In an International Women’s Day special edition, we look at how we’re honouring the occasion with Independent Women 2025: The Influence List, the Women.Now photography exhibition, extensive editorial and charitable initiatives.
The Independent is marking International Women’s Day 2025 with a range of activities designed to recognise women’s achievements, amplify women’s voices and improve women’s lives.
This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is ‘Accelerate Action’. With gender equality still more than a century away – projected not to be reached until 2158 at current rates of progress – it won’t be until five generations’ time that women have the same opportunities and rewards as men. The Independent is responding by calling for urgent and transformative change: it is saying Women.Now.
Women.Now focuses on women today and their lived experiences, challenges and accomplishments. Women.Now is also a rallying cry for essential action – stating that we must act without hesitation in order to achieve gender parity.
The Independent is shining a spotlight on the most influential female figures shaping British society today in its Independent Women 2025: The Influence List. An annual moment, the list brings together 50 extraordinary individuals from a varied range of worlds who all have one thing in common: their indelible impact on British society. The result is dynamic and diverse, spanning fields including entertainment, activism, sport, politics, business, art, literature and fashion. You can read the full list here.
In collaboration with Outernet London, Refuge and visionary photographer Sane Seven, striking portraits of 12 of the women featured on the list will be displayed to the public throughout March. The exhibition, entitled Women.Now, will be viewed by hundreds of thousands of Outernet visitors in the heart of London. Featuring Adejoké Bakare, Afua Kyei, Cathy Newman, Carla Denyer MP,  Chioma Nnadi,  Jess Phillips MP, Julia Donaldson CBE, Keely Hodgkinson MBE, Kemi Badenoch MP, Layla Moran MP,  Tasha Ghouri and Zoe Kalar, the portraits can be seen at Outernet throughout March. See here for screening timings.
Helmed by female editors in both the UK (Chloe Hubbard) and US (Louise Thomas), The Independent has a longstanding commitment to amplifying the voices of women and underrepresented groups worldwide.
Outernet visitors and Independent readers will be invited to share their views on gender equality, their experiences of discrimination and what needs to be done to expedite desperately needed progress. Their contributions will be collated and featured in The Independent and at Outernet – giving a fascinating snapshot of the nation’s stance on this crucial issue – with an aim to inspire action.
Simultaneously, The Independent is proud to announce a new initiative which will ensure that female experts are elevated in its editorial coverage, with journalists pledging to feature expert voices that reflect the 51% female population of the UK.
On International Women’s Day itself, The Independent will welcome Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Tasha Ghouri, Cathy Newman, Carla Denyer MP and Layla Moran MP to write guest pieces, with a range of views and experiences of womanhood and the pursuit of equality.
Throughout its IWD activity, The Independent will continue to signpost the lifesaving work of its charity partner, Refuge and the National Domestic Abuse Helpline (0808 2000 247).
Additionally, The Independent is launching a new programme, Make it in Media, with the charity Inspiring Girls. The initiative is designed to inspire and empower school-aged girls by introducing them to career opportunities in the news industry via immersion sessions with female members of The Independent’s editorial and commercial teams.
Read more here.
