On the 24th of October, 2012, 350 women descended on the Houses of Parliament to lobby their MPs about the state of female equality today, led by Helen Pankhurst, great-grandaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, and organised by Kat Banyard, founder of UK Feminista. Read Helen Pankhurst's letter to UK Feminista supporters HERE.
While there seems to be a pervasive opinion that women have achieved equality, and should therfore 'stop moaning', it is worth remembering that we do still live in a world where employers prefer not to employ women on the basis that they might have kids, where women are outnumbered four to one in parliament, where women are paid 15% less than their male counterparts, where up to three million women and girls in the UK experience rape, domestic violence and stalking each year, where Everyday Sexism is still rife and where Page Three still exists. (Don't worry – the link takes you to a petition against page three).
These issues aren't going to go away by themselves, but require those of us with a voice, plus the time, energy and ability to petition, lobby, speak, write and march against these inequalities as often and vociferously as possible.
In her letter, Helen Pankhurst said:
“Perhaps the most inspirational part of yesterday for me was meeting women who had never met an MP before. By coming together at UK Feminista’s lobby, they gained the confidence and know-how to speak to their MP and demand action on women’s equality. Now that they have done it once, I am convinced that many will do so again.”
UK Feminista runs meetings and events throughout the year and across the country, actively providing women with the information and tools needed to change the attitude to women in this country, politically, economically and socially. You can see their upcoming events HERE. We've proudly supported them since their set up helping them to give a strong voice to some serious social issues.
We'll certainly be at the Feminist Film Festival at Hackney Picturehouse in November to see some of the six feature length films and 10 short films by women filmmakers, and about revolutionary women.
Were you at #femlobby? Did you talk to your MP? If you'd like to write about your day there for our website, please email info@funnywomen.com – we'd love to hear from you.
Read more about UK Feminista HERE and the issues which were raised at the lobby HERE.
See photos from the day of the lobby HERE.
Amelia Wells
