Helen Pankhurst
The fight for women in Greater Manchester has only just begun
Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter of the suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and the granddaughter of activist Sylvia Pankhurst, is continuing the family's fight for equality for women, while striving to change the lives of the women in Greater Manchester through her new initiative, GM4Women2028.
The initiative, which was started in 2018, is committed to achieving equality for women in Greater Manchester by 2028 – the centenary of equal franchise.
“GM4Women2028 is to hold Greater Manchester to account on key indicators. We have ten indicators, two on education, two on participation, two on culture, two on employment and two on safety,” says Helen.
Each year there is a review of the key indicators, using the Pankhurst-Fawcett scorecard. The scorecard, which is named after the first leaders of the women’s suffrage campaign, Emmeline Pankhurst and Millicent Fawcett, will be used to show gender equality data from a specific year and compare it to the previous years.
The 2019 Pankhurst-Facwett Scorecard
The 2019 Pankhurst-Facwett Scorecard
The gender equality data from 2019, in comparison to 2018, shows that several figures recorded for the indicators had declined, albeit marginally, several remained the same and only a few recorded positive change.
“There are two aspects to the initiative,” says Helen. “One is having these 10 indicators and saying every year, ‘Look this is where we are going’ and showing that it’s not necessarily getting better, that some issues are getting better or that the data is poor.
“The other part of the initiative, which we are only just beginning, is to ask people to pledge for what they can do.
“We want people to think about what they are doing in their own lives and see what they can do to make a change, to make a difference.”
Helen is aware that positive change won't come about straight away, and that feminism takes time to culminate, but her hopes are that if people are making pledges and actively trying to make a difference, then by holding those in authority to account with the scorecards, they will hopefully be able to create some awareness around the initiative and get their voices heard.
People of all ages are getting involved, many of whom have pledged to be more ‘woke’ around the topic of feminism and be aware of the language they use by not perpetuating sexist language without thinking about it first.
“Feminism is still powerful. It names the fact that women, in terms of their experiences as a gender and in terms of their experience as a biological entity, is one of not being on an equal level field,” says Helen.
Helen Pankhurst on what feminism means and how far we still have to go to achieve equality.
"Feminism is still powerful"
Helen Pankhurst
Helen Pankhurst
Helen Pankhurst
Helen Pankhurst
Helen was born and grew up in Ethiopia. As a young girl, she was aware of the visibility of her surname, but not due to its involvement with feminism.
Sylvia Pankhurst, Helen’s grandmother had been heavily involved in campaigning against Mussolini and the Italian occupation of Ethiopia. Sylvia was seen as a freedom fighter and the Pankhurst surname had been associated with a sense of Ethiopian cultural appreciation against the powers of a colonial country.
It wasn’t until Helen came to the United Kingdom during her summer holidays though, did she realise the importance of the link between women’s suffrage and her Pankhurst surname.
“Adults used to ask me if I was related, and I would think they were talking about Ethiopia and I would go off about that and then one of them would stop me and say, ‘No, but are you related to one of the suffragettes?’” says Helen.
Helen gradually became more interested in her heritage and feminism despite all its complexity and major family schisms and after moving to live in the UK, the surname which she had grown up with started to have more and more significance.
“My heart, you know, my personal experiences, were very much linked to Ethiopia and when I came to live here at the age of twelve, and understood this surname has resonance in the UK, well I have had one foot in both worlds ever since,” explains Helen.
Helen continues to work both in the UK and Ethiopia, inevitably focusing on the importance of global feminism.
“The more I realise I have a voice and experiences and the ability to do something about it, the more it really does shape what I do and who I am," says Helen.
Helen Pankhurst on keeping the Pankhurst Surname.
"I would have less of a voice than I do because of the surname, and even if I was not related I’m hoping that I would carry many of the values that I still carry.”
'Bra-burners', 'man-haters' and 'lesbians' are some of the more common words which should have been left in the late 1900s, nonetheless, they are words which are still quite prevelant today.
Being a feminist has never been easy, the history books tell us so. From being awarded the right to vote, to claiming a position in the world whereby women can have sexual rights and access to equal pay, the struggle is never-ending.
"I think some of the worst patterns of this division between men and women starts happens once people start having kids," explains Helen.
"Look at, for example, pay gap issues, the gap is not really there now in terms of the younger generation, it starts happening once people have kids.
"As soon as you go there, that’s when inequality starts to happen, the women stay at home, they earn less, they are considered less important in political spaces, in leadership and then the ‘there, there, just stay at home and look after the kids’ kind of attitude reasserts itself."
Feminism is constantly being met with hate and contempt, despite there having been a rise in popularity for it throughout the years.
Helen says, “It’s really bizarre but there’s something about that Pankhurst surname which protects me from hate”.
With Manchester being home to the Suffrage movement, the people of Manchester tend to house a soft spot for the Pankhurst surname.
As soon as people find out Helen is a Pankhurst, the tides change and people are instantly in awe and turn to their best behaviour, often converting then and there into fully fledged feminists themselves.
“There’s less hate in Manchester, because Manchester owns the Pankhurst name and it’s taken it on and there’s a love affair going on,” says Helen.
“It’s a big part of their history.”
Helen Pankhurst on receiving hate from being a feminist.
Helen continues to fight for her beliefs and the beliefs which, for generations, have been passed down to her.
Helen adds, “I think we get rid of it [feminism] once we have equality, until we have equality, until from a gender point of view and a biological point of view, women are treated equally, then feminism still has a massive role.”
For more information on the GM4Women2028 initiative and how to become a part of it, or make your own pledge, please visit www.gm4women2028.org .
St. Peters Square, Manchester - location of the Emmeline Pankhurst Statue.
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