Casual sexism, whether it is in the form of tongue-in-cheek jokes, workplace discrimination, street harassment or 'lad banter', has become part of everyday life for most women.

Awareness of the everyday nature of sexism was the catalyst of the project, which was set up three years ago today. The project has highlighted what has now become normality in our daily lives, and encourages women to speak up about their experiences of sexism.

The Everyday Sexism Project celebrates its third anniversary this week, chronicling almost 100,000 real life stories of sexism from women across the globe.

The term 'casual sexism' is more often than not dismissed as insignificant and frivolous. But these damaging comments made day-in-day-out should be taken a lot more seriously. They can be intimidating, threatening and can, in fact, lower a woman's self-esteem. Instances of verbal and online attacks, fumbling and even rape have been conversed on Everyday Sexism, but sadly, some people are still unaware of the damage caused to women as a result of these attacks.

Founder of the project Laura Bates has become a leading influence in the fourth wave of feminism since Everyday Sexism opened their doors to women in April 2012, encouraging them to share their stories. Laura says: "Since Everyday Sexism was launched, it has achieved international media coverage from the Times of India to the New York Times and has expanded into over 18 countries internationally.

Statistics say women earn 82p for every pound earned by men; one in three young females experience uninvited sexual interference at school and one in five people think it is acceptable for a man to hit his female partner if she is dressed inappropriately in a public place. Although these figures show the widespread presence of sexism as a whole, The Everyday Sexism Project have brought the statistics to reality, recording real-life stories and women's personal encounters with sexism.

The Everyday Sexism book was published last year, featuring stories from several female victims, including the old, the young and even the pregnant. The book was nominated for the Waterstones book of the year award and continues to encourage women to speak up about their experiences.

After a successful three years of managing the life-changing project, Laura says: "What started as an awareness-raising activity has become a worldwide movement for equality."

It may be something minor, offensive or something so customary that you wouldn't even consider it harmful.

But by sharing your story, you're proving to the world that sexism towards women does exist and that female victims should feel comfortable reporting it too.

The Everyday Sexism Project is living proof that we can reshape society's flaws if we stand together and share what we know. It's time for us to stand up against these casual acts of sexism and wish the project a very happy birthday as we all work towards a better future for women across the world. Today, we celebrate the work of The Everyday Sexism Project, spreading the importance gender inequality across social media with the hashtag #EverydaySexism.