Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red
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Welcome to Women in Red (WiR)! We are a group of editors of all genders living around the world focused on reducing systemic bias in the wiki movement. We recognized a need for this work as, in October 2014, only 15.53% of English Wikipedia's biographies were about women.[1] Founded in July 2015, WiR strives to increase the percentage, which, according to Humaniki has reached 19.64% as of 11 September 2023. But that means that of 1,959,438 biographies, only 384,908 are about women.[2] Not impressed? "Content gender gap" is a form of systemic bias, and WiR addresses it in a positive way through shared values.
There are more than 30,000 general forum comments on our talkpage.[3] You don't have to be a member in order to participate in the conversations; just please be civil.
On Wikipedia[edit]
Our Wikipedia WikiProject focuses on creating content regarding women's biographies, women's works, and women's issues. Our editors create articles in many different language Wikipedias. The objective is to turn "redlinks" (like this one) into blue ones. That's why we are called "Women in Red".
We take an inclusive view towards subject matter, editors, and language communities:
- Editors: We do not focus on the gender of the editor. Anyone/everyone is welcome to be a member, participant, enthusiast of Women in Red. If you participate in WiR, you can join up officially using the box in the top right-hand corner of this page. You are also welcome to add our userbox template
{{User WikiProject Women in Red}}
to your user page, to produce:
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- Language communities: While Women in Red began on English Wikipedia, it is an international commitment with dozens of other language communities. Please add a link to your language's coordination page here.
- Subject matter:
- If the subject of the article self-identifies as a woman—binary and/or non-binary and/or other, that person is included within the scope of Women in Red. Historic cases where it's unknown how they self-identified also count. The goal of the project is to increase inclusion, and we'd rather not block article subjects from being included in an article creation drive.
- In addition to creating new articles, we create and maintain hundreds of lists of "missing" notable women. Some of these women have an article on some language Wikipedia, while others have no article in any Wikipedia. We call these lists, "redlists".
- Click on our Redlinks index to see our lists of missing articles by focus area, occupation and nationality. Like everything else on Wikipedia, this is incomplete, so feel free to add pertinent items to our crowd-sourced lists.
- While all redlists have redlinks, our redlists are generated in numerous ways:
- crowd-sourced (example, Crafts)
- Wikidata-generated (example, Herpetologists)
- based on a dictionary or other reference book (example, Encyclopédie Larousse)
- based on a website (example, BBC 100 Women)
- based on an international Authority Control (example, VIAF)
Wikimedia Commons[edit]

Every year, our members upload thousands of images to Wikimedia Commons: photographs of women, their signatures, their works, etc. In turn, these images can be added to Wikipedia articles. This is another way people can be involved in improving women's representation on Wikipedia. Over 10,000 new images were added in 2022.
Wikidata[edit]
We create and improve Wikidata items related to women, women's works, and women's issues.
See also[edit]
Learn more about our work, including Press and Research.
Announcements[edit]
- Please post recent announcements directly on this page for improved page editing history, watcher alerts and greater visibility
Add new announcements to the top. Sign with ~~~~. Remove old ones after a couple of months.
- New redlists: Oregon Encyclopedia, Women Writers of the American West, 1833-1927 Indiana Authors and Their Books, Database of Classical Scholars, Women of Achievement in Maryland History, Alabama Authors, Notable Women of Pennsylvania, Notable Black American Women, A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography
- Video recording of The Adrianne Wadewitz Panel at the WOW2022 Conference, featuring Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight, Annie Reynolds, Caddie Brain and Caroline Phillips. Oronsay (talk) 22:50, 21 December 2022 (UTC)
- The streamed WOW2022 Conference on "Diversity, Diasporas and Digitality, The Worlds of Wikimedia and Beyond", Sydney, Australia, 17-18 November 2022 features a panel discussion with Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight, Annie Reynolds, Caddie Brain and Caroline Phillips as well as a presentation by Jess Wade.--Ipigott (talk) 10:39, 8 November 2022 (UTC)
- Jess Wade's presentation may be viewed on the WOW2022 Conference page.Oronsay (talk) 22:51, 21 December 2022 (UTC)
Events[edit]
- This section is a transcluded subpage, and may contain more information than is shown here. To view or edit, go to /Events (watch this section).
Continuing global coverage
- In addition to our monthly editathons, you can cover women in any sphere of interest by taking part in the 2023 version of our #1day1woman initiative.
Year-long initiatives
- 2023 global initiative: Peace and Diplomacy
- #1day1woman 2023
Happening now
- September 2023: Alphabet run E & F
- September 2023: Women writers & their works
- September 2023: Geofocus: Celtic nations
Recently completed
- August 2023: Alphabet run C & D
- August 2023: Indigenous women
- August 2023: Women in film and stage
- August 2023: Geofocus: Arab League countries
Lists of red links[edit]
WiR works by filling in missing articles based on extensive lists of needed topics. The index to our wide range of topics and nationalities can be found at the Redlist index. Please make these red links blue. Notable women without a Wikipedia biography can be added to any crowd-sourced redlists they match; and added to wikidata such that they're included in wikidata-derived redlists. We also have a guide to adding names to redlists, and to creating new redlists.
