If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my lifetime as a woman, it’s that progress rarely happens alone.
It happened because people challenged inequality, supported one another, and pushed for a world where women could participate more fully in leadership, decision-making, and opportunity. This collective drive for change carved a path for future generations. But while we’ve come far, the road ahead is still not clear.
Across the world, women continue to experience inequality in ways that shape how they move through the world. According to the United Nations, women represent around 70% of the world’s 1.3 billion people living in poverty, and women and girls make up approximately 80% of those displaced by climate-related disasters. Leadership is another space where the gap remains visible. Despite women making up roughly half of the global population, they hold only around a quarter of senior leadership roles worldwide. And for many women, safety is still not guaranteed, with the World Health Organisation estimating that 1 in 3 women globally experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
These statistics aren’t just numbers. They reflect the deep-rooted ideologies and stereotypes that have shaped how women are seen, valued, and supported in society. For generations, women have often been expected to be the carers, the organisers, the people who hold everything together behind the scenes. While these roles are important, they have also contributed to women’s work being undervalued or overlooked, particularly in leadership spaces. Sometimes these patterns show up in subtle ways.
A moment shared during a recent leadership workshop captured this perfectly. A team had been discussing ways to strengthen relationships by spending more time together outside of work. It was a great idea, creating informal opportunities for the team to build trust and connection.
When the team asked, “Who will take this forward?” I said, half joking but quite intentionally, “Please don’t let a woman take this one. I think a man should.”
I noted a woman in the room had been about to volunteer.
The room paused.
The person who had originally suggested the idea, a man, stepped forward to take it on, and the team agreed that organising these connection opportunities should be a shared and rotating responsibility.
It might seem like a small moment, but it highlights something we still see often in workplaces. Women frequently carry the relational and culture-building work within teams, organising, connecting, and ensuring everyone feels included. Important work, but work that is often invisible and rarely recognised as leadership. Recognising these patterns is where change begins. Because while women supporting women has always been a powerful force for progress, meaningful change happens when everyone is part of the movement. When men and women both recognise these dynamics and actively work to shift them, new opportunities open up and leadership becomes more inclusive.
This is why the theme for International Women’s Day 2026, “Give to Gain,”, feels so relevant. When people intentionally give their support, their time, their advocacy, and their visibility to help women step forward, everyone benefits. Organisations become stronger, leadership becomes more representative, and communities become more inclusive. Progress doesn’t come from one group carrying the responsibility alone. It comes from collective awareness, shared effort, and the willingness to challenge the patterns that have existed for generations.
At Women Step Forward, we believe in creating spaces where these conversations can happen. Spaces where women are encouraged to lead, share their experiences, and support one another, but also where everyone is invited to be part of building a more equitable future.
Because when women move forward, we all move forward.
