The acknowledgement and celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) is still so important in 2022 as discrimination continues to impact the lives of cis and transgender women everywhere, in ways that intersect with race, sexuality and class, across home life and work.  

Here are academics and awareness-raisers available for comment on the challenges women continue to face across the world for your IWD features celebrating and supporting women this year.

Looking for business leaders and entrepreneurs? Check out our sister post for experts here.

Dr Mandeep Rai, expert on global values and author

Expertise: ‘As part of her mission to understand the single values that define nations, Rai has travelled to over 175 countries interviewing a huge range of female leaders in all areas to discover how their values and beliefs guide their leadership. She can give insights into the values of female leaders globally and how these women are breaking through barriers in all spheres of life.’

Dr Mandeep’s inspirations: ‘At the moment, my personal female heroes are Mia Mottley (Prime Minister of Barbados) and Sheikh Hasina (Prime Minister of Bangladesh). These two women have been selected by WHO to lead the taskforce into how to deal with the ‘slow pandemic’ i.e. humanity’s increasing resistance to antibiotics. These women are working in partnership to tackle an issue of huge global significance and take on the fight on behalf of us all.’

Professor Christine Naschberger, Human Resource Management, Audencia Business School in Nantes

‘It gives us the opportunity to think about victims of sexual violence and assault e.g. women, men, children, young adults, LGBTQIA members, etc. The issue of domestic violence has particularly gained visibility since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis – we cannot ignore this problem anymore.’

Expertise: Professor Christine’s research focuses on Women and Career, Disability and Equality in the Workplace, Work-Life Balance and Networks and their impact, and, since 2017, she has taught a programme called Negotraining where thousands of women received free training to become better at negotiating pay rises. She can speak on the gender pay gap, helping women to become better at negotiating higher salaries and progressing up the career ladder.

Professor Christine’s inspirations: ‘#aidetacollegue (#helpyourcolleague) was launched in 2019 during a Works Council Fair and French actress Blandine Métayer is the patron of this initiative. The idea of #aidetacollege is not to use social networks to name and shame but to show to your coworkers that you are there in case a co-worker who is victim of violence needs help.

‘I would also like to highlight the situation of women in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban took over, the situation of women in Afghanistan is catastrophic. I had never thought that in 2022 women could still face such an awful situation. I would like here to highlight the role of another actress, Angelina Jolie, who speaks up for women in Afghanistan and invites us not to look away from what is happening there. Angelina also continues to look for ways to help actively the victims of the Taliban. My thoughts go to all famous and less-famous women supporting women’s causes in 2022. We need their encouragement and ongoing support to make this world a better place for women.’

Jennifer Verson, founder and artistic director, Migrant Artists Mutual Aid

‘IWD is a day to remember and reflect on the multitudes of women many of whom have been forgotten by history who have stood together to in the long struggle for equality for all.’

Expertise: With MaMa, Jennifer works with migrant communities, refugees and asylum seekers and specialises in areas including intercultural dialogue and the role it plays in promoting (or inhibiting) social solidarity, trust and peaceful relations in diverse and changing societies.

Jennifer’s inspirations: ‘Often, I think of Rosa Parks as my hero, who in Montgomery Alabama in 1956 refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus. But On IWD it is particularly important to remember that Rosa Parks was ready for her resistance to injustice. Rosa was secretary of her local chapter of the NAACP, she had attended the Highlander Folk School a training centre for social justice leadership. Rosa Parks was part of a movement of people working together to fight the violence of racism, injustice and inequality.’

Dr Lynda Shaw, neuroscientist, business psychologist and recalibration specialist

‘When the time arrives when we no longer have the need to even acknowledge gender parity, perhaps this will be the time when we do not need to acknowledge International Women’s Day. One day people will look back in history aghast that gender was even discussed.  But for now, there is much to do.’

Expertise: Dr Lynda can talk about just about any subject pertaining to women, from burnout to brain fog, toxic positivity, resilience, impostor syndrome to neuroplasticity and ageing. 

Dr Lynda’s inspirations: ‘I admire many, many women. But three readily come to mind. Hedy Lamarr, beautiful film star of the 1930s and 40s. She pursued her love of acting, while at the same time was a talented engineer who invented remote control communications. A woman who embraced all of her talents.

‘Betty White, actor and comedian. Clever, sharp, funny, kind and her philosophy and insights were always so sensible. She embraced fun with compassion; I admire that.

‘My grandmother, who like many of her generation, experienced the first world war, the terrible flu epidemic, the great depression and the second world war.  A small timid lady, with a quiet strength that I wasn’t aware of until after she died.’  

Victoria Rush, founder of the #IAmEnough movement

‘I believe International Women’s Day has two purposes: To celebrate women, in a society built to hold them back and raise awareness of those systems still in place today. Inequality runs through all walks of our lives from politics, sport to the workplace.’

Expertise: Victoria founded the movement to empower and celebrate women in rugby and can cover the rise of conversation around female sports, Kate Middleton as the rugby patron, TikTok being announced as the main sponsor of Women’s Six Nations and being an ally in sport.

Victoria’s inspirations: ‘In the sports world, I look up to Judy Murray. A real trailblazer, she carved a path to create better opportunities for girls and women in sport. She’s also raised Feminist sons as seen with Andy Murray continuously using his platform to champion female athletes.’ 

On the Journalist Enquiry Service you can reach thousands of expert sources in all sectors; this is just a snapshot of the calibre of exceptional and expert women, ready to talk about International Women’s Day or their specific areas of expertise that you can connect with today. If you particularly want to interview one of these individuals drop a line to pj.boyd@responsesource.com and we’ll connect you – otherwise, head to responsesource.com/send to reach these and many more people who can help you with a story today.