BBC names ‘most inspiring women’
... so how many of them have YOU heard of?
THE BBC has revealed its new list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2019... but you will struggle to recognise many of them.
The list includes British 200m world champion Dina Asher-Smith, 23, and Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, 16, but prominent individuals such as the Duchesses of Sussex and Cambridge have missed out.
Icelandic transgender activist Owl Fisher – who does not identify as male or female – makes the list. Others in the top 100 who aren’t exactly household names include Ugandan farmer Judith Bakirya, Chinese boxer Huang Wensi, Indian gender equality expert Subhalakshmi Nandi, New Zealand economist Marilyn Waring, Kenyan digital equality expert Nanjira Sambuli and Russian anti-corruption activist Lyubov Sobol.
Eleven British women made the 100, including Gina Martin, who launched a campaign to make upskirting illegal.
The women were chosen from various categories, including creativity, sports and knowledge. The list was compiled by the BBC’s 100 Women team, which drew up a shortlist based on names suggested by the corporation’s network of World Service languages teams.
The BBC’s criteria was for women who had ‘made the headlines or influenced important stories’. Women were also considered if they had an inspiring story or influenced their societies. The names are then assessed against the theme, The Female Future, and ‘measured for regional representation and due impartiality’.