Visual Communication Women's Suffrage (the right of women to vote)

Women's Suffrage (the right of women to vote)

Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote and to stand for electoral office. The right of woman to vote was achieved at different times in countries around the world. In the late 19th century limited voting rights were gained for women in Sweden, Finland and some parts of the United States. In many countries, woman's suffrage was granted before universal suffrage, so men and women from certain classes, or of a particular race were still not allowed to vote.

In 1893, New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote. In 1894, South Australia granted universal suffrage to all women. In the same year, the United Kingdom extended the right to vote in local elections to married women.

In February 1918, the UK Government passed an act giving women the vote if they were over the age of 30 and either owned property or rented for at least £5 a year, or were the wife of someone who did. As a result, 8.5 million women became entitled to vote in the General Election of 1918. On 2 July 1928, a law was passed allowing all women over the age of 21 to vote.

One of the reasons for continued opposition to give women the right to vote was that men were seen predominately as the head of the household and in control of any matters related to outside the home. Women's roles were almost exclusively within the home and focused on the family.

The suffrage movement was a broad one, but their general intent was to bring about changes in voting laws. Extended political campaigns by women and their supporters were seen to be necessary to gain legislation or constitutional amendments for women's suffrage. Perhaps the most notable example of extreme action was in the UK in June 1913, when Emily Wilding Davison threw herself under the King’s horse at the Derby racecourse and was killed. She was the only suffragette to die for the cause and was made into a martyr.

Women's suffrage was a step along the path for women to gain full economic, vocational, educational and social rights and opportunities for women. Unfortunately, sexual discrimination still continues today, and in many countries women are not considered equal to men.