With almost 90% of the rock n roll hall of fame being made up of male musicians we need to move on from pigeon holing female musicians by image and understand that good musicianship and songwriting is all that counts. 08 March 2017 is International Women’s Day, where this year women are being asked to ‘be bold for change’. But let's go one extra, and encourage men to 'change to be bold'. PRS for Music report that their membership of over 95,000 songwriters and composers is only 13 per cent female. And reportedly, there have been cases of female writers pitching songs under a male pseudonym to give themselves a better chance - the sort of thing 19th Century female authors had to do. Laura Mvula recently declared that we are living in the "Donald Trump time of music" while Lady Gaga has spoken about how she ‘really wanted to be taken seriously as a musician for my intelligence more than my body’ during the early part of her career, while accepting Billboard's Woman of the Year award in 2014. Lady Gaga also called the industry a "boy's club" and said women faced pressure to "sell everything to be a star. There has long been discussions from music industry experts and celebrities’ alike calling for women to be recognised in all aspects of the industry. Female performers should be recognised for their musicianship rather than the fulfilment of a stereotype of ‘girls girl, wronged woman or unattainable sex-bot which is claimed to be empowering’ as Charlotte Church put it in her lecture on sexism in the music industry. And on Thursday 23 February 2017, in support of this campaign we will be staging an event to challenge attitudes towards female musicians at London’s 93 Feet East (Brick Lane). The all female line up will comprise of five London based musicians, and celebrated DJ, Jenn Crothers, to play songs late into the night. The event is Free & Doors open from 7pm. And we will be using #takehername throughout the campaign!

On 23 January 2017 President Trump signed an executive order reinstating the Global Gag Rule, or the Mexico City Policy. This order denies U.S. funding to global health and family planning organisations if they use money from other donors to provide abortion services, counselling or referrals—even if abortion is legal in a country. It blocks critical funding for life-saving health services like contraception, maternal health, Zika and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment for any organisation that refuses to sign it. It will have a devastating effect. The World Health Organisation estimates that every day, 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth and 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries. The Policy will hit hardest women living at the margins of society – the poorest, the most remote and those under 25. Zika and HIV are more likely to spread. Millions will suffer. The Global Gag Rule jeopardises the investment the UK Government has made in women’s health globally. Due to close inter-linkages between women’s health and poverty, environmental degradation, forced migration and conflict, these trends will worsen. The Global Gag Rule is an attempt to silence the voice, choice, and control of the world’s poorest women. The Policy is an assault on every woman, everywhere. In the spirit of the Women’s Marches last weekend, we call on the UK government to join other governments in championing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights both politically and financially. So please sign and share our petition asking the UK Government to champion life-saving services for women across the world. Many thanks, The IPPF team For more on the Global Gag Rule: http://www.ippf.org/news/why-we-will-not-sign-global-gag-rule

This is important because it is an outdated and ignorant approach to modern day work life. I left my role within a very large law firm as I was unable to continue working for a company who said that I cannot be taken seriously and would never have a successful career if I did not wear makeup or wear a specific nail colour. This archaic approach made me feel very uncomfortable and disheartened that as a woman, my looks were considered far more important and influential than my abilities to fulfill a role. Dress length, make-up, nail colours, heels are all things that don't define your ability to do a job, so they should not be made part of a company policy. I'd love Intelligent Office to take a stand on this and show the way for other companies on these sexist policies

The Real Housewives of ISIS is an extremely distasteful and offensive show. It is Islamophobic by how it depicts Muslim women, regardless of them being related to ISIS. The show stigmatises women and symbolises acts of everyday sexism suffered by women across the UK. Satire is created to fight against oppression – not feed into sexist and Islamophobic rhetoric. Muslim hate crimes are mostly carried out against women – this show will further fuel hate in Britain towards women in hijab and niqab.

I was fortunate as an MP to be sitting near Michelle Thomson MP in the House of Commons, Westminster, London in December 2016 when she spoke of having been raped as a teenager. Her act of speaking up has already had a profound impact. I acknowledge other parliamentarians have also spoken up, but more could do so. Parliamentarians, whether male or female, and regardless of whether they have suffered from violence, should do more to speak up and legislate where appropriate. This petition is a small contribution to allow people to acknowledge the need to support parliamentarians willing to accept their responsibility to do more.

