Women's Suffrage Movement

Women’s Suffrage Movement

It started in 1832.

The Reform Act had explicitly excluded all women from the voting in national elections. The Act used the term "male" rather than "person" in its wording. In a certain case, a shop owner was eligible to vote based on property qualifications. The name of that shopkeeper had been added to the election register and the vote had been counted, however later realizing she was a female whose name had been entered through error. To remedy this error her vote had been stricken off. Her name was Lily Maxwell. Thus started the Women’s Suffrage movement.

In this paper, I will deconstruct the formation of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies to understand a- the relevance of the movement in today’s

By the late 19th century there were seventeen societies in favor of suffrage for women, thus establishing the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. This caused a conflict as to methods of achieving the desired result. Where one group claimed the best way to be that of pacifism, the other subjected to the path of violence, militants.

The fight for the right to vote propelled around the 1850 with ease as it concerned half of the population in the UK, majority of which lacked occupation or any commercial activity which brought in income. Women in the higher tiers of society refused to obey the sex roles dictated to them. This lack of activity centred the attention of a large part of the population towards the movement, ever so slowly realising the need for the suppressed gender to catapult the notion of both genders being equal which could only proved by protesting against the ban to

They chained themselves to railings, set fire to public and private property and disrupted speeches both at public meetings and in the House of Commons. Members of the WSPU and other militant groups such as the Women's Freedom League were known as 'suffragettes’. Many suffragettes went to prison as a result of their actions and their campaigns did not always stop there – whilst in prison, they often chose to go on hunger strike to continue gaining publicity for their cause and as a result were sometimes force fed. One of the most infamous suffragettes was Emily Davison who, in 1913, threw herself in front of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby. She later died of her injuries and became a martyr to the cause.

In the aftermath of the Women's Suffrage Movement, women's economic, political and social roles increased in society. As time passed, more opportunities for education sprouted for women, in turn making them realise their professional capacities. Eventually leading them to enter professions that were male dominated such as clergy, corporate, law and medicine, thus evolving the role of women, securing social standing and in eventuality bridging the gap between genders. Even though women’s salaries didn’t match up to that of men, not that it has till date, they were exponentially