Today marks the centenary of women fighting for and gaining the vote in the UK. The pivotal moment in feminist history came one hundred years ago when George V gave royal assent for the representation of the people act, giving over 8 million women the right to vote. This meant women over 30 with property where allowed to vote but it would be another ten years before women could participate equally with men in democracy. The 1918 act, fought for by Millicent Fawcett and suffragette leaders and working class women, was a crucial moment for women’s rights and helped lay the foundations for political, social and economic equality.
However, a hundred years later and still women face gender inequality and prejudice, examples are evident in the Times Up and Me Too campaigns and the fight for gender pay equality and the opposition of legislation that further impede progression of women’s rights.
We at Feminist Archive North are conscious of the historical value of our archive and know that in another hundred years we will still be celebrating the phenomenal efforts of women in fighting for equality.
“The argument of the broken window pane is the most valuable argument in modern politics”. E Pankhurst
“War by all classes of our countrymen has brought us nearer together, has opened men’s eyes, and removed misunderstandings on all sides”. G.cox
