Women's suffrage
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Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. At the beginning of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vote, increasing the number of those parties' potential constituencies. National and international organizations formed to coordinate efforts towards women voting, especially the International Woman Suffrage Alliance.
South Australian suffragist Catherine Helen Spence stood for office in 1897. In a first for the modern world, South Australia granted women the right to stand for Parliament in 1895.
Marie Stritt (1855–1928), German suffragist, co-founder of the International Alliance of Women
French pro-suffrage poster, 1934
Suffrage
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Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums. In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vote is called active suffrage, as distinct from passive suffrage, which is the right to stand for election. The combination of active and passive suffrage is sometimes called full suffrage.
People queuing and showing their identity document for voting in the 2014 Indian general election
German election poster from 1919: Equal rights – equal duties!
A British postcard against women's suffrage postcard from c. 1908. It shows unflattering caricatures of suffragettes in front of parliament and the caption: "This is the house that man built" with a poem. From the People's History Museum, Manchester.
Women's Suffrage Headquarters on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1912