An artist performs a fire kettle show during the Mid-Autumn Festival at a night market in Beijing, Tuesday, September 17, 2024. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

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)

Models present creations by Portuguese fashion designer Ines Torcato during the Portugal Fashion show in Porto, Portugal, 14 October 2021. Spring/Summer 2022 collections are presented at the 49th Portugal Fashion until 16 October 2021. (Photo by Jose Coelho/EPA/EFE)

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj (72) fights with Ottawa Senators forward Mark Kastelic (47) during the first period at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec on October 4, 2022. (Photo by Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports)

Riders compete during a kok boru, also called ulak tartysh, a traditional game in which players on horseback manoeuvre with a goat's carcass and score by putting it into the opponents' goal outside Sokuluk village, 20 km (12,5 miles) west of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. (Photo by Vladimir Voronin/AP Photo)

Cast member, Iranian actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi poses during a photocall for the film “Holy Spider” at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 23, 2022. (Photo by Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

Britain's Emma Raducanu attends a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 13, 2022. (Photo by Mike Frey/AFP Photo)

Pascal Siakam #43 of the Indiana Pacers dunks against Jalen Williams #8 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the third quarter in Game Six of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 19, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)