Funny Women Stand Up for charity on International Women’s Day

This International Women’s Day, Saturday March 8, female comedians will be standing up for women around the world at the Mermaid Theatre in London.

The Funny Women Stand Up, in aid of international development charity, ActionAid and V-Day Until the Violence Stops, will see Jo Brand, one of Britain’s funniest women, Jo Caulfield, from BBC Radio 4, Rhona Cameron and many more take to the stage in celebration of women everywhere.

Funny Women Stand Up, now in its fifth year, will provide an evening of fun and frivolity for a serious cause.Women around the world are more likely to live in poverty, simply because they are women. Because of their unequal position in society, they have less power, money, protection from violence, and access to education and health. Despite these injustices, women around the world are standing up to claim their rights and to fight poverty.

ActionAid supporter, Jo Brand said: “Throughout the world women and girls suffer the most and make up the poorest of the poor. For this reason ActionAid has women’s rights at the heart of all its work in fighting poverty.

"ActionAid’s experience of working with women across the globe demonstrates that no matter how terrible their circumstances, most women possess the universal talent to just get on with it. International Women's Day and Funny Women Stand Up gives us the opportunity to offer our support."

ActionAid helps women in the developing world claim their rights and campaign for change. The charity works to protect, empower and inspire women and girls to achieve their full potential. V-Day: Until the Violence Stops, campaigns to end violence against women as well as supporting key charities such as Women’s Aid and Refuge.

Laura Turquet of ActionAid said: “World governments are failing in their promises to tackle poverty and hunger, because they are not addressing the discrimination that women and girls face. ActionAid is calling on the UK government to put women’s rights at the forefront of the fight against poverty.”