Topics Covered:
- Suffragist Movement
- Gender Issues in Women as Voters
- Gender Issues in Women as Candidates/Representative
- Impact of Women Political Quota/Participation in Pakistan
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| Suffragist Movement in the USA |
Suffrage means the right to vote in
political elections. It is a sad fact that throughout history, there have been
many restrictions placed on who can and can’t vote, based on things
like age, gender, race, education, wealth and social
status.
During the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, men in the UK, USA and other parts of world had the right to vote
but women did not. Many people – including women – didn’t believe that
women should be able to vote. Even Queen Victoria called the fight for women’s rights a “mad,
wicked folly” – despite being a powerful woman herself! In the late 19th
and early 20th centuries, many women started to campaign for women’s rights.
The focus of their attention was “the right to vote”. This became known as
the suffragist movement.
During this time, two main political
groups formed, the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies and
the Women’s Social and Political Union. These groups came to be known by
two different nicknames, invented by some newspapers who sought to ridicule
them; the Suffragists and the Suffragettes.
The suffragists were members of the
National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and were lead
by Millicent Garrett Fawcett during the height of the suffrage
movement, 1890 – 1919. They campaigned for votes
for middle-class, property-owning women and believed
in peaceful protest. Millicent thought that if the organisation was seen
to be thoughtful, intelligent and law-abiding, that they would win the respect
of Parliament and in time, be granted the vote.
Emmeline Pankhurst was a former
member of the NUWSS and a supporter of women’s suffrage. After becoming
frustrated with the Suffragists’ approach, she broke off and formed her own
society – the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). The society was
more inclusive and welcomed women from all different walks of life.
Emmeline’s daughters, Christabel and Syliva, were also
active in the cause.
From 1905 onwards the
Suffragettes’ campaign became more violent. Their motto was ‘Deeds Not Words‘
and they began using more aggressive tactics to get people to listen. This
included breaking windows, planting bombs, handcuffing themselves to railings
and going on hunger strikes.
Many protesting Suffragettes were
arrested for law-breaking and many went to prison.
In further protest, Suffragettes would go on hunger strike (stop
eating) in prison. To stop them from becoming ill, they would often be held down
and force-fed by prison staff in a particularly unpleasant procedure! To
prevent any Suffragettes on hunger strike from dying in prison, Parliament
introduced the “Cat and Mouse” Act. This meant that hunger-strikers
were temporarily released from prison until they recovered – before being
re-arrested and locked up again!
The outbreak of World War 1 changed
life as people knew it – BIG time! In the midst of such huge international
conflict, both Emmeline Pankhurst and Millicent Fawcett temporarily stopped
campaigning and instead encouraged women to join the war effort in
the spirit of national unity.
World War 1 also drastically changed
women’s role in society. Before the war, a woman’s place had been in the home,
cooking, washing, cleaning and raising her children. But when the war began,
women were needed to lend a hand! Millions of men had been sent away to fight,
leaving vacant jobs that were essential to keeping the country running. Many
women went to work for the first time in lots of different industries – even
in dangerous munitions factories making weapons for
the war!
n 1918, the efforts of the women’s
suffrage movement finally had a breakthrough. A Bill was passed through
Parliament that granted some women the right to vote. They had to
be over the age of 30 and own property, or be married to someone
who owned property. Despite the restrictions, it was still a big victory,
giving 8.4 million women the vote!
However, there was still a long way to go until all women had the same voting rights as men – who could vote from the age of 21 regardless of property. In fact, it took another ten years until women received equal suffrage with men, in 1928.
