Laura Bates is a highly accomplished author and activist, best known for founding the Everyday Sexism Project, an ever-growing collection of over 100,000 testimonies of gender inequality. With branches in 25 countries worldwide, the project provides a platform for people to share their experiences of sexism and reflects the pervasiveness of gender inequality in society. Bates' work with the Everyday Sexism Project has led her to work closely with various organizations, including politicians, businesses, schools, police forces, and the Council of Europe to the United Nations, to address and combat gender inequality.
Bates' contributions to gender equality have been recognized with numerous awards and accolades. In 2015, she was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to gender equality in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. That same year, she was named a woman of the year by Cosmopolitan, Red Magazine, and The Sunday Times Magazine. Bates is also a prolific writer, contributing regularly to publications such as the Guardian, New York Times, and Telegraph. She has won several awards for her journalism, including a British Press Award in 2015.
In addition to her work with the Everyday Sexism Project, Bates is a committed activist and patron of several organizations dedicated to supporting survivors of sexual abuse and rape. She is a contributor at Women Under Siege, a New York-based project tackling rape in conflict worldwide, and patron of SARSAS, Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support. Bates has also received two honorary degrees and was awarded the Internet and Society Award by the Oxford Internet Institute alongside Sir Tim Berners Lee. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Vice President of the Hay Festival. Bates has also judged several prestigious literary awards, including the Women's Prize, the YA Book Prize, the Children's Laureate, and the RSL Giles St Aubyn awards for non-fiction.