Status Active Years active 4 | Frequency Annually | |
 | ||
Inaugurated 22 October 2013 (2013-10-22) Most recent 22 November 2016 (2016-11-22) | ||
100 Women is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. After the list is unveiled, it is the start of what is being described as BBC's women season, lasting for three weeks, which includes broadcast, online reports, debates and journalism on the topic of women. Women from throughout the world are encouraged to participate via Twitter and comment on the list, as well as the interviews and debates which follow release of the list.
Contents
History
After the 2012 Delhi gang rape, then BBC Controller Liliane Landor, BBC editor Fiona Crack and other journalists, were inspired to create a series focusing on the issues and achievements of women in society today. They felt that many of the issues women were facing were not getting in-depth coverage and in March 2013, BBC received a "flood of feedback from female listeners" that the BBC provide more "content from and about women."
The BBC launched this series in 2013 to address the under-representation of women in the media. Women to participate in the first program were chosen by survey in 26 different language services. Programming ran over the course of a month, culminating in a conference held on 25 October, in which 100 women from across the world discussed issues they shared. A wide range of topics were debated covering employment challenges, feminism, motherhood, and religion, to examine both the cultural and social challenges women faced in living their lives.
The series has since covered many topics, including education, healthcare, equal pay, genital mutilation, domestic violence, and sexual abuse and seeks to provide women with a platform to discuss how to improve the world and eliminate sexism. Women included on the list are from around the globe who are involved in diverse fields of endeavor. Women who are already famous are included, as well as people who are less known.
2016
The 2016 theme was Defiance. Part of the 100 Women festival took place in Mexico City on this year. The 2016 list was published in alphabetical order.
2015
The BBC News 100 Women list in 2015 was made up of many notable international names, as well as women who were unknown, but who represent issues women face. The women of 2015, included representatives from 51 countries and were not necessarily those who would traditionally have been seen as role models—a woman suffering from depression, a woman who advocates for equal access to bathroom facilities, a woman who encourages other women to avoid make-up, and a reindeer nomad.
2014
The BBC News 100 Women list in 2014 continued the efforts of the first year's initiative.
2013
The 2013 event was a month-long BBC series that took place in October. The series examined the role of women in the 21st century and culminated in an event held at BBC Broadcasting House in London, United Kingdom on 25 October 2013 involving a hundred women from around the world, all of whom came from different walks of life. The day featured debate and discussion on radio, television and online, in which the participants were asked to give their opinions about the issues facing women.
The event held on 25 October 2013 featured 100 women from all walks of life.