JINHA

LONDON - In East London, home to a long history of women's struggle, women have protested the proposed opening of a museum to femicidal killer Jack the Ripper.

In London, women are demanding that a museum dedicated to the life of notorious 19th century killer Jack the Ripper be turned into the women's history museum that was promised to them.

In October 2014, the borough of Tower Hamlets approved an application for a museum dedicated to the history and struggle of women in London's East End. The application touched on famous moments of women's resistance in the area, such as the 1888 Matchwomen's strike, and promised to fill the gap left by the closing of the Women's Library in Whitechapel. Instead, women were shocked to find that the museum would not be dedicated to women's history, but to the history of femicidal killer Jack the Ripper.

Yesterday evening, London women (among them union activists and historians) protested the museum, scheduled to open today. The women are demanding that the museum be closed and that the promised women's history museum be opened in its place. At the end of their action, the women left behind signs denouncing the glorification of male violence in the context of ongoing killings of women in the UK.

“East London has a proud tradition of women campaigning for social change, from the Suffragettes to the Dagenham Equal Pay strikers," said Jemima Broadbridge, among the women campaigning for the women's museum, speaking to the East London Advertiser. "But these women and their powerful contribution have been shamefully overlooked and misrepresented by a museum that seeks to present women only as victims of East London’s most notorious serial killer."

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