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Tuesday 6 February 2018

On February 6th 100 years ago, the Representation of the People Act was passed which meant women could vote for the first time. Okay, not every woman could vote. You had to be 30, a landowner or married to one. Since then, women have become a force to be reckoned with and let's be honest, "Who runs the world?"

..Girls!

You may not know, but (through circumstance) the Venue Search London is made up of an all-female team. So, as you can imagine, we definitely think this milestone is one to celebrate 

and so it seems does London, which will be host to lots of events over the coming weeks aimed at celebrating the original women who have enabled us to have the freedoms we enjoy today, and we have picked out our favourites: 

1. Museum of London

If you enjoy museums, from February 2nd there is a year long exhibition showcasing original artefacts from the Suffragette collection. Emmeline Pankhurst, a British political activist and was leader of the British suffragette movement, who fought for and succeeded in getting women the vote. When imprisoned during this turbulent time, she went on hunger strike. She was later awarded The Hunger Strike Medal by the Women's Social and Political Union. This will be one of the items on display

2. Old Vic

If museums aren't really your thing, maybe a play is! The Old Vic on March 11th will be presenting "One Hand Ties Behind Us." This will be to mark both International Women'a Day and 100 years since the first women got the vote. If you like Maxine Peake, she curated the whole thing. We will definitely be heading down to watch a strong woman represent strong women!

3. National Portrait Gallery

They say a photo tells a thousand words. The whole exhibition is appropriately called Rebel Women. Built up of smaller exhibitions, they will feature portraits of the first women involved in getting the 1918 Act passed. There will also be original surveillance pictures of Suffragettes from the police at the time. This will be a beautiful, raw insight into what the women who fought for all women internationally and for the hundreds of years to come and their right to have a vote

4. Parliament

From June to October, Westminster Hall are hosting a free exhibition called Voice and Vote: Women's Place in Parliament. This will map out the journey of women in Parliament and the changes over the last 100 years.

Fun Fact: There was a defining moment in the history of women. Emily Davison was tragically killed at the televised Epsom Derby. While some say she stepped in front of the Kings horse to commit suicide, others say she never intended to die, but just wanted to drape the Suffragette sash the horse to raise awareness for the women's suffrage cause. 

Anyway, that was certainly not the fun fact, this is:  The night before the 1911 census Emily Davison snuck into Parliament and slept there overnight so she could be enumerated as the sole occupant of the crypt in the Houses of Parliament on that date.

As an all women team, we love that we can attend these amazing events that help us to remember how far we have come and the incredible women that sacrificed their lives and time to let us be in this very fortunate situtation

What an incredible time to be alive for this anniversary of one of the most important and pivotal dates for women and democracy in UK history

Here's to being fabulous and fierce women and to the future of progression and continued work for equality!