East Anglia has given us some visionary campaigners for justice and equality
We have a proud history of pioneering women, including social reformer Octavia Hill of Wisbech, a founder of the National Trust, and prison reformer Elizabeth Fry of Norwich, who featured on the £5 note. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson of Aldeburgh in Suffolk was Britain’s first female doctor. Her sister, Millicent Fawcett, was a campaigner for woman’s rights and access to education. The first ever statue of a woman in Parliament Square – only recently erected – is of Millicent. Hertfordshire was home to suffragist Emily Davison, who, for the cause, threw herself under the King’s horse and suffered fatal injuries. And the whole county of Essex appears to have been a hotbed of suffragists and suffragettes!
Exactly 175 years ago, in 1847, social reformer, Anne Knight of Chelmsford in Essex, produced what is thought to be the first ever leaflet promoting women’s suffrage. It stated, “Never will the nations of the earth be well governed, until both sexes, as well as all parties, are fully represented and have an influence, a voice, and a hand in the enactment and administration of the laws.”
Far-sighted stuff. It took another 71 years for some women in the UK to win the vote. A further century on and we still don’t have the kind of equal representation that Anne envisaged.
There is a way to go
Despite some progress, the success of our society is still hampered by a lack of women in government, the gender pay gap, violence against women and girls, online abuse and harassment, inadequate maternity rights and childcare, job discrimination, sexual exploitation, and the sexist attitudes of some men. It does not undermine men’s rights to enhance women’s; in fact, there is a mass of evidence that a fairer society benefits everyone. After all, one of the most equal countries in Europe – Iceland – is also that with the highest male life expectancy.
I wonder if in 25 years’ time, on the 200th anniversary of Anne Knight’s early feminist pronouncement, we will have rid ourselves of these obstacles and finally achieved equality for all.
During the coming week until International Women’s Day on 8 March, we’ll present you with articles on a variety of topics. Our knowledgeable writers look at the history of the women’s equality movement, women comedians, an Ipswich project supporting exploited women, equal political representation in the region, admirable women scientists and more. We hope for a better future for not only women, but for everyone.
