Eve Ensler, 57, believes women and girls can change the world – and she's helping them to do it, one country at a time. Best known for her taboo-busting play The Vagina Monologues, which has been performed in more than 140 countries, she is also the founder of V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, which has campaigned and helped women in countries as diverse as Afghanistan and Sudan, Mexico and India.
Her latest initiative is the newly opened and rather extraordinary City of Joy in Bukavu, eastern Congo, a revolutionary community where women survivors of rape can recover from their experiences – and then learn how to be leaders. A dynamic, creative activist who has brought Jane Fonda, Oprah Winfrey, Charlize Theron and many others to her cause, and whose own integrity and commitment is plain to see, Ensler is a uniquely inspirational woman. No one can resist her when they hear her speak.