Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
SYLVIA PANKHURST’S response to the 1918 Representation of the People Act reflected her politics.
She had opposed the first world war from the start and spent the war years defending the rights of poor women and children in the East End of London who had become economic victims of that war.
Pankhurst believed that a partial suffrage victory was no victory at all, particularly when it left most working women still without the vote.
Gisele Pelicot said ‘shame must change sides.’ We may think we agree, but, argues LOUISE RAW, society still has some way to go
The legacy of socialist feminists such as Alexandra Kollontai challenges us today to confront an uncomfortable truth: framing prostitution as empowerment lets the abusers of the Epstein class off the hook, warns HELEN O’CONNOR
Held at a last-minute undisclosed venue amid fear of disruption, a Women’s Rights Network event brought together authors and activists, offering a day of debate on feminism’s past, present and future. JADE MIDDLETON reports
LYNNE WALSH reports from the Women’s Declaration International conference on feminist struggles from Britain to the Far East


