The right to vote is a basic human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guides human rights law around the world, says everyone has the right to take part in government either directly or through freely chosen representatives. It also states that the government’s authority should come from the will of the people, which entails free and fair elections through “universal and equal suffrage.” That means people of all genders must be free to vote. For centuries, women either did not have the right to vote at all or the restrictions were so rigid, the right could hardly be considered universal and equal. In this article, we’ll explore the history of women’s suffrage, what countries achieved it first, and what challenges face women’s rights to vote.
New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893 followed by Nordic countries like Finland and Norway. The United States and the United Kingdom achieved suffrage in 1920 and 1928, respectively. Though voting rights are threatened in many places, women’s suffrage is essentially present in every country.
What countries gave women the right to vote first?
New Zealand was the first country to achieve women’s suffrage. For years, campaigners like Kate Sheppard petitioned Parliament to give women the right to vote. In 1893, the governor finally signed a new Electoral Act, which made New Zealand the world’s first self-governing country to give women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Just a year later, the South Australian Parliament passed legislation that gave women both the right to vote and to stand for elections, the latter of which New Zealand had not yet achieved. This made South Australia the first electorate in the world to give women equal political rights. Most Nordic countries gave women the right to vote in 1906 (Finland), 1907 (Norway), and 1915 (Denmark and Iceland).
Women weren’t always forbidden from voting before New Zealand and Australia’s legislation. As an example, Sweden gave some women the right to vote in elections as early as 1718. Female taxpaying members of city guilds had this right until 1772 when it was rescinded. It wasn’t until 1921 that all women in Sweden got the right to vote. In the United States, the state of New Jersey allowed single women who owned property to vote in 1776. The state was also unique in that it let African Americans vote if they met residency and property requirements. Both eligible women and people of color living in New Jersey were later stripped of the right to vote in 1807.
Interested in learning more about women’s rights. Here are 11 facts.
When did the United States and the United Kingdom give women the right to vote?
The best-known women’s suffrage movements were based in two places: the United States and the United Kingdom. When the United States developed its constitution, it gave the states the power to set voting requirements. This resulted in states limiting the right to vote to white men. The women’s suffrage movement in the United States began in the mid-19th century. In 1848, the first women’s rights convention took place in Seneca Falls, New York, where the group agreed to advocate for voting rights for women. Progress was slow, but by 1896, four states had given women the right to vote. Women’s clubs worked on voting rights alongside issues like better education, liquor prohibition and unionization. The 19th Amendment finally gave women the right to vote in 1920.
As in the United States, women in the UK started pushing for voting rights in the mid-19th century. According to Historic England, the London National Society for Women’s Suffrage and the Manchester National Society for Women’s Suffrage launched the first campaigns. They released pamphlets, petitioned supporters and held public meetings. As the movement expanded and unified, the suffragettes faced increasingly hostile resistance. Some suffragettes responded with more extremist methods such as breaking windows and going on hunger strikes. Many were jailed, which led to tensions within the movement, but when World War I broke out, the movement for women’s rights was interrupted. By the war’s end, sentiments toward women’s suffrage had changed, so that by 1928, the UK based the Equal Franchise Act. All women over 21 were given the right to vote.
Loading ...When did other countries give women the right to vote?
While several countries, especially those in Europe, granted women the right to vote in the late 19th and early 20th century, some places followed much later. France gave women the right to vote in 1944, while countries like Indonesia, Japan, and Senegal achieved women’s suffrage in 1945. Mexico granted women the right to vote in 1953. In a very unusual move for that part of the world, Switzerland did not give women the right to vote in national elections until 1971. Some countries’ rights are also affected by the form of government and when nations become independent. As an example, Namibia gave women the right to vote in 1989, which seems late, but the nation had been colonized first as a German protectorate, and then occupied by South African forces during WWI. Namibia officially became independent in 1990.
