A new exhibition honouring the sacrifice of Scottish women who fought for their right to vote has opened in Edinburgh.

The exhibition, to be held at the Museum of Edinburgh on the Canongate, will remain in the capital until January next year.

It aims to highlight the plight of women who campaigned for the vote, and will highlight a key moment of the struggle when, on October 10 1909, hundreds of men, women and children took to Princes Street in Edinburgh with banners and marched for the female vote.

The streets were lined with supporters who cheered them on. Later this year, a re-enactment of this historic event will take place.

The exhibition will also highlight eyewitness accounts of the suffragettes, including Ethel Moorhead who was force fed in Calton Jail.

Commenting on the exhibition, councillor Deidre Brock said: "I feel enormous admiration for these brave women. At that time they were regarded as freakish and unnatural, and they withstood huge pressures from their family, from politics and from society in general.

"The strength of character it took to stand up to that amount of disappointment and hatred is astonishing.

"This fascinating and informative exhibition will bring to life their struggle for equality, reminding us all of the sacrifices made on our behalf."

Helen Clark, the curator of the exhibition, said that people need to be more aware of Scotland's contribution to the suffragette movement.

She said: "The struggle went on in Edinburgh for more than 60 years, right from the early beginnings in the 1860s up to 1928, when women got the vote on the same terms as men.

"Women couldn't own property, they couldn't hold public positions and they couldn't get the vote. Men could stand up and heckle a public meeting, but if women did it, they were physically thrown out in the street."