Over 150 Putney Women Descend on Parliament
Fleur Anderson invites constituents to celebrate International Women's Day
Fleur Anderson MP addresses the women of Putney in Parliament
March 10, 2023
More than 150 women from the Putney constituency came to the Houses of Parliament this week at the invitation of their Fleur Anderson.
They were there to celebrate International Women’s Day 2023 on 8 March which is a day set aside to give recognition of women’s struggle for equality.
To make the occasion, the MP invited over 150 women from the Putney, Southfields and Roehampton areas into Parliament, to hear from speakers including Harriet Harman MP, Orode Faka, Munawara Mujeeb, Lynne Capocciama, local student Sasha and Wandsworth Council Deputy Leader Kemi Akinola.
Ms Anderson said, “It was a welcome and refreshing sight to see a Parliamentary Committee Room filled to the rafters with brilliant, inspirational local women. The 150 women who attended my International Women’s Day event in Parliament reflected the diversity of the women I represent in Putney, Southfields and Roehampton – diverse in ethnicity, religion, age and lived experience. It was brilliant to hear about how all of the women present were thankful for the women who have paved the way for us, and fierce in our determination to continue to make progress towards true equality.”
Harriet Harman opened the event, reflecting on her 40 years as a Labour MP. She was elected in 1982 and holds the record for the longest continually serving female MP.
Orode Faka founded R.O.C.K.S International Arts, a social enterprise based in Roehampton, that uses the arts for sustainable social innovation in services for marginalised communities at the Alton Community Centre on the Alton Estate.
She said, “International Women’s Day for me means reflecting on the various ways that women live different lives according to their class, race and age, and ensuring that they can feel that who they are is 'enough'. I spoke in Parliament about my lived experience as an artist, community activist, educator and organiser. I would like International Women’s Day to create safe spaces to talk frankly about decolonising gender and all the barriers to safety and equity women continue to face despite our accomplishments.”
Fleur Anderson MP (centre) with two of the delegates
Campaigners have highlighted the hardship being experienced by women as the Cost-of-Living crisis hits households in Wandsworth. Centrepoint research has indicated that over 73,000 young women across the UK contacted their local authority to report themselves at risk of homelessness. The number of women in temporary accommodation has increased by 88% over the last 10 years.
Ms Anderson said, “International Women’s Day is a call to political action. It was pertinent that I spent the day demanding that the Government provide proper childcare for women and families. A local mother recently wrote to me to let me know that the cheapest nursery that she could find in Wandsworth within a 30-minute walk of her home cost £26,000 per year. This is totally unaffordable for too many women, who have to leave work or cut back on hours – as I did when I had small children. The Government must not just talk the talk on women’s empowerment and equality – it must take action to tackle the issues which really affect women’s lives.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |