Inside History: Protest. Revolt & Reform

(Above) Christabel Pankhurst, Flora Drummond and
Emmeline Pankhurst in court, 1908 (PICRYL)
(Right) Studio portrait of Christabel Pankhurst in academic
dress in 1905 (PICRYL)
age of 30 and men over the age of 21 to vote. It would
be another 10 years until women over the age of 21
could finally vote in 1928.
The militancy of the WSPU was not entirely successful
in achieving votes for women. However, there is no
denying that Christabel’s enforcement of militant
action added a new dimension to women’s protests for
equality. The use of violence and destruction
challenged the idea of how women were expected to
behave and proved how far women were willing to
go in order to achieve what they wanted. Furthermore,
Christabel was an excellent public speaker with the
ability to confidently voice women’s issues. More
importantly, she knew how to contrive new ways of
catching the attention of the media and the British
public to raise awareness of the suffragettes and
political inequality. Christabel was a strong and
powerful woman who was not afraid to eradicate any
obstacles that were in her way, even if it meant
dismissing members of her own family. Although
Christabel’s controversial leadership tactics were not
popular with everyone, she was still an extremely
influential figure within the women’s suffrage
movement.
Olivia Richardson is a History and
History of Art graduate from the
University of York. She has a keen
interest in writing about the lives
of forgotten women in history,
with a particular focus on female
artists.
INSIDE HISTORY 29