A protest for gender equality took over the red carpet at the premiere of Suffragette. The female protestors – from Sisters Uncut – leapt over the barriers as Helen Bonham Carter had just walked onto the carpet and proved the spirit of the movement behind the film is very much alive.
Eyewitnesses watching the events unfold told Closer Online: “The noise was incredible as around 15 women clambered over the barriers and onto the carpet.
“They lay down and began chanting. Behind them, and into the centre of Leicester Square where the premiere was taking place, another group of protestors chanted along with them and set off smoke bombs.”
On their Facebook page Sisters Uncut said the protest was to highlight the “on-going struggle for women’s rights”.
Their chants included “David Cameron take note, dead women can’t vote,” and “We are the suffragettes”. They state that cuts to government services are affecting women who suffer from domestic violence.
The protest only seemed to add to the night, however, as many of the red carpet arrivals – including Carey Mulligan, Helena and Meryl Streep – praised their right to demonstrate freely for women’s rights.
Before the premiere, Meryl – who plays Emmeline Pankhurst in the film – spoke about how she struggled to comprehend how there were still so few women in enterprises around the globe.
“If men don't look around the the board of governors table and feel something is wrong when half the people there are not women then we're not going to make any progress,” she said.