In 2016, feminist campaigner and journalist, Caroline Criado Perez went for a run on International Women’s Day. While moving through the statues in London's Parliament Square, she realised that they were all of men. Cut to April 24, 2018, Parliament Square got its first woman statue, of Millicent Fawcett. British Prime Minister Theresa May, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were also present to celebrate and honour the historic move, reported BBC. It is also Parliament Square's first statue designed by a woman artist Gillian Wearing.
“Women are still woefully underrepresented, but we are making one hell of a start in changing that.” - Perez, at the unveiling.
Millicent Fawcett - Campaigner for women's rights
Born in 1847, Millicent Fawcett campaigned for women's right to vote. Her suffrage movement used non-violent methods to campaign for equal rights for women.
In 1866, Fawcett, then 19, collected signatures for the first petition. The petition demanded female suffrage to be handed in to Parliament. In 1928, up from Ladies' Gallery in the House of Lords, she watched the Equal Franchise Bill being passed.
She died a year later in 1929.
Why is Millicent Fawcett getting her own statue in Parliament Square? https://t.co/e6fNQd9ezH pic.twitter.com/y09ruvrxIT
— BBC Newsround (@BBCNewsround) April 24, 2018
"I would not be here today as Prime Minister, no female MPs would have taken their seats in Parliament, none of us would have had the rights and protections we now enjoy, were it not for one truly great woman, Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett." - British Prime Minister Theresa May
Mayor, Sadiq Khan had made the erection of a statue of a woman a priority in his first weeks in office. He said that it is important to fix the imbalance and make sure more women are represented in public spaces. Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader, said the statue was a great first step and that a lot more has to be done.
The square features 11 men, including Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. The 8 feet 4 inches bronze statue of Fawcett brought a halt to the "all male" representation.
How Caroline Criado Perez put a suffragist in Parliament Square
YESSSSSSSS @CCriadoPerez! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/4pZ9EFQDUF
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) April 24, 2018
This historic day was a result of a two-year campaign by Caroline Criado Perez, and a petition that collected almost 85,000 names. At the unveiling, Perez told the media she also remained determined to see that the statue's plinth also bore names and pictures of dozens of women and some men who contributed to the suffrage movement.
Perez's previous campaign was to have a woman on British bank notes. It resulted in the Bank of England agreeing to picture Jane Austen on every £10 by 2017.
"The first statue to acknowledge that change doesn't come from one man alone. The first statue to acknowledge that while movements may need leaders, those leaders are nothing without the people who fight alongside them." - Caroline Criado Perez
Finally we have a woman amongst the statues of parliament square, suffrage hero #MillicentFawcett ✊✊✊
— Change.org UK (@UKChange) April 24, 2018
Thanks to Caroline and the 85,000 of you who signed her petition - you made this happen!@CCriadoPerez @fawcettsociety #BehindEveryGreatCity #peoplepower pic.twitter.com/7M2sKPv1LA
Here are some tweets celebrating the unveiling of the statue:
I would not be here today as PM, no female MPs would have taken their seats in Parliament, none of us would have the rights and protections we now enjoy, were it not for Millicent Fawcett. It is an honour to be unveiling her statue in Parliament Square later today. pic.twitter.com/BvmfhvaElS
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) April 24, 2018
We’re proud to unveil the statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett here in Parliament Square. Her legacy as a champion of women’s suffrage 100 years ago is an important reminder of the work that still needs to be done to achieve true gender equality. #BehindEveryGreatCity pic.twitter.com/Kae7C2gRqv
— Mayor of London (gov.uk/coronavirus) (@MayorofLondon) April 24, 2018
100 years since some women were given the right to vote, Millicent Fawcett becomes first woman with a statue in Parliament Square in #London, just down road from @DFID_UK. Here’s to recognising courageous women in UK & around world for all that they do. pic.twitter.com/Uc4F5AUqno
— Matthew Rycroft (@MatthewRycroft1) April 24, 2018
Today is such a great day - new statue in Parliament Sq of Millicent Fawcett. Made by a woman. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/CR1ntwx9LY
— Georgia Toffolo (@ToffTalks) April 24, 2018
Bhawana is an intern with SheThePeople.Tv