Here’s why we’re focusing on female-led stories this year…
First marked in 1911, International Women’s Day began as a campaign for women’s rights to work, vote and hold public office. Over the past century, it has evolved into a global moment to celebrate women’s achievements, highlight gender inequality, support female-focused charities, and push for a more inclusive society.
Every year we celebrate IWD on 8th March but it’s one day that comes and goes with very little tangible change. Shining a spotlight on both the contributions that women have made and the long road left to go for equality shouldn’t be confined to a single day.
Though it’s slowly shrinking, the gender pay gap still exists, which diminishes women’s financial independence, and women are still underrepresented in leadership roles. Around 119 million girls worldwide are out of school, even though investment in girls’ education strengthens economics and leads to decreases in the rates of child marriage, child mortality, and maternal mortality. Gender-based violence disproportionately affects women and girls; a woman is killed on average every three days in the UK, 1 in 5 homicides in the UK are domestic homicides, and 78% of female victims of domestic homicide were killed by a partner or ex-partner.
According to the World Economic Forum, it will take 123 years to achieve global gender parity, meaning several generations will come and go without seeing true equality in their lifetimes. So this year we’re flipping the script and making 2026 London On The Inside’s Year of the Woman.
This means that our content for the year will be heavily female-focused. We’ll be highlighting just some of the women doing incredible things in London, whether that be in their own businesses or working to make the city a better place. We’ll be lending our voice to important campaigns to push for real change and we’ll be donating 5% of our profits for the year to Women & Girls Network, a free service for women in London affected by violence and abuse, to help make a difference.
Let’s get loud! And if there are any women or women-led organisations that want to share their stories or get their voices heard, drop us a line at christina@londontheinside.com.
