 A particular feature of the meeting at Peterloo was the number of women present . Female reform societies had been formed in North West England during June and July 1819 , the first in Britain . Many of the women were dressed distinctively in white , and some formed all @-@ female contingents , carrying their own flags . Of the 654 recorded casualties , at least 168 were women , four of whom died either at St Peter 's Field or later as a result of their wounds . It has been estimated that less than 12 per cent of the crowd was made up of females , suggesting that women were at significantly greater risk of injury than men by a factor of almost 3 : 1 . Richard Carlile claimed that the women were especially targeted , a view apparently supported by the large number who suffered from wounds caused by weapons . 
