Today marks the 100th anniversary of when women in the UK voted for the first time in the General Election. In order to celebrate this momentous occasion, a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst, the suffragette leader, is being unveiled in Manchester, her home town. Prior to the unveiling there will be a march in her honour from the Pankhurst Centre to St Peter’s Square, the site of the statue.
Emmeline’s daughter, Christabel Pankhurst, was the first woman to obtain a law degree at Manchester University achieving a First Class Honours in 1906 and was the only woman on her course. Christabel, along with her mother Emmeline, then campaigned for the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 to be passed to allow women, for the first time, to qualify as solicitors or barristers or become Members of Parliament or act as jurors and magistrates. This paved the way towards gender equality.
We hope to celebrate this important occasion next year at Girlings. Only by understanding our past history and the struggles for gender equality can we then inspire future generations of lawyers to continue to strive for full equality within both academia and the legal profession.