Article alerts[edit]
- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Women for articles about women that are nominated for deletion.
- This section is a transcluded subpage, and may contain more information than is shown here. To view or edit, go to /Article alerts (watch this section).
- Note: This report is based on the {{WIR}} banners of WikiProject Women in Red. If an article isn't listed here, first verify that it has one of those banners. If it has another women-related banner, like {{WikiProject Women}}, {{WikiProject Women's History}} or {{WikiProject Women scientists}}, look on those projects' article alert pages instead.
Did you know
- 18 Sep 2023 – Nunuk Nuraini (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Awkwafaba (t · c); see discussion
- 16 Sep 2023 – Vera Curtis (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by 4meter4 (t · c); see discussion
- 14 Sep 2023 – Julia Marden (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by ForsythiaJo (t · c); see discussion
- 04 Sep 2023 – Elizabeth James-Perry (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Miraclepine (t · c); see discussion
- 03 Sep 2023 – Louise Franklin (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Silver seren (t · c); see discussion
- 02 Sep 2023 – Priya Venkatesan (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Suntooooth (t · c); see discussion
- 29 Aug 2023 – Olga Onuch (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Victuallers (t · c); see discussion
- 29 Aug 2023 – Emeliana Aiza (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Krisgabwoosh (t · c); see discussion
- 25 Aug 2023 – Christina Rosendahl (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Miraclepine (t · c); see discussion
Articles for deletion
- 20 Sep 2023 – Lesley Harris (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Zoglophie (t · c); see discussion (0 participants)
- 20 Sep 2023 – Sophie Nyweide (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by UtherSRG (t · c); see discussion (2 participants)
- 20 Sep 2023 – Ayesha Erotica (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by DSP2092 (t · c); see discussion (1 participant)
- 19 Sep 2023 – Efthalia Siakalli (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by JTtheOG (t · c); see discussion (1 participant)
- 19 Sep 2023 – Wendy Maree Wilkins (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Premeditated Chaos (t · c); see discussion (1 participant)
- 19 Sep 2023 – Leila Fletcher (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by 4meter4 (t · c); see discussion (3 participants)
- 19 Sep 2023 – Natalie White (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Alexandermcnabb (t · c); see discussion (6 participants)
- 19 Sep 2023 – Jessie Baetz (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by 4meter4 (t · c); see discussion (4 participants)
- 19 Sep 2023 – Athena Massey (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Wikishovel (t · c); see discussion (4 participants)
- 19 Sep 2023 – Nuzha Al-Ghussein (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Seawolf35 (t · c); see discussion (2 participants)
- (86 more...)
Proposed deletions
- 17 Sep 2023 – Natalie White (talk · edit · hist) PRODed by Ortizesp (t · c) was deproded by Thilsebatti (t · c) on 19 Sep 2023
- 13 Sep 2023 – Wendy Maree Wilkins (talk · edit · hist) PRODed by Premeditated Chaos (t · c) was deproded by Ricktheelectric (t · c) (author) on 19 Sep 2023
Files for discussion
- 10 Sep 2023 – File:Lillian Gunter's Notebook 1.jpg (talk · edit · hist) (on 1, 2) was FfDed by Explicit (t · c); see discussion
Featured article candidates
- 06 Aug 2023 – Angel Reese (talk · edit · hist) was FA nominated by Sportzeditz (t · c); see discussion
Good article nominees
- 23 Aug 2023 – Eileen Niedfield (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Fortunaa (t · c); start discussion
- 12 Aug 2023 – Ninfa Huarachi (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Krisgabwoosh (t · c); start discussion
- 03 Aug 2023 – Kim Janey (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by SecretName101 (t · c); see discussion
- 02 Aug 2023 – Julia Figueredo (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Krisgabwoosh (t · c); start discussion
- 18 Jul 2023 – Martha Poma (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Krisgabwoosh (t · c); start discussion
- 10 Apr 2023 – Carmen Rodríguez (politician) (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Krisgabwoosh (t · c); see discussion
Articles for creation
Declined drafts[edit]
Thanks firstly to Ronhjones, and now to Galobtter, we have a bot showing declined drafts submitted to AfC. Weekly updates highlight those most recently listed under New Additions. With a little bit of attention, some of them could well be moved to mainspace, encouraging the editors who created them to progress on Wikipedia.
Resources and research[edit]
WiR maintains resources to help you contribute, including lists of topical books and external links, information on editing in general, and contacts you can reach out to for specific needs. They can be found at Resources.
