Wikigender > Wikis > Women’s Suffrage

Women’s Suffrage

Etc.

[Image infos="Suffrage.jpg|thumb|right|145px"]

The term women's suffrage refers to the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage, that is, the right to vote, to women.

The right to women's suffrage was enshrined in the 1948 [Pagelink infos="Universal Declaration of Human Rights|<i>Universal Declaration of Human Rights</i>"] and the 1979 [Pagelink infos="CEDAW|<i>Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women</i>"].
<div id="toc">
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
	<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_early-history-19th-century-movements"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Early history - 19th century movements</span></a></li>
	<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_suffrage-in-the-20th-century"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Suffrage in the 20th century</span></a></li>
	<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_countries-without-womens-suffrage"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Countries without women's suffrage</span></a></li>
	<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_references"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>
	<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_see-also"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li>
	<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_external-links"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="w_early-history-19th-century-movements">Early history - 19th century movements</h2>
The struggle to achieve equal rights for women is often thought to have begun, in the English-speaking world, with the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft's <i>A Vindication of the Rights of Woman</i> (1792). During the 19th century, as male suffrage was gradually extended in many countries, women became increasingly active in the quest for their own suffrage. Not until 1893, however, in New Zealand, did women achieve suffrage on the national level. Australia followed in 1902, but American, British, and Canadian women did not win the same rights until the end of World War I.

In Great Britain the cause began to attract attention when the philosopher John Stuart Mill presented a petition in Parliament calling for inclusion of women's suffrage in the Reform Act of 1867. In the same year Lydia Becker (1827 –90) founded the first women's suffrage committee, in Manchester. Other committees were quickly formed, and in 1897 they united as the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, with Millicent Garret Fawcett (1847 –1929) as president.
<h2 id="w_suffrage-in-the-20th-century">Suffrage in the 20th century</h2>
Scandinavian countries such as [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Finland|Gender Equality in Finland"] (1906), [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Norway|Gender Equality in Norway"] (1913), and [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Denmark|Gender Equality in Denmark"] and [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Iceland|Gender Equality in Iceland"] (1915) granted women the vote early in the 20th century. [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in New Zealand|Gender Equality in New Zealand"] (1893) and [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Australia|Gender Equality in Australia"] (1902) granted women the vote earlier than United Kingdom (1918) The next wave occured at the end of World War I. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Netherlands granted suffrage in 1917; [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Austria|Gender Equality in Austria"], Czechoslovakia, [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Poland|Gender Equality in Poland"], and [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Sweden|Gender Equality in Sweden"] in 1918; and [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Germany|Gender Equality in Germany"] and [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Luxembourg|Gender Equality in Luxembourg"] in 1919. [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Spain|Gender Equality in Spain"] extended the ballot to women in 1931, but [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in France|Gender Equality in France"] in 1944 and [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Belgium|Gender Equality in Belgium"], [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Italy|Gender Equality in Italy"], [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Romania|Gender Equality in Romania"], and Yugoslavia in 1946. [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Gender Equality in Switzerland|Gender Equality in Switzerland"] gave women the vote in 1971, and women were given the right to vote in Liechtenstein in 1984.

[Image infos="Opposed_to_suffrage.jpg|thumb|right"]
<h2 id="w_countries-without-womens-suffrage">Countries without women's suffrage</h2>
<ul>
	<li>Brunei — Women (and men) have been denied the right to vote or to stand for election since 1962.</li>
	<li>[Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Lebanon|Gender Equality in Lebanon"] — Partial suffrage. Proof of elementary education is required for women but not for men. Voting is compulsory for men but optional for women.</li>
	<li>[Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Saudi Arabia|Gender Equality in Saudi Arabia"] — No suffrage for women. The first local elections ever held in the country occurred in 2005. Women were not given the right to vote or to stand for election, although suffrage may be granted by 2009.</li>
	<li>[Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in the United Arab Emirates|Gender Equality in the United Arab Emirates"] — Limited, but it will be fully expanded by 2010.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="w_references">References</h2>
<ul>
	<li>Women's suffrage is more common in UK English, and woman suffrage is more common in US English, as shown by entries in UK and US dictionaries, which usually record only one of these forms, e.g. Collins, New Oxford, American Heritage, Random House, Merriam-Webster. Similarly, the US encyclopedias Encyclopedia Britannica (despite its name a US encyclopedia) and Collier Encyclopedia use only woman suffrage.</li>
	<li>DuBois, Ellen Carol, Harriot Stanton Blatch and the Winning of Woman Suffrage (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1997) ISBN 0-300-06562-0</li>
	<li>Flexner, Eleanor, Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States, enlarged edition with Foreword by Ellen Fitzpatrick (1959, 1975; Cambridge and London: The Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press, 1996) ISBN 0-674-10653-9</li>
	<li>Kenney, Annie, Memories of a Militant' (London: Edwin Arnold, 1924)</li>
	<li>Lloyd, Trevor, Suffragettes International: The Worldwide Campaign for Women's Rights (New York: American Heritage Press, 1971).</li>
	<li>Mackenzie, Midge, Shoulder to Shoulder: A Documentary (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975). ISBN 0-394-73070-4</li>
	<li>Raeburn, Antonia, Militant Suffragettes (London: New English Library, 1973)</li>
	<li>Stevens, Doris, edited by Carol O'Hare, Jailed for Freedom: American Women Win the Vote (1920; Troutdale, OR: NewSage Press, 1995). ISBN 0-939165-25-2</li>
	<li>Wheeler, Marjorie Spruill, editor, One Woman, One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement (Troutdale, OR: NewSage Press, 1995) ISBN 0-939165-26-0</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="w_see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
	<li>[Pagelink infos="Women's Suffrage"]</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="w_external-links">External links</h2>
<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2123.html">CIA</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/suffrage/history.html">Suffrage History</a></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

Cancel

Twitter

Facebook

Twitter feed

Mind the gap, close the gap! How can we address the #gender pay gap? With @OECD_Centre's Director @REArnadottir, no… https://t.co/CLn7y9xbgV
RT @estelle_loiseau: If you're interested in making lasting change for women as political leaders & you're attending @ReykjavikGlobal, do n…
Who's the leader? @OECD_Centre Director, @REArnadottir is moderating a Leaders' Talk tomorrow on shifting society's… https://t.co/SJze6ze6yt
RT @OECD_Centre: Are you at this week's @ReykjavikGlobal Forum? Stop by @OECD_Centre's session on how we can boost women's political empow…

2023
Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
« Sep
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30