Feminist activist and journalist Gloria Steinem dies, aged 92

Gloria Steinem, who became a leader of the women's liberation movement in the US, has died aged 92.

In a post on Instagram, her foundation said she "passed away peacefully" at her home in New York City on Wednesday, "surrounded by many who loved her".

Steinem, who was a writer and magazine editor, co-founded the Women's Action Alliance - a group dedicated to fighting sexism - more than 50 years ago.

She started her career as a journalist in New York and went on to co-found Ms. magazine, one of the first publications to focus on women's issues other than housekeeping and beauty.

During the 1970s, Steinem was a vocal campaigner for women's reproductive rights, among other causes.

She herself obtained an illegal abortion in London when she was 22 years old, and years later celebrated the US Supreme Court's 1973 ruling in the case of Roe v Wade, which granted women the constitutional right to abortion. Nearly half a century later she witnessed the reversal of this decision.

She also spoke out in favour of the legalisation of same-sex marriage, as well as equal rights and pay for women, and protested against the death penalty and female genital mutilation.

Born on 25 March 1934 in Toledo, Ohio, she had a difficult childhood and did not go to school full-time until she was 12 years old.