In her own words, she felt that the feminist movement was "in a lull" at that time, and that it needed something to revitalise it.

[6] In 2020, the festival's tenth edition featured an address by Camilla (then Duchess of Cornwall).

WOW includes talks, debates, music, comedy, performances and mentoring sessions on a range of themes and topics.

As of 2019[update] these included the cities of Cambridge,[14] Liverpool, Cardiff, Leeds, New York City, Rio de Janeiro, Hargeysa (Somaliland), Alexandria, Beijing, Athens, Karachi, and Istanbul, as well as in Finland and several locations in Australia, Bangladesh and Nepal.

[17] WOW has worked with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women[18] and is a supporter of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.