Women's Suffrage Movement: History, and progress

From being locked up in houses to running countries, this movement has helped women live freely.

Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Women could not participate in elections for much of human history, dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. However, things have come a long way since then. Let's see how.

In this article...

• Mobilisation of movement
• Role of world wars
• Progress since then

In the 1800s, women began fighting for the right to vote, petitioning their governments and rallying fellow citizens to the cause. Many instances occurred when women were selectively given and then stripped of the right to vote.

The first three counties to grant women’s suffrage

In 1893, New Zealand became the first country to allow women to vote, after almost 25% of the country’s women of European descent signed petitions. All New Zealand women, including Maori women, gained the right to vote. The colony of South Australia granted women suffrage in 1902. However, Enfranchisement did not extend to all Australian women. Aboriginal women and men could not vote for another sixty years. In 1906, the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, which became the Republic of Finland, implemented both the right to vote and the right to run for office for women.

“The true republic: men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” - Susan B. Anthony, Social Reformer and Women’s Rights Activist 

Mobilisation of Women’s Suffrage Movement 

In Europe and North America, suffrage supporters submitted petitions, gave speeches, and held rallies. Some women were arrested and engaged in hunger strikes while in jail. One advocate, the American Alice Paul, served six prison terms. A suffrage parade in 1913 on the eve of President Wilson’s inauguration was marred by violence, but also increased the integration of the movement. 

The role of World War I

When World War I spread across Europe, many women suffrage organisations shifted their energies to aiding the war effort. The role that women played during that war helped sway public support behind enfranchisement. In 1918, women in the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, and Canada, among other countries, gained the right to vote. In Canada, however, women and men had to wait more than another forty years until they could vote.

The role of World War II

The end of World War II brought liberation to many European and Asian countries, and with that, the enfranchisement of women. In 1947, India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain, and both of their constitutions granted women the right to vote. It also brought decolonisation in Africa. As African countries gained independence, voting rights for women followed. By the end of the 1960s, women across most of Africa could participate in elections.

The development over the recent years

As the 1970s began, there were still a few European countries that did not allow women to vote. Over the course of the decade, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, and Moldova enfranchised women. Liechtenstein followed in 1984. Some conservative Middle Eastern countries did not enfranchise women until the twenty-first century. In Bahrain, women won the right to vote in 2002; in Qatar, 2003; and in Kuwait, 2005. Saudi Arabia was the last country, besides Vatican City, that still denied women the right to vote because of their sex. At last, the Saudi king announced that women would be allowed to vote in 2011. 

So, exercise your right to vote and thank the legends from the past.

(Divyanshi Sharma is a freelance writer with Children's Community Foundation)

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