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
In photos: Ghana’s complex e-waste industry
A new exhibition explores the country’s huge, unregulated industry, which can be hazardous to workers’ health and the local enviroment, yet provides economic opportunity to many.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Meet Corbin Shaw, Huck 81’s Artist in Residence
The Sheffield born artist talks about the people and places that shaped his practice for the latest issue of Huck.
Written by: Josh Jones
The Blessed Madonna: “Dance music flourishes in times of difficulty”
The DJ talks about her debut album ‘Godspeed’, connection and resistance on the dance floor, the US election and more alongside exclusive pictures from her album release party.
Written by: Ben Smoke
Revisiting the birth of skate culture in 1970s Los Angeles
New photobook ‘Last Days of Summer: California Skateboarding Archive 1975–1978’ looks back at an iconic chapter of youth culture.
Written by: Miss Rosen
An unnerving portrait of the USA’s fractured society
A new photobook explores America’s increasing inequality, division and toxic culture wars in a historic election year.
Written by: Isaac Muk
“Music can save you for a day”: Touché Amoré on social media and subcultures
To celebrate a new album and reflect on a decade and a half of being themselves, frontman Jeremy Bolm chats about opening up via lyrics, subcultures in the internet age, and the hardcore re-revival.
Written by: Isaac Muk