D.N.W. 4

Commission

D.N.W was conceived by Di and Mandy Wigby and initially funded using their own resources and passion for film, music, and performance. Supported by a group of creative friends, the pair produced four D.N.W. chapters to express their gratitude to the women past and present, from around the world who have risked everything for equality. Rise-Up Women! Deeds Not Words.

Film

In Chapter 4 in the D.N.W. film series, we meet a young woman whose apartment is hacked by the Suffragettes’ leader Mrs P. All of her appliances are calling her to rise-up! A mysterious discovery in her kitchen drawer takes her on a journey through time to Edith Garrud’s dojo, where she has the opportunity to train with the Suffrajitsu Bodyguard… Edith Garrud was one of the world’s first professional female martial arts instructors. By 1910 she was training Suffragettes in jiu-jitsu from secret locations around London. This elite group of women would defend Mrs Pankhurst and the Suffragettes from police brutality. They were called “The Bodyguard” and later the press coined the term “Suffrajitsu”. When the Suffragettes began their campaign of window smashing, Edith offered them refuge and an alibi in her jiu jitsu school (dojo), hiding their hammers underneath her exercise mats.