International Women’s Day makes me think of my family history, and how women’s lives have changed.
In 1909 my great-grandmother, a suffragette, was imprisoned and force-fed in Holloway for her activities working to get the vote for women and to improve the lives of women. In 1939, my mother had to leave teaching because she married. My generation fought for maternity leave, as in the 60s and 70s, along with many others, I had to leave teaching because I was pregnant.
Activism lives on in the next generation and their children, as now their fight is for the planet.
Sally Smith
Redruth, Cornwall
