Wednesday March 8 marks International Women's Day, with festivals, concerts and exhibitions among the numerous events planned around the world to celebrate the achievements of women in society. The annual event has been held since the early 1900s and traditionally promotes a different theme each year, with this year's edition calling on people to #BeBoldForChange and push for a more gender-inclusive working world. Reuters photographers have been speaking with women in a range of professions around the world about their experiences of gender inequality. Here: Yolaina Chavez Talavera, 31, a firefighter, poses for a photograph in front of a truck at a fire station in Managua, Nicaragua, February 22, 2017. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)

A twelve foot long giant hamster has surprised Londoners along the South Bank, Millennium Bridge and Clapham Common on May 26, 2016. A 4-metre pedal-powered mechanical model hamster, which has been created in the likeness of Jaffa the hamster, who is listed as one of the 10 oddest discoveries made by Kwik Fit technicians in customers’ cars. (Photo by Joe Pepler/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

Alex Plunkett, left, and Sean Hart, both of Arlington, Va., join hundreds participating in the annual International Pillow Fight Day on April 5. Massive pillow fights broke out on the Mall in Washington and in cities around the world. (Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

A picture made available on 09 September 2015 shows traditional mud men dancers from the Asaro District of Goroka in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea perform for the official opening of the Pacific Islands Forum in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 08 September 2015. The Pacific Islands Forum goes from 07 to 11 September and discusses the regions vulnerability to Climate Change. (Photo by Mick Tsikas/EPA)

The Hubble Space Telescope is shown following its release from the space shuttle Discovery Wednesday, February 19, 1997. The Hubble Space Telescope, one of NASA'S crowning glories, marks its 25th anniversary on Friday, April 24, 2015. With more than 1 million observations, including those of the farthest and oldest galaxies ever beholden by humanity, no man-made satellite has touched as many minds or hearts as Hubble. (Photo by AP Photo/NASA)

A man, right, throws a chair at a business window as another man tries to restrain a woman attempting to stop the damage, after march to City Hall for Freddie Gray, Saturday, April 25, 2015 in Baltimore. Gray died from spinal injuries about a week after he was arrested and transported in a police van. (Photo by Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

People slide down a 1,082 feet (330 metre) long inflatable water slide in Hong Kong, China August 22, 2015. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)