#Emilymatters – Why Young Women, Media Representation & Europe Matter

 

 

On Tuesday I attended an inspiring and insightful event organised by NAWO (National Alliance of Women’s Organisations), called ‘Young Women, Media Representation & Europe’.

 

To Read the 6 point Young Women’s Manifesto for MEPs, please click here.

 

It was great to be able to return to the House of Commons with Evgenia Makeeva, who was the Event Manager for the ‘To Freedom’s Cause’ #Emilymatters event back in February.

 

 

Panel One:

Lucy-Anne Holmes, No More Page 3.

Isabel Chapman, Peabody sponsored Oii My Size Campaign Project leader.

Ikamara Larasi & Lia Latchford, Imkaan music video campaign Reframe & Rewind.

 

 

 

Panel Two:

Caroline Criado-Perez, The Women’s Room founder & Jane Austen on Banknotes Campaign.

Paola Buonadonna, British Influence Media Director & Freelance Journalist.

Professor Ros Gill, Professor of Cultural and Social Analysis at City University London.

 

 

 

NAWO is an umbrella organisation for over 100 organisations and individuals concerned with making equality between women and men a reality, so it’s very much in keeping with #Emilymatters’ aim to support and promote all those working to achieve gender equality, including Emily Thornberry MP’s campaign for a statue of suffragette Emily Davison to be erected in Parliament and the No More Page 3 campaign. Because Emily Davison campaigned for an equal society, not just the vote.

 

 

We’ve had #Emilymatters photos from across the UK and the globe. Tweet us yours to add your support for gender equality and the Emily Davison statue campaign.

It’s a clear and simple way of showing that what Emily Davison and the women’s suffrage campaigned for is still highly relevant today. That a statue, with recognisable face(s) and/or figure(s) from the movement would be a celebration of the achievements made as well a call to action – to finish the job Emily started!

 

 

There have been a number of recent developments regarding Parliament’s artwork to represent women’s suffrage, so it’s even more important that people get behind the statue campaign.

 

 

 

It was great to see so many young women in Parliament and what a contrast they made to the white male dominated artwork in the committee room. Each speaker brought their own personal reflections on why they began campaigning and what truly matters to them.

 

 

The room fell silent when Caroline Criado-Perez spoke of the shocking social media backlash after her successful woman on a banknote campaign:

 

What these men fear is a woman’s voice. When we speak together and when we speak so loud …
they know their game is up.
– Caroline Criado-Perez

 

The overriding message that I took away from the evening was the importance of taking every opportunity to speak up and to support each other. It’s vital that everyone who cares about a fairer, more inclusive society joins the collective call for positive change.

 

A rising tide carries all boats.

 

The success of the ‘To Freedom’s Cause’ House of Commons event in February was very much down to the people in the room, who were specifically invited because they are making a difference in both the UK and overseas today.

 

It’s also an incredibly exciting time to be a feminist.
– Ros Gill

 

NAWO panellist Ros Gill echoed the comments made by Dr Helen Pankhurst (during the debate in February) when she said she felt passionately that now was “a fantastic time to be a young woman with a political space that is massive.”

 

 

I’m mindful that each wave of feminism has brought a great deal of progress towards a more equal society. However, the successive waves have been followed by years of public indifference and inaction, so there’s an urgency about seizing this moment.

 

 

There is such a strong momentum in the UK right now, from Daughters of Eve to 5050Parliament and the newly formed Go Girls Wales, who were also at the NAWO event, which makes it feel like anything is possible.

 

We’re doing well but there’s still a long way to go and as Caroline Criado-Perez so powerfully portrayed, the vicious backlash towards a number of women who have spoken out in public has dissuaded others from speaking up. Emily Davison and other members of the women’s suffrage movement also faced fierce hostility and often violence on a daily basis, because they dared to call into question the deep injustices they witnessed.

 

For more information about February’s special event, click here.

 

The anti-suffragists threw everything they could (sometimes literally) at these ‘horrid women’ who were only asking for rights that most of us still tend to take for granted in the UK today, especially the right to vote. We could learn a lot from the women of Afghanistan who turned out to vote, risking their lives.

 

 

NAWO Chair Annette Lawson reminded us that the deadline for registering to vote for the 2014 European elections is 6^th May, with polling taking place on 22^nd May. Annette spoke of the importance of campaigning and that it’s never too late to start.

 

We’re all part of the future until the day we die.
– Annette Lawson, OBE

 

Thank you again to NAWO, especially Rosie Fox (European Parliament Young Women’s Project Officer), the speakers and Stella Creasy MP for sponsoring the event.

Thanks also to everyone who added their support for #Emilymatters. It would be great to get yours. To find out how you can get involved, click on the Get involved! photo below:

 

 

#Emilymatters was created by Kate Willoughby as part of the social media campaign to promote the historic House of Commons event in February 2014.

Since the event there has been a fantastic response to the social media photos of support, which make a powerful positive statement about gender equality issues today, whether it be the statue to commemorate Emily Davison and the women’s suffrage movement in Parliament or using your democratic right to vote, #Emilymatters.

 

#Emilymatters – No Vote, No Voice

 

There’s also the new To Freedom’s Cause & Other #Emilymatters paper.li newsletter, which gives you a weekly update on all things related to the play, the Emily Davison statue campaign & gender equality.

We have come a long way since Emily Wilding Davison and her sister suffragettes first campaigned for women to have equal voting rights. However, there is still some way to go before we achieve true equality, so please lend your support to the Emily Davison Statue in Parliament campaign & other great causes, including #Emilymatters supporters No More Page 3 and 5050Parliament.

 

Kate Willoughby
Actor & Writer of Emily Wilding Davison play To Freedom’s Cause

 

 

 

Emily Davison’s legacy is for life, not just for 2013.