To adhere to certain lifestyles and certain intolerances that are current, there should be an alternative in order to avoid any illness or inconvenience.

Hundreds of thousands of women have worked hard, planned and saved toward their pension. Some years back, they were told to wait an extra few years. They bit that bullet, but now, for some, just a few months before finally getting THEIR money back, they are told to wait another 2 or more years. No reasons, no apology, no letter even. It's UNACCEPTABLE.

In the modern, equal and fair Britain of 2016 it is more important than ever that everyone no matter who they are or what gender they may be have equal and fair opportunities regarding work. Britain is a diverse land of many races, religions, sexual preferences and opinions. In the UK we are striving on a whole for equality in all aspects of our lives. So many barriers which once stopped groups of people from having equal opportunities have now been demolished. Yet still there is the pay gap between men and women. Around 90% of job roles in the UK pay men more than women for the same job title. If this is not inequality then its difficulty to comprehend what is. Our head of state; The Queen is a female. Our new post-Brexit Prime Minister; Theresa May is a female and more then ever women are diversifying in their job roles and taking on what was once viewed as "mens jobs". But still the employers of this once great country continue to underpay the hard working women of the UK in comparison to men. If true equality is to be brought upon us and a fair society secured then we must end this (for lack of a better term) sexist scourge on our country. If you believe in feminism, equality, or just empowering the government to make a positive change then please do sign this petition. If you have a mother, sister, girlfriend, auntie or female friend then why not provide them with the equal right to a decent wage just as much as men?

HOW can the UN think an imaginary , scantily clad , very well endowed ( Barbie doll - statistics) comic book cartoon represents women of the world and 'empowers' them? She is a 'sex symbol ' and will only serve to promote women as sex objects in countries that already veer that way! Are they serious? Yes I get that they need a 'modern ' symbol - but 'Wonder Woman' was out of the 70's (or maybe it is more to do with a new 'Wonder Woman 'film being released in 2017 )??? But would you choose Charlie 's Angels? or Baywatch babes ? what about Bridget Jones ? Or a whole raft of similar females ? Pretty much every REAL woman I have ever met is a better role model for women, for encouraging our girls to be all they can be. Are there no real modern women across the whole world who could not be the UN's ambassador for women ? really ? We deserve better

At the moment, British passports only provide two gender options; M and F. This is a problem as there are people who identify as neither of these genders. In 2014, a study (Titman, 2014) identified that 1 in 250 people choose another option when given the opportunity. YouGov studies have shown figures as high as 20% of people placing themselves between the poles of 100% male or 100% female. A simple solution is to add an X option on passports for those who want it. This is approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and is already in use in countries such as Germany, New Zealand, and Nepal. A survey of 79 non-binary people (people who do not identify as men or women) in the UK through the Beyond the Binary online magazine found that the vast majority reported feeling uncomfortable (100%) and unsafe (94%) being non-binary in the UK. The addition of the X marker on official documentation, such as passports, will validate the existence of non-binary identities, providing greater social and legal protection; making Britain a safer, more comfortable place for non-binary and genderqueer people. Lee-Anne is a non-binary person who says “I am misgendered in every shop I go into. It would be amazing if I could at least have the correct gender recorded on my official ID.” For non-binary people, there is an inability to have gender recorded correctly on medical, legal, educational, and other records. This leads to misgendering, dysphoria, as well as physical and mental health issues. It also validates harassment, discrimination and hate crime against non-binary people. It is imperative that this changes and an X marker is added to British passports.

Sexual harassment in schools is a huge problem. When I was teaching, I often heard boys talk about how girls were "asking for it" and who saw no problem with cat-calling and wolf-whistling. We have a responsibility to make sure all girls can go to school and not face offensive name-calling, groping and unwanted sexual attention. Schools should be held accountable for tackling sexual violence and harassment - and teaching children how unacceptable this kind of behaviour is should be in the curriculum. The classroom is the perfect setting in which to tackle, and put an end to, the toxic behaviours that impact girls every day. But unless it’s the priority of all schools, it’ll always get put to the bottom of the list.

I'm a transgender myself and would love to have SRS straight away but the rules are preventing me for having my wish I feel extremely uncomfortable in my body and am scared of going out as people stare, I have noticed other people in the same position who would love to have the rules changed so they feel more comfortable and I think this would give us the freedom we always wanted and give us the correct body and allow us not to feel trapped.