On 8 March 1908, thousands of women left the textile factories where they worked and took to the streets of New York with pieces of stale bread and bouquets of roses in hand. They marched for better working conditions, for an end to child labour and for the vote.
The Bread and Roses march kickstarted a feminist movement that rippled across America and the rest of the world. Since 1977, 8 March has been known as International Women’s Day and has been celebrated globally. Last night, to continue the tradition started by those New York textile workers, women came together in cities across the country for a women’s strike.
In London, hundreds gathered in the city’s Leicester Square for a joint women’s and sex worker strike. The crowd heard speeches from striking Great Ormond Street Hospital workers, international unions and anti-war groups as well as a statement from Russian women organising against the war in Ukraine. Strikers then marched en masse to Picadilly Circus to hear from sex workers including representatives of Sex Workers United – a trade union for sex workers who also performed. Labour MP for Nottingham East Nadia Whittome also spoke on the need to decriminalise sex work before the crowds moved into Soho and on to Charing Cross police station.
The police station has been the site of controversy with a recent IOPC report revealing widespread misogyny, homophobia, rape culture and abuse of power by serving officers stationed there. Speakers from the English Collective of Prostitutes and Sisters Uncut addressed the crowds outside the station. The latter have called a demonstration for Saturday 12 March to mark the one year anniversary of the vigil on Clapham Common for Sarah Everard, which was brutally broken up by the police.
Last night was a night of rage, determination and energy on the streets of central London. We sent photographer Bex Wade down to document the action.
Follow Bex Wade on Instagram.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Clubbing is good for your health, according to neuroscientists
We Become One — A new documentary explores the positive effects that dance music and shared musical experiences can have on the human brain.
Written by: Zahra Onsori
In England’s rural north, skateboarding is femme
Zine scene — A new project from visual artist Juliet Klottrup, ‘Skate Like a Lass’, spotlights the FLINTA+ collectives who are redefining what it means to be a skater.
Written by: Zahra Onsori
Donald Trump says that “everything is computer” – does he have a point?
Huck’s March dispatch — As AI creeps increasingly into our daily lives and our attention spans are lost to social media content, newsletter columnist Emma Garland unpicks the US President’s eyebrow-raising turn of phrase at a White House car show.
Written by: Emma Garland
How the ’70s radicalised the landscape of photography
The ’70s Lens — Half a century ago, visionary photographers including Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz and Larry Sultan pushed the envelope of what was possible in image-making, blurring the boundaries between high and low art. A new exhibition revisits the era.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The inner-city riding club serving Newcastle’s youth
Stepney Western — Harry Lawson’s new experimental documentary sets up a Western film in the English North East, by focusing on a stables that also functions as a charity for disadvantaged young people.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The British intimacy of ‘the afters’
Not Going Home — In 1998, photographer Mischa Haller travelled to nightclubs just as their doors were shutting and dancers streamed out onto the streets, capturing the country’s partying youth in the early morning haze.
Written by: Ella Glossop