During their Diamond Anniversary year Janis Lomas, President of SI Cannock & District has been looking at famous women throughout the last six decades and the role of women throughout that time. She continued the theme at their February business meeting when she considered the 80s – the decade of big hair and shoulder pads!,
1980 Lesley Abdela formed the 300 Group to push for equal representation of women in the House of Commons. 35 years later there are still only 142 women MPs elected; in 1981 Baroness Young became the first woman leader of the House of Lords though it appears she opposed most of the women’s rights legislation that was brought before the house.
In 1982, 30,000 women gathered at Greenham Common Peace Camp – the camp remained open for 19 years during which time thousands of female protesters visited or lived in the camp.
It was surprising to realise that until the 1980s no woman could take out a loan in her own right, she had to have a man, usually her husband or her father, to sign the papers and be guarantor and it was not until 1982 that the Court of Appeal decided that bars and pubs were no longer able to refuse to serve women at the bar as this constituted sex discrimination!
It was shocking, too, to know that in 1985 campaigning by women, against female genital mutilation [FGM] led to the passing of the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act, however until this year no prosecutions have ever taken place. Soroptimists worldwide have been very involved in bringing this issue to the forefront of people’s minds.
Also in February members of Cannock Soroptimists visited Bletchley Park where women had played such an important role in the secret code breaking work – though the majority of them never had any idea of the overall work they were doing. Secrecy was such that most people there only know about the job they were doing in their hut. Since the secrecy has been dropped, women who worked there in the Second World War have come forward with their stories showing their involvement in all aspects of the work.
The Club’s activities can be followed on www.facebook.com/SICannock
Photo: l to r: President Elect Lynne Tuckley and Dr Janis Lomas, President SI Cannock & District at Bletchley Park