International Women’s Day arose from women’s demand for universal suffrage in Britain, following a campaign of political organisation and direct action. Women gained the right to vote in 1928 as a result of these efforts.
The statue of Millicent Fawcett stands in Parliament Square in London, with the names of 58 women notable for their contribution to the emancipation movement inscribed on its plinth. Amongst them are the names of Emily Wilding Davison and Queen Victoria’s goddaughter, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh. These two women from very different backgrounds were united in their fight for equality, and both were prepared to take direct action in order to further their aims.
Emily Davison and Sophia Duleep Singh
Princess Sophia and Emily were prominent members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)- an organisation that brought together those who thought that militant, confrontational tactics were needed to achieve their goal of women’s suffrage. Described by the press as ‘suffragettes’ for their militancy, their motto was ‘deeds not words’.
Princess Sophia refused to pay taxes, arguing she would not contribute to a government that refused her the vote, and she was also one of the 1911 Census boycotters. She spoiled her census, instead giving the response, ‘no vote, no census as women do not count, they refuse to be counted’. But Sophia did not stop there; she was involved in confrontations with authorities, including an incident where she threw herself in front of Prime Minister Asquith’s car and unfurled a banner stating, ‘Give women the vote’.
Treatment of protestors
On 18 November 1910, a WSPU delegation of around 300 women tried to present Prime Minister Asquith with a petition. They were physically and sexually assaulted by the police in a brutal attack that lasted for six hours. Sophia, wearing a ‘votes for women’ badge, was right at the front confronting the police and was arrested for taking part in violent protests. This day, coined ‘Black Friday’, marked a change in WSPU strategy to more dangerous, covert tactics, such as breaking windows and other property damage.
Emily was not one of the 122 arrested but was incensed by the treatment of the protestors and the following day she broke several windows in the crown office in parliament. Between 1909 and 1912, Emily was arrested numerous times for breaking windows, setting fire to post boxes, throwing stones and planting bombs. She even hid in Westminster Palace many times to interrupt debates and votes. She was arrested on nine occasions, including for ‘assaulting the police in the execution of their duty’. She went on hunger strike seven times and was force-fed on 49 occasions. Her final act of resistance was to fling herself in front of the King’s horse at the Epsom Derby in 1913 to pin the Suffragette flag on him. She died and caused injury to the horse and to the jockey.
One action involved hundreds of smartly dressed suffragettes, at an appointed time smashing and destroying the shop frontage along Oxford Street and Bond Street. In our collective memory, the suffragettes conjure an image of refined Edwardian ladies wearing pompous hats, corsets and copious long dresses. Whether we agree with their actions or not, the truth is that those women caused damage to property in a sustained political campaign.
Palestine Action – how is it treated differently to the Suffragette movement?
In August 2025, for the first time since the Terrorism Act 2000 (TA) became law, it was used to arrest peaceful protestors who were armed only with a felt-tipped pen and a piece of paper. Men and women with an average age of about 54 sat in Parliament Square, under the watchful eye of Millicent Fawcett’s statue and wrote seven words the government decided could not be written or spoken in public:
“I oppose Genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
To date, the government has arrested 2,700 British citizens and charged hundreds of them. Most have been arrested under Section 13 of the TA and some, if they were organising the ‘sit’ were charged under Section 12, the maximum penalty for which is 14 years imprisonment.
Legislation to charge activists who broke into factories and caused damage to military equipment with criminal damage already existed and had been used effectively. However, that legislation did not deter people from supporting Palestine. To do that, the government proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation and used The Terrorism Act for its ‘chilling effect’ in order to stop legitimate protest. After proscription, people were confused and feared their support for Palestine might risk arrest for terrorism, with significantly greater repercussions.
In July 2025, 274 female MPs were photographed in Westminster Hall to celebrate 97 years of equal suffrage. In the same month, most of them voted to proscribe Palestine Action a terrorist organisation. Can these MPs imagine the course of history, if the government of the day had not only arrested Emily and Princess Sophia for causing criminal damage to property but sought also to proscribe the WSPU – to stop anyone supporting women’s right to vote? The suffragettes must have been turning in their graves at the sight of so many female MPs wearing their green, lilac and white sashes to commemorate them.
International women’s day on 8 March 2026 marks its 115th anniversary, but to honestly honour our Suffragettes we must not rewrite their history
Footnote
In February 2026 the High Court decided that the proscription of PA was unlawful . This means the arrests of the 2700 ‘sitters’ were unlawful. They remain in limbo however because Home Secretary Shahbana Mahmood is appealing, and in the interim the arrests have not been quashed.
All but one of The Filton 24 were released on bail on 19 February 2026 having spent up to 17 months on remand without conviction. All the defendants have now been found not guilty of the most serious charge of aggravated burglary. The government is requiring a retrial following hung juries on certain charges.
