A Suffragette is a woman seeking the right to vote through organized protest. The women below are well known suffragettes from New Zealand.
- Lily May Atkinson (1866–1921) - was a speaker, and a writer, who was mainly active in Wellington. Lily May Atkinson was an active campaigner for the prohibition of alcohol, for the No Licence League. Atkinson was also active in the Plunket Society, the Kindergarten Schools Society and the New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children. She promoted compulsory military training and was a member of the Dominion Council of the National Defence League of New Zealand
- Amey Daldy (1829–1920) - was a major leader for the Womens Suffrage in New Zealand and was a recruiter
- Meri Te Tai Mangakahia (1868–1920) - was Māori campaigner for women's suffrage, who stood for women being able to vote in parliament, and stand as members of the parliament. She also stood up for that Māori women were landowners, and should not be barred from political representation. She later joined the women’s committee of the Kotahitanga movement, remaining involved in Māori politics and welfare movements.
- Harriet Russell Morison (1862–1925) - Harriet Russell Morison co-founded the Dunedin Franchise League, which was independent of the temperance movement and was a foundation member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, where she organised ambulance classes for women. In 1892, she led a women's movement against Henry Fish's bid for the mayoralty of Dunedin. Henry Fish was a Parliamentary spokesman for the liquor trade who was against women suffrage.
- Mary Ann Müller (1819-1901) - In 1869, Marry Ann Müller wrote an appeal to the men of New Zealand, the first pamphlet on the issue of women's suffrage ever to be published in New Zealand. Müller's argument was that it was necessary for women to obtain the vote in order for them to contribute fully to the progress of the nation. She also asked for the repeal of discriminatory legislation, and appealed to men especially members of Parliament to consider the cause of women's suffrage. She had also received a letter of support and congratulations from John Stuart Mill who was not against the cause. Unwilling, because of her husband's position, to become a public activist. According to the Brooklyn Museum, the Married Women's Property Act of 1870 incorporated many of her ideas.
- Annie Jane Schnackenberg (1835–1905) - Schnackenberg was the founder member NZ Women Christian Temperance in 1885, who was National President in1891-1901, and President of the Auckland Womens Christian Temperance in 1889-1897. Due to her extensive experience with Māori people and fluency in the language, she became the WCTU national superintendent of Maori work in 1898. She was also on the board of their publication, The White Ribbon. Schnackenberg took strong moral positions in the defence of women. She recommended that temperance become a part of the school curriculum. She was unsuccessful in this, but the Department of Education did order temperance textbooks, making the teaching of temperance in schools possible. She also campaigned for the age of consent to be raised to 21 "because it ought never to be possible for a girl or woman to consent to her own ruin". She opposed the Contagious Diseases Act of 1869, which allowed prostitutes but not their clients to be detained for inspection and treatment of sexually-transmitted diseases, because it made it safer for men to sin. Schnackenberg was also a women opposed smoking tobacco and tattoos.
- Kate Sheppard (1847–1934) - kate Sheppard is the most well known suffragette in New Zealand in New Zealand, her hard works are also shown on the New Zealand's ten dollar note. Sheppard was the first suffragist in the first country to allow women's voting. Her interest in women's suffrage went beyond practical considerations regarding temperance, her views were made well known with her statement that "all that separates, whether of race, class, creed, or sex, is inhuman, and must be overcome." Sheppard proved to be a powerful speaker and a skilled organiser.
Large numbers of women joined temperance organisations from the 1870s, motivated by the desire for a secure home, and concern at the damage done by alcohol abuse. When New Zealand Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was set up in 1885, it was the first national women’s organisation, and was concerned with all issues affecting women. In the 1970s the women’s liberation movement became more active in New Zealand. Groups formed around the country, arguing that ‘the personal is political’. Women began to see aspects of their personal lives as politics. Women who did the housework or childcare, and how women were expected to dress, were no longer trivial issues. In the 19th century New Zealand women were part of an international movement fighting for equal rights. Women campaigners, and the men who supported them, were reacting to inequalities in marriage, education, equal pay, employment and politics. A petition was signed by more than 30,000 women. Many other groups worked on the campaign, including tailoresses’ unions around the country to allow women to vote for Parliament. In 1893 New Zealand women became the first in the world to win the vote in national elections.
Many women’s groups were set up in the 1890s. They focused on the status of women in marriage, divorce laws, the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act (a law under which women suspected of prostitution could be held and forcibly treated) and employment issues. The debate and the number of women involved expanded in the 1870s and 1880s. Women’s rights within marriage, the sexual double standard (which allowed men to be sexually assertive, and accept their affairs outside marriage), education, employment, the way that women dressed and the vote were all discussed at meetings and in the columns and editorials of local newspapers. Other groups motivated the desire for a secure home, and concern at the damage done by alcohol abuse.
