J.K. Rowling, Emma Watson want a very important statue erected in London
LONDON -- JK Rowling and Emma Watson have called on London's new Mayor Sadiq Khan to put a statue of a suffragette outside the Houses of Parliament in London.
The author and actor joined a host of high profile women by signing an open letter to Khan, urging him to erect a statue of a suffragette in Parliament Square by February 2018.
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British suffragettes fought for voting rights to be extended to women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. February 2018 will mark 100 years since the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, which granted women over the age of 30 in the UK the right to vote.
The letter was also signed by journalist and author Caitlin Moran, Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates, and Suffragette screenwriter Abi Morgan.
"In your manifesto you say that you will "be a proud feminist in City Hall”. Thank you for making that pledge. We are delighted that this is what you intend, and are writing today to ask you to take the first step in fulfilling that promise," read the letter.
"In Parliament Square [...] stand eleven statues. Not a single one of these statues is of a woman."
"In Parliament Square, outside the home of one of the world’s oldest democracies, stand eleven statues. Not a single one of these statues is of a woman," the letter continued.
"We would welcome a meeting with you to discuss how we can ensure a statue of a suffragette is erected in Parliament Square by February 2018 and how this can be used to inspire men and women across our country in the fight for equality."
The open letter is accompanied by a petition -- started by activist Caroline Criado-Perez -- which has already gained more than 68,000 signatures.
In the petition, Criado-Perez discusses the 11 existing statues in Parliament Square, which include Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela.
"There are some great men honoured, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi among them. These are men who fought hard for their democratic and human rights and they deserve to be recognised," writes Criado-Perez.
"But where are the women who fought hard for their democratic and human rights? Where are the women who defied convention and police batons? Who went out on the streets. Who faced ridicule, imprisonment, violent assault, simply because they believed women were equal to men," she continued.
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Topics Harry Potter JK Rowling
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
