On Women’s Suffrage – Women’s vote achieved

Source: This post on Women’s Suffrage has been created based on the article “Women’s vote achieved: We need faster progress” published in “Live Mint” on 29^th December 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 1 Society – Role of women and women’s organization.

News: The article discusses history of the women’s suffrage movement and the need to move beyond just granting the right to vote to women.

Recently, 5 religious sisters were allowed to vote at the Papal advisory body in the Roman Catholic Church, which has been male-dominated for centuries. With this historic move, Vatican City became the last country in the world to give its women the right to vote.

What has been the history of the women’s suffrage movement?

The initial women’s suffrage movement emerged during the 19th and early 20th centuries, predominantly led by protest voices in the Anglosphere (English-speaking world).

129 countries granted women the right to vote between 1893 and 1960. Some nations tried to place riders on it by using race, age, education level or marital status as a disqualifier, but these were largely discarded.

1) Role of Social Activism: At first, it was other forms of social activism that gave rise to the vote demand.
For instance:
a. New Zealand in 1893 became the first nation to let women vote in national elections. It was a fight against alcohol that moved women to seek a role in policymaking.
b. In USA, which did it in 1920, suffrage activism can be traced back to protests led by women against slavery.

2) Role of World Wars: The suffrage movement gained pace after World War I, at least in the West. The two World Wars hurried the enfranchisement of women.

What more needs to be done in the field of women’s political empowerment?

This right has not yet shaken patriarchal social structures that dominate power politics. Hence, the focus must now shift to achieving proper representation in rule-making and governance, which goes beyond the basic right to vote.

Despite progress in women’s participation in politices, their impact in shaping political decisions and policies worldwide are yet to enhance and transform the state of affairs globally..

Question for practice:

Women’s suffrage movement played an important role in emancipation of women in the political sphere. Discuss its features.