Main subjects women suffrage groups focused on:
Many women’s groups were set up in the 1890s. They focused on the status of women in marriage, divorce laws, the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act (a law under which women suspected of prostitution could be held and forcibly treated) and employment issues. The debate and the number of women involved expanded in the 1870s and 1880s. Women’s rights within marriage, the sexual double standard (which allowed men to be sexually assertive, and accept their affairs outside marriage), education, employment, the way that women dressed and the vote were all discussed at meetings and in the columns and editorials of local newspapers. Other groups motivated the desire for a secure home, and concern at the damage done by alcohol abuse.
Main subjects women suffrage groups focused on:
- the status of women within marriage, particularly their economic independence
- seeking equal divorce laws
- promoting social purity (sexual chastity and faithfulness)
- the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act
- removal of ‘civil disabilities’ (such as women not being allowed to hold some types of public office)
- gaining employment rights.
Hunger Strikes:
Women who were willing to suffer for a cause were called Martyrs.
A Hunger strike was a method used during the women suffrage as an act of political protest. Women who did hunger strikes usually did it to provoke feelings of guilt in others as they thought they politicians would give into pressure, and to get attention to achieve a specific goal, which was policy change. The most common hunger strikes were done while the women were sent to prison for imprisonment for protesting and 'appalling' behavior. Women who did hunger strikes during their imprisonment times would usually get really sick, as the body is not able to adapt to fast changes, as you were not getting the nutrition, vitamins etc. need. In 1913 the Prisoner's Temporary Discharge of III Health Act (nicknamed the "Cat and Mouse Act") changed policy, this was when prisoners were released when they became sick as they would feel weak, light headed etc, and when they had recovered, the suffragettes were taken back to prison to finish their sentences. Women who did hunger strikes would take liquids but no solid food at all. Some women even declined to take either.
Thirst Strikes:
Some women would go without water and food which was a much more dangerous method. this was because Dehydration can cause a wide variety of unpleasant symptoms very quickly, symptoms such as headaches intense, tiredness, muscle and stomach cramps, constipation and nausea. this was due to the fact the 70 percent of human bodies is made of water, which also plays an important part in your health and well being. when a human body gets low on fluid, it is not essential to run at full capacity. At first women who go without water will feel their mouths and throats to be unbearably swollen and dry. it left a horrible taste in the mouth. Women mainly did this as it was a way of speeding up their time in prison. FORCE FEEDING: This involved pushing a tube into a patients mouth and down the back of their throats into their gullet. liquid food could be poured or even pump down the tube down into the patients stomach. if the patient tried to resist by clamping their teeth shut, a metal brace could be inserted into their mouth and wound open, slowing forcing their jaws apart. if the patient would resist this by trying to bite the tube or cough it up, then force feeding would be done by pushing the tube down their noses instead of their throats. this was really dangerous as the liquid food could have been forced into the patients lungs instead of the throat. while this process women would be held down by female warders or nurses, or strapped tightly into a chair. women who were force fed found it appallingly painful, as some fainted when they were force fed. |
Speakings:
whenever the Liberal politicians spoke, a new phenomenon occurred. women in the audience would leap to their feet wanting to speak, or called out questions to the candidates. they would demand to be told what the politicians on the platform thought about votes for women. the politicians did not answer their questions. women simply wanted to make a point and try focus on the political attention on the suffrage issue. when the politicians denied answering the women question they would shout even louder and made a fuss in public. more and more women began to join suffrage societies where they would march through the streets with banners and flags calling for votes for women. newspapers illustrated them as "brazen" or were mocked by people. Women who demonstrated in public places risked a lot. they risked their reputation, employment if they had jobs, risked being mocked, and risked getting arrested by policemen.
petition signings:
The New Zealand campaign was motivated by the American-based Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in 1885. The WCTU’s was lead by Kate Sheppard, where suffragists organised a series of massive petitions to Parliament. They collected 9,000 signatures in 1891, 20,000 in 1892, and nearly 32,000 in 1893. The main suffrage petition submitted to Parliament was on 28 July 1893. It contains the names and addresses from around 24,000 women who were aged 21 years and older. The original petition was more than 500 individual sheets, which were signed in various parts of New Zealand. These were glued together to form a single roll that stretched more than 270 m. The largest of 13 separate petitions collected by women’s suffrage supporters in 1893. When pro-suffrage MP Sir John Hall presented them to the House of Representatives on 11 August, he noted that they contained the signatures of 31,872 women, almost a quarter of the adult (voting age) European female population of New Zealand. The women below went around getting signatures for this petition with others to get the right for womens vote.
