Tech, Education, Impact & Ethics

International Women’s Day 2025

As we celebrate the achievements of women and girls around the world, it’s also time to confront one of the most urgent digital challenges of our time: AI is not gender neutral—and the risks for women and girls are real.

Only 22% of AI professionals globally are women. That lack of representation is not just a pipeline issue—it shows up in the technology itself. From facial recognition systems that misidentify women more than men, to recruitment algorithms that favour male-dominated industries, AI often reinforces the very inequalities we aim to overcome.

Security threats are also disproportionately felt. The rise of AI-generated deepfakes and image-based abuse is impacting women and girls at an alarming rate. And globally, girls are 25% less likely than boys to know how to leverage technology for their futures.

The truth is, when women and girls are excluded from shaping technology, that technology doesn’t serve them—and sometimes, it harms them.

So what can we do?

• Prioritise inclusion in AI education and career pipelines, especially for girls from underrepresented backgrounds.
• Design ethical AI with diverse datasets, ensuring the people behind the data—and behind the code—reflect society.
• Fund solutions built by and for women, especially in digital safety, rights, and literacy.
• Hold platforms accountable for the protection of women and girls in digital spaces.

This International Women’s Day, let’s not just close the gender gap in tech—let’s close the equity gap in the future we’re building.