BBC News School Report @ LCS
100 years since women's suffering ended
By: Jasmine
This year marks 100 years since women got the right to vote in the UK. For years women struggled and protested for this goal but it wasn’t achieved until 1918. Many people attributed this victory to the suffragettes who fought between 1905 and 1918. One key member of the suffragettes who died for her beliefs was Emily Davison.
Emily Davison was a brave and iconic lady for the Suffragettes group. She got arrested many times for her actions, and while in prison she went on hunger strikes and actually had to be force fed. But what she is most famous for are the events in 1912 when Davison travelled to Epsom Downs to watch the Derby. She had two suffrage flags, one in her hand and one around her body. She patiently waited as the horses streamed past and grabbed the King’s horse, waving her flag in pride. She let go of the horse to grab other’s attention but unfortunately she didn’t see another horse running towards her and she was trampled. She passed away, but this didn’t go unnoticed and many women wore white, purple sashes and laurel wreaths in honour of Emily. Even after this tragic event, women still didn’t get the vote for another six years, in 1918.
Even though some women did gain the right to vote, it was only women over 30. It wasn’t until 1928 when all women over 18 got the vote.
In the 10 years still leading to this, many women were still fighting for their rights. The Suffragettes fought back for what they wanted. They did some very cautious and serious acts like burning down churches, breaking/vandalising Oxford Street, chaining themselves to Buckingham Palace’s gates, shouting at politicians and many more dangerous things. The start of the first decade of the twentieth century was a violent time for the suffragettes.
Eventually the suffragettes got what they were striving for and many still look up to them as role models. Much has happened since the early 1900’s but women still do not have full equality, especially in regards to equal pay. The fight still continues today for all women all around the world.