When most things and spaces – from medical treatments and government policy, to cars, smartphones, and city streets – have been designed by men using data about men, they not only don’t work well for women; they can even put their lives at risk.

In her award-winning book, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, journalist and campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez revealed how so much of the data society collects is typically about men’s experiences, rather than women’s, creating a “gender data gap” that often has serious consequences.

Beyond exposing and filling data gaps we need organisations and activists working on the front lines of the women's movement to feel confident using data to support their calls for change, and to ensure their voices of expertise are factored into policymaking at all levels. Data, such as that revealed in the census, is meaningless unless those whom it measures have a say in how it is interpreted and can hold policy makers to account for their actions.

Gender pay gaps are narrowing at a snail's pace. For women to achieve economic independence it will take a sustained effort to measure and examine the experiences of all women. Only then can we take action that will lead to a sustained improvement.

Join the Global Institute for Women's Leadership and the Women's Budget Group to discuss how we can use census data – and data more broadly – to help transform a world built by and for men into one that works for all.

Panel

• Caroline Criado-Perez OBE, Award winning speaker, writer and campaigner, author of Invisible Women: Exposing data bias in a world designed for men

• Jennette Arnold OBE, Social Commentator, activist and former chair and member of the London Assembly

• Dr Liz Hind, Local Partnerships and training officer, Women's Budget Group

• Dr Caitlin Schmid, Research Fellow, the Global Institue for Women's Leadership at King's College London

• Stella Creasy MP , Member of Parliament for Walthamstow (chair)