Feminist activist and campaigner Gloria Steinem dies aged 92

Groundbreaking American feminist campaigner and journalist Gloria Steinem has died aged 92.

Her foundation announced on Instagram that she "passed away peacefully" at her home in New York City yesterday "surrounded by many who loved her".

“Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end,” it continued. “Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard. Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves.”

Steinem, a rigorous journalist, public speaker and activist, co-founded the Women's Action Alliance, a group dedicated to fighting sexism, over 50 years ago.

Starting her journalistic career in New York, she became the co-founder and consulting editor of Ms. Magazine, one of the first publications to focus on women’s issues and champion the feminist movement.

Thoughout her life, she penned nine books and campaigned for women’s civil and reproductive rights, Black Lives Matter, the reunification of Korea, LGBTQ rights and the Times Up movement, and worked against domestic violence, female genital mutilation, the pornography industry and the Vietnam and Gulf wars.

The 2020 film The Gloria, directed by Julie Taymor, depicts Steinem's life across the years, based on her 2015 autobiography My Life on the Road.

She also founded the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971 with former US Representatives Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm and writer Betty Friedan, and created the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Women's Media Center, Voters for Choice, and the Ms. Foundation for Women, among others.

Steinem was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2013.