New Zealand women lead the world

1893 Thanks to people like Kate Sheppard (pictured), leader of the New Zealand female suffrage movement, women in New Zealand voted for the first time in a national general election anywhere in the world. Australia was the second nation, fully nine years later (1902), although on December 18, 1894 women in the State of South Australia became the first in the world to be able to vote and stand for election.

Among the earliest nations to grant women the vote include Finland (1906), United Kingdom (1918), and Afghanistan (1922). Switzerland was one of the last, in 1971.

Women's worldwide electoral chronology
Louisa Lawson, Australian suffragette at the Scriptorium

Categories: new-zealand, suffragettes, suffragism, activism