In 2024, we’ve seen several strong women make their marks. Some have done so willingly, while others have been forced into situations that have made them an inspiration. Here are the most inspiring women of 2024, according to us.

Gisele Pelicot

“Shame must change sides”—the most powerful statement of the year came from Gisele Pelicot, a 72-year-old woman who was drugged by her husband and raped by 50+ men over several years without her knowledge. The magnitude of the atrocities inflicted upon Gisele Pelicot by her husband, Dominique Pelicot, is unimaginable. Yet she lived them and fought for justice. She insisted that her name be revealed and the crimes be made public so that the shame of the crime can land squarely where it belongs—on the perpetrators, not the victim. Gisele Pelicot did not set out to be a feminist icon for the ages but, in a misogynist world, it’s hard to escape that tag when all you want is to be treated like a human being.

Payal Kapadia

From Cannes to the Golden Globes and more, Payal Kapadia has put India on the global cinema map like never before. The woman behind All We Imagine As Light, a film being lauded by cinema enthusiasts throughout the world, is not your regular Bollywood director. Despite the award wins, Payal Kapadia did not rest till her acclaimed film got a theatrical release in her home country, India. Even then, she ensured audiences knew about subtitles and technicalities like the right aspect ratio to enjoy the film’s experience to its fullest. And an experience it is! It is difficult to create a film like AWIAL that seems to have cynicism at its core but leaves you with a smile in the end. Payal Kapadia is a legendary artist and we can’t wait to see what she creates next.

Related: All We Imagine As Light: The Women Of This Film Are All Of Us

Paralympians of India

From historic gold medals to record-breaking performances, India’s athletes shone brightly at the 2024 Summer Paralympics. Avani Lekhara won India’s first gold medal in the 10-metre air rifle event and became the first Indian woman to win two gold medals at the Paralympics. India’s Mona Agarwal won the bronze medal in the same event. Another Paralympian to create history was Preethi Pal who won India’s first-ever track medal in athletics. She won the bronze medal in the 100-metre T35 event. She also won a bronze medal in the 200-metre T35 event. Archer Sheetal Devi became the youngest Indian Paralympian medallist, winning a bronze in the mixed-team compound event.

Vinesh Phogat

Vinesh Phogat’s journey at the 2024 Olympics was a mixed bag of emotions. Indians watched with bated breath as the gut-wrenching story of a hundred grams unfolded live. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat was set to create history as she made her way through the ranks to the top of her category. She was assured of a historic podium finish when she was disqualified for being overweight by 100 grams. While social media and newsrooms debated the rule, what her support team could have done better, and her tireless journey from protesting on the streets for women wrestlers’ safety to the Olympics, Vinesh Phogat did not let this loss defeat her. She came out smiling, went home, and prepared for her next challenge—politics.

Hina Khan

In June 2024, actor Hina Khan announced that she had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Since then, she has not held back from sharing her experience of cancer treatment and how she balances work and her medical schedule. When she lost her hair, Hina Khan shared images to normalise the phenomenon and even celebrated her last eyelash with a post. She has shared images from the hospital with details of the treatment and messages about finding joy in tough times. As she said in one of her recent posts, “Life doesn’t simply go on just by saying it does, we need to make that choice irrespective of the circumstances everyday, over and over again.”

Pooja Sharma

Not many people know this name but everyone knows the value of her services. Pooja Sharma, the founder of Bright The Soul Foundation, has performed the funeral rites for over 4,000 unclaimed bodies since 2022. But this was not always her path. Pooja Sharma’s mother died unexpectedly in 2019 while shopping for her daughter’s wedding. Soon after, her elder brother was shot dead in a tiff with local goons, sending her father into a coma. “When my brother’s body came home from the hospital, there was no male member to perform the last rites,” Pooja told Arab News. “I did the last rites of my brother, tying a turban on my head. When I went to the cremation ground to collect his ashes, I started crying inconsolably. That day I took a vow that, from now on, no dead body will go unattended to the cremation ground.”

Pooja’s in-laws broke off the engagement and her friends abandoned her but that did not deter her. She performs about eight funerals daily and is trying to raise funds and awareness of her work. Pooja was also featured on the BBC’s list of 100 inspirational women earlier this year.

You, the Indian woman

Yes, you belong on this list. Year after year, month after month, day after day, you read and hear news of brutal violence against women in India. You stay strong in the face of men calling you gold-diggers even though you work for every penny in your account or support the earners of the family with unpaid, unappreciated labour. Despite the world trying to pull you down, you keep going. You, the Indian woman, are an inspiration because you exist and thrive in the most difficult circumstances day after day, month after month, year after year.

Related: How We Put Women Down In Everyday Language: Unlearning Patriarchy