Today you’ve probably benefited from something that women generations before gave time, money, their health, liberty and in some instances even their lives, for you to enjoy. From the vote, to safer working environments, reproductive rights, infant welfare and other NHS services, every day we benefit from the sacrifices they made.
Yet there are no statues, and rarely any blue plaques to many of these women. Beyond a few big names, most aren’t even in the traditional history books. These were poor women, migrant women, queer women, disabled women; young women. Alone they didn’t have the power to create change, so they worked in unions, tenants associations and other solidarity movements. Together they took on Britain's most powerful institutions, and won.
Following years of archival research and oral history interviews, we now have one of the most comprehensive retellings of how women’s rights in Britain were secured.
Even those familiar with women’s history will find rare gems inside; names they’ve never come across before, with some stories being published for the very first time. For those new to it all, this is an accessible walk through how women have shaped the last 150 years. Whatever your level of knowledge, get ready to be inspired and so you can keep fighting for gender equality today.
