Every year I host an event to mark International Women's Day and invite our community to hear some of St Albans' brilliant women talk about their lives.
This year we heard stories of love and loss, fun, friendship and families, highs and lows, lessons learnt, awesome achievements, and remarkable tales of emotional strength - and physical strength.
The physical strength came from one of St Albans' own sporting heroes Ajanta Hilton. She had never lifted weights at all before the age of 35; at 44, she was selected to compete for Team GB at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships. And she won. Gold.
Claire Taylor MBE, Macmillan's Chief Nursing Officer spoke with real passion about improving life for those with cancer, about the lack of women in senior medical roles despite making up 90 per cent of nurses, and about getting an MBE for her work.
Jane Purdon, CEO of Women in Football, talked about confidence, success, and the satisfaction she gets from knowing she has had a real effect on the culture of football.
And Judith Leary-Joyce talked about how she taught herself how to make houses eco-friendly and well-insulated - and then literally wrote the beginners guide on how to do it!
These are brilliant women with brilliant life stories, but International Women's Day isn’t just about hearing from those who made it to the top of their game.
It’s about recognising that women often have to break through barriers that men simply do not face. And that around the world, the fight for women’s rights continues.
In the last year alone, we’ve seen scenes from Iran, where the death of Mahsa Amini prompted months-long women’s rights protests against the “morality police”, and female students have faced a mass poisoning.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban takeover has forced women to live in the dark ages. It’s a stark reminder that the rights of women and girls can go backwards as well as forwards.
This year's International Women's Day has the theme "Embrace Equity" - reflecting the fact that to get to the same place, people start from different starting points.
There’s only so much that can be achieved through one themed day a year but by shining a light on the unique challenges and experiences of women, hopefully more women and their male allies will be inspired to tackle gender inequality, at home and abroad.
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