A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections. The term refers in particular to members of the British Women's Social and Political Union, a women-only movement founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst, which engaged in direct action and civil disobedience. In 1906, a reporter writing in the Daily Mail coined the term suffragette for the WSPU, from suffragist, to belittle the women advocating women's suffrage. The militants embraced the new name, even adopting it for use as the title of the newspaper published by the WSPU. Women had won the right to vote in several countries by the end of the 19th century; in 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country to grant the vote to all women over the age of 21.
| Named after | Suffrage |
| Purpose | Votes for women |
| Methods | Marches, heckling, civil disobedience, direct action, hunger strike, terrorism (see suffragette bombing and arson campaign) |
| Key people | Emmeline Pankhurst, Christabel Pankhurst, Sylvia Pankhurst, Teresa Billington-Greig, Emily Davison, Charlotte Despard, Flora Drummond, Annie Kenney, Constance Lytton, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Evaline Hilda Burkitt |
About Suffragette
British historical drama about women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. The film's main protagonist, laundry worker Maud Watts, was not a real person but an amalgamation of many women.
Achievement of Suffragette
It was the first feature film to be shot in the Houses of Parliament.
Top Facts You Did Not Know About Suffragette
Suffragette bombing and arson campaign - The suffragette bombing and arson campaign was a militant protest campaign orchestrated by suffragettes in Great Britain and Ireland between the years 1912 and 1914. The campaign was instigated by the Women's Social and Political Union, and was a part of their wider campaign for women's suffrage.. Pankhurst Centre - The Pankhurst Centre, 60–62 Nelson Street, Manchester, is a pair of Victorian villas, of which No. 62 was the home of Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Sylvia, Christabel and Adela and the birthplace of the suffragette movement in 1903.. Suffragetto, a board game.. Women's suffrage in the United States - The legal right of women to vote was established in the United States over the course of more than half a century, first in various states and localities, sometimes on a limited basis, and then nationally in 1920.. History of women in the United Kingdom.. First-wave feminism.. Suffragists.. Feminism and history.
Latest information about Suffragette updated on July 28 2021.
