International Women's Day: Suffragettes - the women who fought for the right to vote

It seems hard to imagine now, but just last century women across the world were fighting for something we take for granted: suffrage - the right to vote.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Mar 2016, 10:20 BST
Updated 8th Mar 2016, 10:21 BST
Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in a Polling Booth circa 1910. She was one of the leaders of the movement to secure votes for women. faceSuffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in a Polling Booth circa 1910. She was one of the leaders of the movement to secure votes for women. face
Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in a Polling Booth circa 1910. She was one of the leaders of the movement to secure votes for women. face

With progressive societies like Finland and Iceland granting the franchise to all in the late 19th century, international organisations coordinated efforts to fight for civil rights, including suffrage.

In the UK, the question of equal rights arose in the early 1800s but made little progress with an all-male parliament.

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The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) held public meetings and lobbied members of Parliament, but impatient for change, Emmeline Pankhurst formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).

Her sister Christabel and Annie Kenney were arrested while protesting at a public meeting. Refusing to pay a fine, the pair were jailed for ten days.

The WSPU campaign stepped up, attempting to storm the House of Commons, and setting fire to David Lloyd George’s country home. Hunger strikes by imprisoned suffragettes were ended by force-feeding.

At the 1913 derby, protester Emily Davison ran in front of the King’s horse and was trampled. She died four days later.

Following the First World War, 1918’s Representation of the People Act granted the vote to 8.4 million UK women, with full political parity being achieved in 1928.

Related topics:FinlandIcelandParliament