Suffrage March, Katikati - 15 September 2018

Suffrage March, Katikati, 15 September 2018. Image: Fiona Kean

This weekend the sun shone on the women of Katikati as they came together to march for Women’s Suffrage. More than 200 women and children, and some men too, many dressed in period costume and holding banners, marched from Uretara Domain to the Katikati War Memorial Hall. While a number of the banners referenced the historic struggle for women’s suffrage, others carried contemporary messages highlighting challenges faced by women today, including ‘#metoo’, ‘pay equality’ and ‘support for midwives.’

Suffrage March, Katikati, 15 September 2018. Image: Fiona Kean

Those taking part were rewarded with friendly toots from passing cars. However, outside the Talisman Hotel, marchers encountered a vocal bystander telling them to ‘go home and get lunch ready!’ Few were phased by his taunts and the red camellias thrown outside the Memorial Hall suggested that it was all part of the re-enactment – red camellias having been worn by anti-suffragists 125 years ago.