Description
The Fawcett Society is a membership charity in the United Kingdom which campaigns for women's rights. The organisation dates back to 1866, when Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's suffrage. Originally named the London National Society for Women's Suffrage, and later as the London Society for Women's Suffrage, the organization was renamed The Fawcett Society in 1953.
It is a charity registered with the Charity Commission and has a membership of around 3,000. Its supporters include Carrie Gracie, Emma Thompson, and Ophelia Lovibond.
The organisation's vision is a society in which women and girls in all their diversity are equal and free to fulfil their potential, creating a stronger, happier, better future for all.
Its key areas of campaign work include equal pay, equal power, tackling gender norms and stereotypes and defending women's rights. The Society publishes its own research and aims to bring together politicians, academics, grassroots activists and wider civil society in service of gender equality.
There are local Fawcett Society groups across the UK, which support the campaigning work of Fawcett and organise events and activities in their areas. Locations include Devon, Milton Keynes and Tyneside.
The library and archives of the Society, formerly the Fawcett Library, are now part of the Women's Library at the British Library of Political and Economic Science, the main library of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
