100 Women

In 2004, Kenyan Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was an environmentalist and human rights activist who founded the Green Belt Movement in the 1970s. She focused on the planting of trees, conservation, and women's rights but repeatedly clashed with the government while trying to protect Kenya's forest and parks. Witness speaks to her daughter, Wanjira Mathai.

Why is feminism still regarded by many as a word to avoid? Despite an ongoing gender pay gap, and a lack of female business leaders, why does the word continue to raise an eyebrow? Why is empowerment proving to be a great marketing tool, but feminism is not? The BBC's Katy Watson hears from the self-styled 'factual feminist' Christina Hoff Sommers on why modern feminists may have gone too far. She speaks to Ana Flores of We All Grow Latina, who explains why many US Latinas prefer to brand themselves as feminine rather than feminist. Katy also meets the campaigners behind the iconic Ms Magazine, and the co-founder of Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, Meredith Walker, who explains why young girls need better role models.

Rachida Dati is a Member of the European Parliament and a Paris mayor. One of twelve children from a devout French/Moroccan Muslim family, her rise has been remarkable. A former Minister of Justice, Rachida Dati has never been far from controversy. She's made a career of challenging the comfortable ways of the French establishment; she rails against what she considers to be French anti-Muslim discrimination and blames it, in part, for the extremism behind the French terror attacks of the last two years. She's never afraid to challenge the elitism that she says restricts the lives of the poorest. Yalda Hakim talks to Rachida Dati for the BBC's 100 Women season.

Simone Biles is being called the greatest gymnast of all time, a sporting superstar who stunned audiences at the Rio Olympics. But now, at 19, she is ready to reflect on what lies ahead and to look back at the circumstances that have shaped who she is. Adopted by her grandparents as her biological mother struggled with drink and drug addiction, Simone Biles' life story is almost as remarkable as her leaps and tumbles.

Women from rural parts of India are bucking the trend and working in jobs traditionally done by men. In Rajasthan, Divya Arya drops in at the Barefoot College to meet ‘Solar Mamas’ learning solar engineering to take electricity to their remote villages and meets a widowed railway porter who has taken on the tough job her husband used to do, the women finding a voice in local radio, and those learning the traditionally male-dominated trades of boat building, masonry, carpentry and farm management in Kerala.

Chairwoman of Santander UK, Shriti Vadera is a leading voice in British business and as shining example of what can be achieved. Born in Uganda into a land-owning family, Shriti Vadera was exiled to India at the time of Idi Amin's expulsion of all of Uganda's Asians. At the age of only five, she insisted that her family find the money to pay the school fees of her carer, who couldn't afford them herself. At 14 she went on hunger strike demanding to be sent to school in England and it is in the UK that she has stayed, building a reputation as a formidable economist, with the wit of mind and the strength of argument to persuade both the British government and the banking sector that she is someone to have inside their tent.

The working life of Denmark's Tine Bryld, a radio personality, social worker and writer recently voted the country's most important woman in a century.

In 1996, England won the inaugural Home Nations championship in women's rugby. It was a major victory in the English players' fight for official recognition for their sport. Robert Nicholson talks to Gill Burns and Nicky Ponsford about how the women's game overcame entrenched sexism and official indifference.

Alicia Keys started writing music at 15 years of age and her first album, recorded when she was only 19, won a record five Grammy awards. She talks about growing up in New York's Hell Kitchen, her determination not to be pigeon-holed as a performer or as a woman and how choosing to wear no make-up - even on stage and on camera - has left her more free to be herself. Presented by Babita Sharma.