David Cameron, 08/03/12

Prime Minister of Great Britain

Violence against women is an iceberg under the surface of society. Every day millions around the world live in fear.

Tony Blair, 08/03/12

Former Prime Minister of Britain

The women who have inspired me most recently are the Catholics Sisters who are dealing with sexual trafficking. They work together, across continents, in networks. They call sexual trafficking the new slavery. Some work at the UN, the equivalents of the William Wilberforces of old. But the work of most is much more at grassroots, demanding and sometimes dangerous.

Cherie Blair, 08/03/12

Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

As well as recognising the achievements of women, let's use International Women's Day to encourage more men across the world to join the fight for true equality. After all, the result if we succeed is not just a better world for women but a better world for everyone.

Lynn Forester de Rothschild, 08/03/12

CEO of EL Rothschild

As I join my colleagues to celebrate International Women's Day at this year's WIE Symposium in London, I laud the advancement of women over the past few decades, but know that we have much to do in order to achieve gender equality in our societies in the UK and the US.

Kelly Hoppen, 08/03/12

Designer, author, businesswoman and mother

Today is International Women's Day and for me it has already gotten off to quite the start. I opened the London Stock Exchange this morning alongside 49 other UK businesswomen, which showcased the talent and success of women in this country.

Prue Watson, 08/03/12

Writer, make-up artist, cheese and wine lover, and Prince fanatic

For a young woman this winter, forced to run out onto the streets quite probably with a young child in her arms, domestic violence advisors were a lifeline. Without help from refuges and charities she would have had to end up back in her home being beaten by her partner.

Dana Hovig and Dr Alvaro Bermejo, 08/03/12

Every year, over 350,000 women die from pregnancy-related complications. If every woman on the planet had equal access to family planning and safe motherhood services, one in four of these women's lives could be saved. Some 17 million women of reproductive age are living with HIV.

Sam Fraser, 08/03/12

Freelance Writer and Broadcaster

For every British girl bunking off games today, there is a girl somewhere in the world who is denied the right to exercise. Games lessons and team sports don't exist in her school curriculum and PE knickers have never, not ever, been on the uniform list.

Karen Gill, 08/03/12

Co-founder of everywoman, the UK's largest membership organisation for women in business

What is clear is that, for now, women must strike a balance, choosing when to play the rules or make up their own. But what will affect change in the long term is fostering and bolstering the female talent pipeline so that at every level within business we can get a more even distribution of the sexes.

Cathal Sheerin, 08/03/12

Researcher/Campaigner on the Americas and Africa Programmes at PEN International

On International Women's Dayhttp://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/mexico-international-women%E2%80%99s-day-8-march-2012/, 8 March 2012, spare a thought for the murdered women writers of Mexico. We should remember them - the system seems inclined to forget.

Paul McKeever, 08/03/12

Chairman of The Police Federation of England and Wales

The privatisation of the police service will have a detrimental effect on public safety and the level of service they expect and deserve from us. I don't say this lightly, I am genuinely outraged by what is happening to the greatest police service in the world.

Terry Sanderson, 08/03/12

President of the National Secular Society

It's happening all around the world. An increasingly politicised Catholic Church is manufacturing confrontations with governments in an effort to increase its influence and revitalise its dwindling flocks.

Julie Tomlin, 08/03/12

Freelance journalist, writer and editor

Amid all the complaining and bragging about who was ranked higher than who when it was published last week, some women on Twitter pointed out that "only one woman made it into the top 20 at all."

Susie Amy, 08/03/12

Actress and beauty blogger

We all know that getting enough sleep is good for us. But I have a mental block when it comes to sleeping. I asked for some advice when having reflexology a few months ago, and last week I asked my reflexologist Paolo, to remind me which pressure points can be worked on at home, when struggling to sleep and relax.

Jeremy Cliffe, 08/03/12

Labour Party activist and commentator

In his 1994 Labour conference speech, Tony Blair gambled his young leadership on a bid to abandon the party's constitutional commitment to state ownership. The gamble met with resounding approval. As one MP put it, as he made his case you could "hear the sound of pennies dropping."

Caroline Kisko, 08/03/12

Kennel Club Secretary

Dog health has been at the forefront of the public's mind for several years now, but has been for even longer a focus at the Kennel Club, the organisers of Crufts.

Sophie Turner-Laing, 08/03/12

Managing Director, Entertainment and News, Sky

The schoolgirls I am speaking to today will enjoy greater opportunities than those ten, 20 or 30 years ago, and my advice to them today will be to go out and grab those opportunities with both hands.

Sarah Brown, 07/03/12

Global Patron, White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood

This week's international celebration of women is a vivid illustration of just how much the position of women in some countries around the world has improved over the past hundred years. But it also serves as a poignant reminder of how much work remains to be done.

David Rowntree, 07/03/12

Blur drummer and Labour activist

"The Law's the Law", was the title of an article I remember reading when I was young. It was a 'top 10' list of weird old laws, their reasons for existing long since passed, but never repealed so theoretically still in force.

Jon Spira, 06/03/12

Film-maker, writer, scoundrel

Yes, I have finally found a minority I can hate. I can indulge in prejudice on sight, I can do whatever is within my legal arsenal to make their existence harder and I can rant on the internet about how they should be treated. Cyclists. Bloody, f*cking cyclists. I hate them.