Academic research on Wikipedia's content gender gap is also documented at Research.
Metrics[edit]
- This section is a transcluded subpage, containing more information than is shown here. To view detailed month-by-month results or to edit, go to Metrics.
The articles created for any month, including the current month, can be displayed by clicking on one of the months in the archive box.
We track the articles we create each month. Reports bot updates these lists automatically, but you can manually add and annotate entries. The bot will remove non-existent pages. More details about the bot. Our metrics talkpage is here: Metrics talkpage
The evolving list for this month (see Archives box) is created by the bot which lists new women's biographies on the basis of their female gender on Wikidata. At present, the bot does not list women's works, associations or related articles but you are encouraged to add these to the list manually. A WiR Wikidata page provides information on how you can help ensure WiR metrics are up-to-date.
The graph shows the number of articles created each month. The apparent decrease for the current month reflects the number of articles created up to today's date. Only data on completed months indicate overall progress.
For personal metrics on how many articles you've created about women, see this tool.
If you want to measure gender diversity in a given Wikipedia article, use this tool.
Totals at a glance[edit]
Year | Portion if applicable |
Total | Daily average |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | 18 Jul - 31 Dec | 11,711 | 70 |
2016 | 28,399 | 77 | |
2017 | 28,271 | 77 | |
2018 | 27,323 | 75 | |
2019 | 27,207 | 75 | |
2020 | 30,119 | 82 | |
2021 | 26,780 | 73 | |
2022 | 18,893 | 52 | |
2023 | 1 Jan - 31 Jul | 10,257 | 48 |
Grand total | 212,596 |
(Updated: Rosiestep (talk) 19:45, 2 August 2023 (UTC)
Further background on metrics[edit]
As a result of figures presented by Humaniki, we keep posting on the main Women in Red page the percentage of women's biographies on the English version of Wikipedia. Increases are steady but marginal: for example from July 2022 to July 2023, the percentage has risen from around 19.3% to around 19.6%.
Thanks to an analysis presented by Andrew Gray on the WIR talk page, it certainly looks as if the number of men and women involved in sports has a significant influence on the statistics for women. A detailed account of Gray's work is presented in "Gender and BLPs on Wikipedia, redux", which he published on 2 August 2023.
The two lists below show that biographies of living people (BLPs) born in recent years are approximately 50% female if data on all categories of athletes are excluded. By contrast, the equivalent overall figures (including athletes) are only around 25%. As a result, biographies of very large numbers of male sportspeople seem to be responsible for the huge difference. Andrew Gray's detailed lists below document how figures for BLPs by year of birth have evolved over the years:
Overall development of BLPs since the 1920s for all biographies
- Missing birth year BLPs - 150,574, of which 53,355 female - 35.4%
- 1920s birth BLPs - 5,096, of which 1,325 female - 26.0%
- 1930s birth BLPs - 39,055, of which 7,086 female - 18.1%
- 1940s birth BLPs - 95,602, of which 18,495 female - 19.3%
- 1950s birth BLPs - 128,518, of which 27,172 female - 21.1%
- 1960s birth BLPs - 145,300, of which 33,390 female - 23.0%
- 1970s birth BLPs - 150,539, of which 37,893 female - 25.2%
- 1980s birth BLPs - 171,072, of which 42,880 female - 25.1%
- 1990s birth BLPs - 150,880, of which 36,944 female - 24.5%
- 2000s birth BLPs - 30,042, of which 7,542 female - 25.1%
Development of BLPs since the 1920s for biographies excluding athletes
If we discount all athletes using the infobox method, the results are:
- Missing birth year BLPs - 140,177, of which 51,021 female - 36.4%
- 1920s birth BLPs - 4,321, of which 1,228 female - 28.4%
- 1930s birth BLPs - 28,978, of which 6,161 female - 21.2%
- 1940s birth BLPs - 73,095, of which 16,566 female - 22.7%
- 1950s birth BLPs - 95,893, of which 23,644 female - 24.7%
- 1960s birth BLPs - 96,175, of which 26,632 female - 27.8%
- 1970s birth BLPs - 81,682, of which 27,562 female - 33.7%
- 1980s birth BLPs - 58,078, of which 24,816 female - 42.7%
- 1990s birth BLPs - 23,281, of which 11,754 female - 50.5%
- 2000s birth BLPs - 2,850, of which 1,539 female - 54.0%
![]() | Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. |
Showcase[edit]
WiR is amazing and has way too much to showcase here. Please see Showcase for our recent and past achievements.
Recent Did You Know? blurbs[edit]
These are the 20 most recent WP:DYK entries for WiR. Updated approximately weekly by User:JL-Bot.
