16. Developers Want To Build Flats In London That Are Smaller Than Most Bedrooms – Patrick Smith

Horden Cherry Lee / Via microcompacthome.com

BuzzFeed News has uncovered a proposal to build flats that could have just 6.7 square metres of floor space. Campaigners warn Londoners could end up in "glorified rabbit hutches".

Find more longform stories from BuzzFeed UK here.