8. Women - The 51%

Campaigners on women’s issues have highlighted that there’s scant mention of the rights for women and girls in any of the political party manifestos for 2024 General Election.  They want the public to act NOW. To vote and to push newly elected MPs to go much futher than those election pledges This episode of TTWP we speak to Professor Helen Pankhurst CBE. As you will guessed by her surname – Helen is the great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, who were both leaders in the suffragette movement. She has over 30yrs experience as an activist, a writer, a scholar as well as currently being CARE International's senior advisor working in the UK and Ethiopia. In 2018 Helen convened and remains the head of Centenary Action, one of the UK’s largest coalitions of women’s rights activists and organisations  - a group of 127 organisations no less. The group is campaigning on a vast range of urgent and pressing issues, affecting over half the population of the UK – the 51% MORE READING Centenary Action: https://centenaryaction.org.uk/? Professor Helen Pankhurst:https://www.mmu.ac.uk/staff/profile/professor-helen-pankhurst #SHEVOTES24 Open Letter: https://centenaryaction.org.uk/blog/shevotes24-open-letter/ End Violence against women and girls SNAPSHOT report - Feb 2024: https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Snapshot-4.0-160224-clean-LARGE-PRINT.pdf IMKAAN: https://www.imkaan.org.uk/manifesto-addressing-systemic-inequality-and-violence-against-black-and-minoritised-women-and-girls RATES OF FEMICIDE among Black women in London - June 2024 FOI data reported: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/london-met-police-southall-black-sisters-sadiq-khan-freedom-of-information-b2552275.html Racism against female MPs: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/2024/hss/the-abuse-of-diane-abbott-by-a-top-tory-donor-should-have-us-all-thinking-about-how-we-normalise-racism-against-women-mps.html Abuse of female MPs: https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/social-media-attacks-main-challenge-facing-female-mp-candidates ElectHer campaign - a multi-partisan organisation working to motivate, support and equip women in all their diversity to stand for political office in Britain. https://www.elect-her.org.uk/