The table below shows that Canterbury and Otago were particularly strongly represented on the main suffrage petition. Areas such as Bay of Plenty, East Coast and Nelson are hugely under-represented, and it is likely that some of the separate, smaller petitions referred to above were compiled in these regions.
- Mary J. Carpenter and 25,519 others
- Kate Baldwin and 2765 others
- Gerald L. Peacock, of Devonport, Auckland: 2301 names
- Elizabeth M. Eyre Kenny and 601 others (probably collected in Nelson)
- Caroline Anderson and 393 others
- Mrs J. Irwin Wilson, of Whangarei: 83 names
- Marian Kirker and 49 others
- Clara M. Birch and 40 others
- Sophia James and 34 others
- Lizzie F. Rattray, of Auckland: 31 names
- Harriet Win: 23 names
- F. Nightingale, of Nelson: 16 names
- Sarah Lurchin and 15 others
The table below shows that Canterbury and Otago were particularly strongly represented on the main suffrage petition. Areas such as Bay of Plenty, East Coast and Nelson are hugely under-represented, and it is likely that some of the separate, smaller petitions referred to above were compiled in these regions.
timeline of events:
Immediate CONSEQUENCES
When the governor signed the law on 19 September, suffragists celebrated a famous victory. It was only six weeks until registration closed for the 28 November election, but 109,461 women, or about 84% of those eligible, enrolled to vote. On polling day 90,290 of them (including perhaps 4,000 Māori) voted. The 1893 election was described as the most orderly ever held. The Christchurch Press thought ‘the pretty dresses of the ladies and their smiling faces lighted up the polling booths most wonderfully.’ Women were now eligible to having:
New Zealand’s early embrace of women’s voting rights has become a key part of its identity as a world-leading, progressive democracy. The 1993 the hundredth aniversary was marked by nationwide celebrations, conferences, books and memorials acknowledging womens right.
- Economical: including equal pay, financial independence for married women, and support of single mothers through the domestic purposes benefit (DPB)
- Political: the Women’s Electoral Lobby worked to educate male politicians and get women into Parliament
- health, including safe, easily available contraception and abortion, better treatment from doctors, and more options for childbirth
- education, including women’s studies courses at university and less sex-role stereotyping at school
- The Arts: women actors, filmmakers and artists created works together and advocated equality for women in the arts
- Spirituality: women challenged sexism in the church, or formed their own spiritual groups
- Physical Safety: women raised awareness of domestic violence and rape, and set up women’s refuges and rape crisis centers.
New Zealand’s early embrace of women’s voting rights has become a key part of its identity as a world-leading, progressive democracy. The 1993 the hundredth aniversary was marked by nationwide celebrations, conferences, books and memorials acknowledging womens right.
After winning the vote, women did not give up just yet, they fought for other rights as well including:
Class, Race and Sexuality Differences: The effects of class, sexuality and race were debated. Lesbian feminists argued that lesbianism was a political matter as well as a sexual choice, and one it restricted women from dependence on men. In the mid-1970s a split developed when some lesbians rejected working on what they saw as heterosexual issues, focusing instead on separatist projects. A lot of women also had trouble over these differences such as race, while others developed new ways of working. Women’s refuges (which provided accommodation and support for women in violent relationships) developed a ‘parallel development’ model which involved sharing power between Māori and ‘tauiwi’ (all people who arrived after Māori) in decision-making, use of funds, public presentations and staffing. The organisation also started training non-Māori staff in issues relating to the Treaty of Waitangi and decolonisation this is where "where a nation establishes and maintains its domination over dependent territories".
Single Mothers and Pay Equity: The Council for the Single Mother and Her Child was set up in 1973, this was about supporting solo mothers with the domestic purposes benefit. The Coalition for Equal Value Equal Pay was set up in 1986 to fight for equal pay for women doing work with the same or similar levels of responsibility, skill, effort and difficulty as higher-paid, male-dominated jobs.
Single Mothers and Pay Equity: The Council for the Single Mother and Her Child was set up in 1973, this was about supporting solo mothers with the domestic purposes benefit. The Coalition for Equal Value Equal Pay was set up in 1986 to fight for equal pay for women doing work with the same or similar levels of responsibility, skill, effort and difficulty as higher-paid, male-dominated jobs.