The Armagh Hunger Strikes
In 1976, the British Government moved to declassify the Republican political prisoners. In response to this decision and in support of their male comrades, the Republican women prisoners of Armagh joined the fight and began a dirty protest in 1978. The dirty protest consisted of the women smearing their excrement and menstrual blood on the walls. Two years later, in 1980, these same women would join with Bobby sands and the male prisoners of H-block in a hunger strike. The Hunger Strike demanded for people to listen and forced the British Government to answer to them. The women who participated in these protests did not get the same attention as their male counterparts, but in the end, the actions they took made an impact on the lives of the Republican political prisoners.
