March is Women's History Month — a 31-day celebration of women and girls everywhere and their contribution to society. Campaigns, parades, protests, and fundraisers are held to raise awareness for feminism and the need for increased gender equity.
March 8 in particular is International Women’s Day; an opportunity each year to reflect upon the women, past and present, who have devoted themselves to dismantling misogyny and social barriers.
In this social climate and with the horrific acts of gender-based violence we are witnessing across the globe, it is important now more than ever to embolden the social, political, economic, and cultural achievements of women everywhere.
Here is a list of 10 women to celebrate this Women’s History Month, who have contributed to key issues and worked tirelessly to create a different reality for future generations.
Amika George (1999 - present)
Amika George is a Cambridge University graduate who, at the age of 17, began to champion the fight against period poverty in the UK. George started the #FreePeriods campaign after realising that many girls miss up to a week of school a month, due to being unable to afford menstrual products. By coordinating a peaceful protest of over 2000 people and garnering 180,000 signatures for her petition, she persuaded the government to provide free period supplies to every school and college in England.
George was subsequently presented an MBE in 2021 for services to education and has become recognised globally as a pioneer in the conversation surrounding period poverty. Not only was she listed by TIME magazine as one of the 25 most influential teenagers worldwide, but also received the Bill and Melinda Gates Goalkeepers award aged only 18.
Her website, freeperiods.org, offers useful resources and ways to get involved with the fight to destigmatise menstruation.
Kalpana Chawla (1962 - 2003)
Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman ever to journey into space, taking her first voyage in 1997. When selecting her degree in the male-dominated field of aeronautical engineering, she faced widespread dissuasion and gender-based discrimination. Despite this, Chawla was hired by NASA in 1988.
She held a strong passion for encouraging the young people of India to consider spaceflight careers, and as a result, NASA began to invite two girls from Chawla’s school to enrol in their Summer Space Experience Program every year. Chawla would also invite them to her home for dinner, as a mentor.
She embarked on her second mission to space in January 2003, on what would be the final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. With a crew of 6 others Chawla spent 16 days conducting crucial research experiments, but sadly, the aircraft disintegrated upon its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, killing all those on board.
Chawla was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honour and has since had several schools, universities, and streets named after her.
Gina Martin (1992 - present)
Gina Martin is a women’s rights advocate, author, and orator, who has devoted herself to lobbying for crucial policy changes. Her passion for activism stemmed from a distressing personal experience — while attending a music festival in 2017, Martin was upskirted by a male member of the crowd. Upskirting refers to the act of taking a photograph of someone without their permission, so as to see up their skirt or dress.
After realising that this wasn’t a sexual offence by law, Martin launched a national campaign to amend the policy. As a result of her efforts, the Voyeurism Act in England and Wales came into force in 2019. Three further countries have implemented the Act since.
Martin has continued her work with organisations such as the Ministry of Justice, the United Nations, and TEDx to encourage a new generation of activists and push for change. She was named one of TIME Magazine’s #100Next influential people, one of Stylist’s Remarkable Women of the Year, and one of the 1000 most influential people in London according to the Evening Standard.
Shirley Raines (1967 – present)
Shirley Raines is the founder of the non-profit grassroots organisation Beauty 2 the Streetz, which seeks to provide a human connection to the homeless people of Skid Row, Los Angeles. Each week Raines and her team deliver crucial services to thousands of unhoused people; new clothing, warm meals, showers, hygiene kits, haircuts, makeup services, and hugs.
“It’s not so much just giving them makeup or doing their hair, it’s also the physical touch. People need physical touch,” she said in a CNN interview.
Before the pandemic, Raines would cook 400 meals a week in her one-bedroom apartment and travel 3 times a week to visit Skid Row’s residents. Now, after accumulating a large social media following, Beauty 2 the Streetz has enlisted the support of popular makeup brands and local health officials to aid their mission.
Raines has become a pioneer in the conversation surrounding destigmatising homelessness and won CNN Hero of the Year in 2021 as a result. Her work facilitates increased awareness that unhoused people need not just food and water, but human connection too.
Visit her website to donate, or learn more about the ethos of Beauty 2 the Streetz.
Madeline Stuart (1996 - present)
26-year-old Madeline Stuart has been described by many as the world’s first professional model with Down’s Syndrome. After discovering her passion for modelling in 2014, Stuart quickly landed her first runway at New York Fashion Week. Since then, the Australian model has walked Paris Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, Russian Fashion Week, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week China, and Runway Dubai, amongst countless other shows.
Stuart has also devoted her time to working with charities that aim to foster inclusion and increase diversity within the arts. She was named number 1 for Diversity in Fashion by Forbes in 2017 and continues to dismantle the stigma around disability that has plagued the industry for so long.
Dame Sarah Gilbert (1962 - present)
After reading about four people in Wuhan, China suffering from a strange infection in January 2020, scientist and professor Sarah Gilbert began her design of what we know now as the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine. Within two weeks she had led her team to curate the vaccine at the University of Oxford, and today, billions of doses have been administered worldwide.
Professor Gilbert had previously led the first trial for an Ebola vaccine in 2014 and contributed heavily to our understanding of the MERS virus. She was awarded a DBE in 2021 for Services to Science and Public Health and has since had a Barbie doll made in her honour.
Mhairi Black (1994 - present)
MP Mhairi Black became the youngest elected politician in Britain when she joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2015. At the age of just 20, Black broke the record for the youngest MP to be elected to the House of Commons since 1667.
Before entering politics, Black’s humble beginnings working in a fish and chip shop cultivated an inclusive, open-minded outlook. Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she frequently speaks out against the homophobic and misogynistic abuse she is subjected to online.
Black was re-elected in 2017 and 2019, and in December 2022 became deputy leader of the SNP at Westminster. She continues to stand for and inspire the under-represented demographic of young women within UK politics.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (1942 - present)
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is an Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic, known most notably for her branch of "interventionist" deconstructive criticism. After graduating from the University of Calcutta and continuing her studies at Cambridge, Spivak began to encourage more women to involve themselves in academia and literary theory.
She contributed heavily to feminist theory, starting important critiques of Western modes of feminism for their oppression of the non-Western woman, that have since deveoped into established schools of thought. Spivak was subsequently awarded the third highest of India’s civilian honours, the Padma Bhushan, in 2013.
Stella Creasy (1977 - present)
Labour MP Stella Creasy sparked a huge backlash when she wore her infant baby in a sling inside the House of Commons. She had previously launched This Mum Votes, a campaign designed to support parents working in politics, and had no maternity cover herself.
Parliament was condemned for criticizing Creasy and was subsequently forced to review its rules. After feeling as though her own party had not supported her push for maternity rights, she has been an avid campaigner for working mothers’ allowances and better maternity care for MPs.
Tarana Burke (1973 - present)
Political activist and writer Tarana Burke has committed herself for nearly three decades to work that aims to eradicate sexual violence and gender-based discrimination. In particular, her focus is on disrupting the systemic inequalities that disproportionately affect Black and Indigenous women and girls.
Burke is credited with establishing the MeToo movement, first coining the phrase in 2006 to raise awareness for the prevalence of sexual abuse towards women. In doing so, she created a safe social space for survivors to heal, empower each other, and share their stories.
Over a decade later, #MeToo become a viral phenomenon as Harvey Weinstein’s pattern of sexual abuse was exposed. The hashtag has since developed into an international movement, galvanizing millions of survivors across the globe and reminding countless women that no matter what, they are never alone.
Her website, metoomvmt.org, offers guidance and resources for survivors, as well resources for allies to stay informed.
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