If you believe in freedom then join us on Sunday

This Sunday is International Women's Day and I'll be marking it by walking with Helen Pankhurst through London in support of 'Walk In Her Shoes' campaign 

It's a day to remember all women across the world who currently face injustice and inequality. Twelve reasons why you should mark it:

1. 1 billion women across the world will be beaten, raped, abused or mutilated in their lifetime
2. In the UK, women make up 17% of board directors at FTSE 100 companies
3. In Russia, women are forbidden from working in 400 types of work
4. In the UK, 70% of people employed in national minimum wage jobs are women
5. In Madagascar, women are not allowed to work at night
6. Across the globe, 1 in 9 girls is forced into marriage before her 15th birthday
7. In Saudi Arabia, women are forbidden from holding a driving licence
8. Two thirds of women are illiterate world-wide
9. Marital rape is legal in the Bahamas
10. In Malta, it is legal for a man to abduct and rape a woman as long as he marries her afterwards
11. 800 women die in childbirth 
12. In Syria, a husband can prevent his wife from leaving the country

When women are empowered and have an income, it has been proven that they invest back into their families and communities, driving down hunger, poverty and malnutrition, and improving health, education and well-being. Statistically, a child born to a mother who can read is 50 per cent more likely to survive.