Caroline Criado Perez

Caroline Criado Perez OBE, born in Brazil in 1984, is a British feminist author, journalist, and activist. Her early life involved living in several countries, including Spain, Portugal, Taiwan, and the UK, before attending Oundle School in Northamptonshire. After exploring a passion for opera, she transitioned to digital marketing. Criado Perez later pursued higher education as a mature student, graduating from Oxford University in 2012 with a degree in English Language and Literature. Her studies fostered an active engagement with feminism, leading to her impactful career.

Beginning in 2012, Criado Perez co-founded The Women’s Room, a website dedicated to increasing the representation of female experts in media. Her advocacy extended to a national campaign in 2013, successfully advocating for a female historical figure on British banknotes, which resulted in Jane Austen appearing on the £10 note by 2017. This campaign unfortunately led to significant online harassment, prompting Twitter to improve its complaint procedures. In 2016, she initiated a campaign for a statue of a woman in Parliament Square, culminating in the unveiling of a statue of Millicent Fawcett in April 2018, marking a significant milestone in public representation.

Criado Perez’s 2019 book, “Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men,” became a Sunday Times bestseller and has been translated into numerous languages. The book critiques systemic gender data gaps across various domains, from medical trials and technology design to urban planning. Her work highlights how data, often collected and interpreted with a male-centric bias, leads to environments and systems that inadequately serve women, affecting their safety, health, and daily lives. For her contributions, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2015 and has received multiple awards for her writing and activism.