International Women’s Day: Celebrating stories from around the world

There are lots of things to be happy about today: it’s Saturday, the WISP team get to spend it gallivanting around Southbank’s Women of the World Festival, and… it’s International Women’s Day.

The day’s been around since the early 1900s – and it’s gaining momentum every year, as a time when millions of people unite to celebrate achievements for equality and continue the fight for justice.

This year, we decided to celebrate by doing something a little bit different. We’ve dug out some voices from every corner of the globe to share with you. And in typical What I See style (if we don’t say so ourselves), they highlight the amazing stories of women from all over the world: their resilience, their wisdom, their drive, their kindness.

We could go on… but we think the videos speak for themselves.

Carly from Australia on what she sees in the mirror: 'I think there's an expectation that... I would want to change my appearance... to look like the mainstream. But I don't. I think that it's very important for me to have pride in myself and to show others that look different that it's OK to have pride in themselves as well.'

When we asked Mirella from Chile what it means to be a woman, she said: ‘Being a woman is more of a sacrifice than being a man… A man has more freedom than a woman… If I’d been a man, I would have been more free; I would have  studied, I would have worked, I would be a different person.’

Victoria from the USA on the defining event in her life: when her father was killed. 'He was stopped at a road block, and he was pulled out of the car in front of my mother and in front of my grandfather, and was shot.'

Shima from Egypt told us her story when we met her in Cambridge.

Last but not least... Anna from the UK on what she sees in the mirror: 'It's pretty crowded in there. There are lots of me looking back, but I'm starting to see all of me, as I am, without judging.'