A WIKIPEDIA edit-a-thon will take place at Glasgow Women’s Library today as hundreds of online activists from more than 20 countries edit and fill the “glaring gap” when it comes to women human rights defenders on the global encyclopaedia.

The event is Amnesty International’s first worldwide Wikipedia edit-a-thon. Organisers say BRAVE:Edit, run in collaboration with Wikimedia, Wikipedia’s non-profit organisation, will see the upload of biographies of women who have devoted their lives to fighting injustice but do not have an entry in the online archive.

Those behind the event say fewer than 20% of Wikipedia biographies feature women.

It is also the first Amnesty International edit-a-thon in Scotland. It will highlight the work of women in Scotland who defend human rights, such as the Glasgow Girls, as well as global women human rights defenders.

Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty’s Scotland programme director, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for women in Scotland, and around the world, to be recognised for their work defending human rights. We have been inspired by our #SuffragetteSpirit nominees in this country including Glasgow Girl Amal Azzudin and Aberdeen’s Kerry Wright who is making real progress tackling period poverty.”

Guadalupe Marengo, head of Amnesty’s global human rights defenders programme, said: “There are more than five-and-a-half million entries in the English language version of Wikipedia alone, on the most disparate subjects. However, fewer than 20% of biographies are dedicated to women, with few devoted to the work of human rights defenders, and even fewer to women human rights defenders.

“BRAVE:Edit hopes to fill this glaring gap. These are stories of some truly inspirational women who have overcome huge obstacles and fought entrenched discrimination in defence of human rights.”