Women's Liberation Movement Begins

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When a group of 500 women met up for the first ever women's liberation conference in the UK, it marked the beginning of modern British feminism. The men looked after the children while the women discussed the politics of housework and childcare in the grand setting of the Oxford Union. Feminist historian Sheila Rowbotham was one of the main organisers, she describes the sense of excitement and joy as women of different ages and from different backgrounds met up to debate issues which they'd previously kept secret. Picture: Women hecklers at a political rally in 1970, Credit: Central Press/Getty Images