Countries that give women the right to vote may not have great records on women’s rights overall. Saudi Arabia, where women have technically had the right to vote and stand as candidates since 2015, has a poor record on women’s rights. According to Amnesty International, the nation’s Personal Status Law (PSL), which passed in 2022, codifies the male guardianship system and discrimination against women in “most aspects of family life.” Saudi Arabia also does not hold national elections at all; it’s an absolute monarchy. There’s also not been a municipal election since 2015.
Voting is just one way women are empowered. Here’s our article on women’s empowerment jobs.
Where can women not vote at all?
Women can technically vote everywhere except in Vatican City, where the Pope has been the head of state since 1929. Only cardinals, who are all men, can elect the next pope. They are sealed into the Sistine Chapel for a secret discussion. Once votes are counted, the ballots are burned. The smoke they produce is either black, which means the vote failed, or white, which signals a new pope has been chosen. This is an extremely unique and exclusionary electoral process for a unique type of leader.
Neither women nor men vote in Eritrea, which has been under a dictatorship by an unelected president for three decades. After a long history of colonization and occupation by European and Ethiopian forces, the country gained independence in 1993. While its 1997 constitution guaranteed civil rights and a limit on executive power, there’s never been an election. According to the 2023 Human Rights Watch report on Eritrea, the dictatorship has been consistently oppressing its people with forced labor and conscription into the military or civil service.
What were the challenges facing women’s right to vote?
All countries have faced opposition to women’s suffrage. A CNN article describes just a few of the historical arguments. In the US and UK, religion was often brought up. In the Bible, Eve disobeys God first, which, according to opponents of women’s suffrage, meant women were inherently unequal. Voting would change nothing. There were also concerns about women canceling out their husband’s votes, abandoning their families, and somehow becoming more masculine. Men weren’t the only ones to oppose voting rights for women; there were also groups of women worried about the consequences of voting and how it would impact families, children and traditional gender roles.
Conflict within suffrage movements also presented problems. It often centered on racial discrimination. In Australia, one of the first countries to achieve women’s suffrage, most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (which would include women) weren’t even given the option to enroll and vote in federal elections until 1962. They weren’t required to enroll and vote until 1984, which is required of every other citizen. Racial discrimination also tainted the suffrage movement in the United States. While the movement relied on the support of Black people, leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony unleashed a wave of racist rhetoric when Black men got the right to vote before women. Racism split the movement, and while women got the right to vote in the 19th century, the rights of Black women weren’t fully secured until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Native American women, who also played an important role in suffrage movements, had limited rights until Native Americans got citizenship rights in 1924.
Restricting women from voting is one form of gender discrimination. Here’s our article about gender discrimination and how it harms everyone.
Could women ever lose the right to vote?
Once human rights are enshrined in international law or national constitutions, it’s generally very difficult to revoke them. People enjoy having rights like the right to vote, and if those rights are threatened, groups tend to mobilize quickly in protest. It would also take a lot of time and legislative action to undo something like the 19th Amendment. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, however. As this article explored in brief, voting rights have been rescinded before. Women and people of color in New Jersey lost their right to vote, as did the few women in Sweden who could vote between 1718 and 1772. The difference now is that voting rights for women are nearly universally considered a fundamental right. While it varies by region, most people are in favor of women’s suffrage, so the thought of taking that right away is unacceptable.
The right to vote can be undermined in a variety of other ways, however. The Taliban’s control of Afghanistan is a prime example. Afghanistan’s constitution gave women universal suffrage and the right to run for office in 1964, but under Taliban control, women’s rights are eroding. In 2023, the UN released a statement calling the country one of the world’s most repressive places for women. The country’s most recent constitution from 2004 is suspended. Whatever new constitution the Taliban eventually establishes is unlikely to respect women’s voting rights. Even in places where an authoritarian regime has not forcibly seized power, women’s right to vote can be threatened by cultural and social norms, lack of education, harassment, economic disparities and a lack of representation in politics. Protecting the right to vote begins with legislation, but goes much deeper. We all have a responsibility to ensure equal rights.
