The month of March marks two wonderful things- The start of spring and women’s history month! We take this month to celebrate the lovely ladies in our lives as well as highlight the both rocky yet tremendous history of women. Not only do we explore the past but we also delve into the future to see what we can do to further progress women’s rights, as well as help and uplift the girls and women around us! In celebration of this iconic month, we’re going to take a look at some of history’s greatest women both past and present alongside some rather mind blowing statistics…
1-Emmeline Pankhurst
Pankhurst was a trailblazer for the Women Rights movement; she organised and led the British Suffragette’s and fought for the right for women to vote. Infamously, she took a more ‘militant’ approach towards the fight for women’s rights and used tactics such as hunger strikes, protests and vandalism; although controversial, the Suffragettes actions played a pivotal role in women having the right to finally vote in 1920. Emmeline Pankhurst is thought to be one of the top 100 most important people of the 20th century and her bravery still sends shockwaves across society today.
2- Harriet Tubman
A symbol of courage, resilience and bravery is our next iconic lady Harriet Tubman. She was a nurse, cook, scout and spy during the American Civil War and fought to end slavery. Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 which lead her to be a ‘conductor’ of the Underground Railroad; this is where she helped slaves find their way to freedom. She did this several times over a ten year period helping over 300 slaves and proudly proclaiming that she “never lost a single passenger”! Now that’s some serious girl power.
3- Malala Yousafzai
Malala is a modern day female rights activist specifically for women in her country Pakistan. She fought for equal educational rights for the young girls in her country after the Taliban tried stopping girls from going to school as they believed women didn’t need to be educated; Malala spoke out and resisted which resulted in her being shot at 15 years of age! She was rushed over to the UK for surgery where she continued her education and campaigned for girls in her country. She is the youngest person to have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and she co-founded the Malala Fund to continue her fight for young women and girls educational rights.
4- Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks… Does this lady really need an introduction? Park’s refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger over 70 years ago is still one of the biggest acts of activism to this day. This action led to the infamous Montgomery Bus Boycott in which black passengers refused to board the bus for over a year; this resulted in the US Supreme Court declaring the Montgomery segregation laws on busses to be ‘unconstitutional’ which paved the way for desegregation. Parks continued to fight for civil rights until her passing in 2005 and worked with many historic great such as Martin Luther King and Edgar Nixon.
5- Marie Curie
Curie was a female scientist whom won many accolades for her ground breaking work in the scientific field. She discovered not one but TWO new elements polonium and radium, and she invented the first ever X-ray machine- but not just any X-ray machine, the new technology was portable so it could be used on the battle field in World War I for wounded soldiers! Marie Curie also championed the use of radiation in medicine which we now use in Chemotherapy and many other medical practises in the modern era.
Facts and Stats
- Less than 15% of landholders worldwide are women.
- Marie Curie and her husband were buried in a lead-lined tomb because of how radioactive their bodies were.
- 1 in 3 women around the world experience violence.
- In WWI and WWII, women who previously were housewives had to ‘take over’ (then) male jobs! Many became skilled welders, mechanics and engineers and well as working in the factories producing aircraft, bombs and even ships.
- The gender pay gap has been declining slowly over time. Over the last decade, it has fallen by approximately a quarter among both full-time employees and all employees.
