March 8th marks the celebration of women all over the world with International Women’s Day.
Since the organisation began in 1911 in Germany, Austria, Denmark and some other European countries, women around the globe have been celebrating success, making voices heard and shedding light on inequality around the world, and now more recently women’s safety.
Manchester’s list of incredible women could go on and on but here’s a few famous faces that shaped history for women all over the globe, starting right here amongst us Mancunians.
Beatrice ‘Tilly’ Shilling was one of the first females to enrol on Manchester University’s Electrical Engineering course, after completing her MSc in Electrical Engineering at Manchester, Tilly went on to invent the RAE restrictor, eliminating engine cut-out in RAF fighter planes, meaning they could keep up with the Luftwaffe. It was a crucial moment in the war effort and earned her an OBE.
Frances O’Grady was the first female General Secretary of the TUC, after joining in 1994 as Campaigns Officer. Frances had the role of leading the reorganisation of local skills projects into ‘unionlearn’ which now helps a quarter of a million workers into learning every year, leaving her footprint imprinted in history.
Famous face, Christabel Pankhurst was one of the first suffragettes, and graduated in Law from the Manchester University. She was an influential, driving force behind the suffragette movement, alongside her mother and sister, campaigning for women’s rights, encouraging women to break down the barriers to gender equality, which ultimately paved the way for universal women’s rights.
And finally, Professor Dame Sally Davies who became the first female Chief Medical Officer for England. She was appointed as the UK’s first female Chief Medical Officer in 2010, acting as the government’s principal medical adviser and the professional head of all directors of public health in local government, leading global action to fight the trend of infections becoming resistant to antibiotics.
Manchester City Council are running the ‘walk for women’ to celebrate all these successes and more! The walk will start at 12.30pm on Liverpool Road on Sunday 6th, outside the Castlefield Urban Heritage Park, it will go down Deansgate and will end outside of Manchester Cathedral. The total length of the walk is around 1.3km.
Participants are encouraged to make the most of their voices by joining in with the women-led chants and singing. Those in attendance are also encouraged to bring along fun, safe and noisy instruments, to bang and clang.
Councillor Becky Chambers, Lead Elected Member for Women, said:
“International Women’s Day is an important date marking the economic, political and social achievements of women. However, as we all know there is still inequality and women have not reached parity just yet. When we celebrate the wonderful women who have fought for us, we should also be conscious of the steps we need to take in the future to aid women and future generations.”
After the walk, the Manchester City Council International Women’s Day steering group will also be hosting a ticketed event on Saturday 12 March in Central Library. The festival (#IWDMcrFestival) features musical performances, speeches from influential and strong women in and around Manchester, dance, spoken word, community group talks and an exhibition.
For more information about the Walk for Women, to register a group to take part in the official parade or to learn more about other events taking place visit: www.manchester.gov.uk/IWD