- ... that actress Diana Ingro (pictured) was known as the "Argentine Katharine Hepburn" due to her blonde hair? (2023-09-13)
- ... that advice columnist Nancy Brown crowdfunded the reforestation of a clearcut during the Great Depression? (2023-09-11)
- ... that in 2023 the IFLA named the Biblioteca Gabriel García Márquez the "best new public library in the world"? (2023-09-09)
- ... that Quechua senator Carmen García helped pass reforms to education in Bolivia that incorporated indigenous and traditional knowledge? (2023-09-06)
- ... that Regina Purtell took such great care of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders that the press called her the Florence Nightingale of the Spanish–American War? (2023-09-03)
- ... that Patricia Mancilla pushed to have restrictions on abortion in Bolivia expunged from the legal code – even after leaders in her own party came out against it? (2023-09-03)
- ... that former New Jersey first lady Lucinda Florio restored the Italianate gardens at Drumthwacket? (2023-08-30)
- ... that goalkeeper Daniela Solera had the most touches of any Costa Ricanv player in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup, saving all but two of Spain's 46 shots? (2023-08-30)
- ... that Ashiq Peri was the first prominent female folk poet in Azerbaijan? (2023-08-30)
- ... that Thelma Bates's colleagues tried to discourage her from establishing the first palliative care team at a British hospital, saying it would ruin her career? (2023-08-28)
- ... that Gustav Klimt did not finish painting Johanna Staude's mouth in her portrait (pictured)? (2023-08-25)
- ... that Pany Yathotou is the first woman vice president of Laos? (2023-08-24)
- ... that Yokcushlu (pictured) was taken hostage on HMS Beagle and named after a basket? (2023-08-23)
- ... that Sue Marx won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film for Young at Heart, about a romance between two octogenarians? (2023-08-23)
- ... that Bonnie Elliott devised the concept for a campaign to promote female representation in cinematography? (2023-08-20)
- ... that in between snowboarding runs at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Jenise Spiteri ate a bao that she forgot was in her pocket? (2023-08-19)
- ... that footballer Kameron Simmonds, who plays for Jamaica, only took up the sport after a gymnastics injury? (2023-08-18)
- ... that before Emine Arslan became a world kickboxing champion she was a child worker who smoked two packets of cigarettes a day? (2023-08-16)
- ... that Wu Xiaoyan, persecuted because of her adoptive father Wu Han, committed suicide 13 days before the end of the Cultural Revolution? (2023-08-15)
- ... that historian Anne Balay wrote two books on oral histories from LGBT steelworkers and truck drivers? (2023-08-15)
Transcluding 20 of 2579 total
Press[edit]
There has been considerable press coverage of WiR. Below are some recent articles. To add articles to the list, visit Press.
- "Some Things I Like About the Expanding Wikipedia Universe", by Hilda Bastian, Absolutely Maybe (PLOS) blog, 2 August 2023
- "Bestselling author Kate Mosse urges budding historians and writers to add more biographies of women to Wikipedia", by Fiona Parker, Daily Mail, 3 July 2023
- "The British physicist making women scientists visible online", article about Jess Wade by Anna Cuenca, Phys Org, 20 April 2023
- "Social Scientists Can’t Ignore the Power of Wikipedia—or Its Systemic Biases", by Mariah John-Leighton and Hannah Jane Pearson, London School of Economics and Political Science, 6 April 2023
- "Wheres Russo?" Sky Sports profile Lewes FC including Women in Red Barnstar winner James Boyes 31 March 2023
- "Closing Wikipedia’s Gender Gap, One Edit at a Time", by Sara Norberg, Tufts Now, 27 March 2023
- Nature asks 6 to comment on their plans for International Women's Day including Jess Wade.
- "Majority of Wikipedia editors are still men - so how is the online encyclopaedia addressing the issue?", Evening Standard, 8 March 2023.
- "Lewes FC is delighted that our own volunteer club photographer James Boyes has received a ‘Barnstar’ award from Women in Red, and is indeed the only person to receive one in 2022."
Academia[edit]
In addition to listings under Research, academic papers on gender bias in Wikipedia (as recorded in Wikidata) are listed in Scholia.
To include a paper, create an item about it on Wikidata (check first to avoid duplicates) and give it main subject (P921) = gender bias on Wikipedia (Q17002416).
References[edit]
- ^ Graells-Garrido, Eduardo; Lalmas, Mounia; Menczer, Filippo (2015). "First Women, Second Sex: Gender Bias in Wikipedia". Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Hypertext & Social Media - HT '15: 165–174. arXiv:1502.02341. doi:10.1145/2700171.2791036. S2CID 1082360.
- ^ "Humaniki".
- ^ "Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Women in Red • en.wikipedia.org". XTools.
External links[edit]

- Women in Red on Twitter
- Interest in women's history began much earlier than is assumed, Phys Org, August 25, 2015
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