OVER the past month Amnesty has worked with newspaper groups and major websites to scour the country for women who embody the continuing suffragette spirit

Today (Thursday, March 8), Amnesty International UK launches its Suffragette Spirit Map of Britain to celebrate the incredible work being carried out by women in their communities 100 years on from first winning the vote.

The huge number of nominations and the enormous range of issues being tackled by these often unsung heroes is unprecedented.

Women around the country are setting up support groups to aid refugees, tackling the issues surrounding domestic abuse through theatre, setting up initiatives to tackle bullying in schools, establishing charities to tackle period and clothing poverty, standing up for pensioners’ rights, campaigning for better facilities for disabled people.

On seeing the map, Helen Pankhurst, great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, who founded the Suffragette movement said: “As we celebrate International Women’s Day, there is no better time to launch this map and push these incredible women into the spotlight to be praised and recognised for their work.

“I imagine if the suffrage campaigners of old, including my great-grandmother Emmeline and grandmother Sylvia, could see Amnesty’s map, they would be extraordinarily moved.

“Because while together they helped set a precedent for women taking action, I doubt they would have known what their irrepressible drive and attitude would resonate 100 years later – and give visibility to women who are standing up and promoting human rights in such a varied and all-encompassing way.”

The Suffragette Spirit campaign forms part of Amnesty’s wider Brave campaign, which seeks to highlight the dangers facing human rights defenders around the world and afford them better protection. 

A CENTURY on from the suffragettes’ victory, women in Britain are still marching and channelling their determined, fighting spirit, writes Helen Pankhurst

Up and down the country women are campaigning for equality, standing up to injustice and pushing for positive change.

How do I know that? Because of my experience of campaigning for women’s rights and the research behind my recent book, ‘Deeds Not Words, The Story of Women’s Lives, Then and Now’. But also because I have now had the privilege of glimpsing Amnesty International’s Suffragette Spirit Map of Britain.

Over the past month, Amnesty and newspapers across the United Kingdom have been calling on the public to nominate the women who represent the continued will and resolve of my great-grandmother Emmeline Pankhurst and my grandmother Sylvia Pankhurst, who established the Women's Social and Political Union in Manchester in 1903. These two founding suffragettes, along with the multitudes of other disenfranchised voices that joined them in their demonstrations and marches, helped win the vote for many women in 1918.

Now Amnesty’s Suffragette Spirit campaign is shining a light on the women human rights defenders who are working to help people in their communities today - and inspiring a fairer, more equal world.

Amnesty wants to put them on an interactive map for all to see. And this week, as we celebrate International Women’s Day, there seems no better time to launch this map and push these incredible women into the spotlight to be praised and recognised for their work.

The sheer quantity of nominations and the range of issues being tackled head-on by these brave women is astonishing - there are women who have set up support groups to aid refugees, women who are tackling the issues surrounding domestic abuse through theatre, women who have set up initiatives to tackle bullying in schools, women who have set up charities to tackle period and clothing poverty, women who stand up for pensioners’ rights, women who work to provide better facilities for disabled people.

From Scotland to Wales, from Northern Ireland to England - this map reminds me that our country is filled with human rights defenders who, unhappy with the status quo, know that sometimes deeds not words are needed to make a world of difference.

I imagine if the suffrage campaigners of old, including Emmeline and Sylvia, could see Amnesty’s map, they would be extraordinarily moved. Because while together they helped set a precedent for women taking action, I doubt they would have known what their irrepressible drive and attitude would resonate 100 years later – and give visibility to women who are standing up and promoting human rights in such a varied and all-encompassing way.

I hope you too will take the time to pore over this map and feel moved, uplifted and inspired - because I certainly am.

Visit amnesty.org.uk/suffragettespirit for more information.