Woman's Hour | Eleanor Higginson and Grace Roe

In this extract from 'Woman's Hour', Antonia Raeburn talks to Eleanor Higginson and Grace Roe, who was Christabel Pankhurst's chief organiser. They recall how the movement progressed from peaceful meetings in drawing rooms to public protest gatherings, where they prepared to shield themselves against violent encounters by wearing cardboard corsets and protecting their breasts with cotton wool.

As the campaign was put on hold for the duration of World War I, Eleanor Higginson helped organise a jam-making enterprise to combat food shortages. During her imprisonment, Grace Roe went on hunger strike and was force fed more than 200 times.