Friday 8th March marks the celebration and the rights of women worldwide; the fight for gender equality; raises awareness of bias and honour the achievements of women in the past and present. WOW is a global movement launched by Jude Kelly CBE to celebrate females and help them achieve their full potential. 

This movement now takes place in 17 countries worldwide across 6 continents and is continuously expanding. This year WOW celebrates its 9th year anniversary, a time in which women are now being introduced to bright, new prospects. 

At the Southbank Centre today, WOW held a festival with inspirational speakers such as Julia Gillard, the first female Prime Minister of Australia who discussed misogyny, what it means and how it affects individuals. Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones actress, spoke about an app she collaborated on called daisie which was designed to revolutionize the way young people use social media. There were two captivating performances one by Maryam Naasir, who read a poem about equality and Ayanna Witter-Johnson, who played the cello and celebrated great feats. Many big ideas were also introduced on topics of toxic masculinity and what being an activist means. 

The festival takes place over two days with a variety of people passionate about celebrating women for who they are. One of the audience members, Adriana Eric-Walter said, ‘the day was both interesting and informative and celebrated the essence of what it means to be a woman.’   

It is important for males and females to take hold of responsibility of finding balance in our world for better.