Suffering For Suffrage.

Universal suffrage. This is the right to vote which is given to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity or any other restrictions. In Briton, whilst we pride ourselves on having universal suffrage, our history speaks of a very different Briton. Less than 100 years ago, almost half of the UK population, women, were legally barred from being able to vote simply because they were women.

The lack of a woman’s right to vote was just an attestation to the lack of women’s rights, and the public perception of women, in the Victorian era. Women in Victorian Britain were perceived to only have two roles. The first was to marry and bear children and the second was to take care of their marital home. Before marriage, women would learn housewife skills such as cooking, washing and cleaning, most women were not allowed an education as this was a “man’s world.” Richard D. Altick, a notable writer on Victorian society stated that in Victorian Britain, “a woman was inferior to a man in all ways except the unique one that counted most [to a man]: her femininity.”

Victorian society was construed in such a way that legally, politically and economically women were dependent and subjugated by men. For example, before 1882, once a woman was married, she would essentially cease to exist as an individual. Anything that a woman owned became the property of her husband upon marriage. This can be compared to women in Islam who were given the right to own, manage and dispose of property personally, despite marriage, 1,400 years ago.

Even within the domestic household, women were portrayed as inferior to men. For example, a women’s refusal to partake in intimacy with her partner was a ground for annulment of marriage. There was also a widely held belief that a man could strike his wife for “lawful correction” of conduct. Thus, in a society where bigotry, misogyny and sexism ruled, it comes as no surprise that the idea of women having a political opinion was unheard of, let alone a woman voting or becoming involved in politics.

In Victorian Britain, sexism was strife to the point that parliament passed the Reform Act 1832, which statutorily barred a women’s right to vote, as it defined a voter as male. However, certain men knew that the notion of women being inferior to men was irrational. One such man was Henry Hunt who was the first person to petition parliament to get women the right to vote back in 1832. This would be followed by John Stuart Mill who petitioned in 1866 for equal suffrage for men and women. However, both men’s efforts would go in vain. Post-1870, a bill proposing the women’s right to vote was presented before parliament on an annual basis, but these efforts would be unsuccessful for another 50+ years.

Surprisingly, the industrial revolution was one of the most important driving forces behind the women’s suffrage movement. Traditionally, the only type of jobs that women could get in Victorian Britain where domestically related, such as to be a maid or cook. But the onset of the industrial revolution meant that new and emerging opportunities where being presented to women, for example, jobs in textile work in factories. Despite having to work long hours in horrendous conditions, under male supervision, the importance of these jobs was that they were the first-time many women had experienced any sort of independence outside of their marital home.

This independence allowed women to congregate and discuss issues of the day which eventually turned into conversations on politics. It quickly became apparent to these women that the fact that they could not vote, simply because they were women, was social injustice. As time went on, this became a consensus amongst women. This led to the creation of women suffrage movements, the most notable being the National Society for Women Suffrage, which was created in 1868 by Linda Backer.

Members of the National Society for Women Suffrage became known as suffragists. The suffragists adopted a non-confrontational strategy of persuasion and education to convince legislators to give them the right to vote. However, due to a mixture of sexism, bigotry and fear, the government and men at large ignored the movement. The unspoken fear that stemmed from the movement was the uncertainty of what politics would look like if women were able to get power. Men in government were unsure as to whom women would vote for and whether the two dominating political parties would be able to retain control. Thus, parliament, by not allowing women to vote, was silencing the voice of democracy to retain power.

After 50 years of failed, non-confrontational and peaceful attempts to convince legislators, and the passing governments, to allow women the right to vote, a lot of anger began to brew amongst the suffragists. This led to the creation of the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903, a militant sub-set of the suffrage movement. The members of this group were known as suffragettes and were led by the notorious Emmeline Pankhurst, a former member of the suffragists.

The new suffragettes were radical and were fixed upon taking what was rightfully theirs, the right to vote. Whilst the public today may not understand the importance of the vote, with voter apathy being at 32.7%, the suffragettes did. They understood that the vote was the only way that women could get their voices heard, get their interest represented and get laws passed that suited them. An example of the lack of speed at which pro-women laws get passed can be seen by the Sexual Offences Act 2003. It was only in 2003 that marital rape was statutorily considered to be an offence. Surely this digesting offence, which disproportionately affects women, should have been statutorily criminalised centuries ago.

To see material change, the suffragettes needed to raise public awareness for their cause. Initially, the suffragettes carried out large, tightly choreographed, demonstrations. At these events, the suffragettes adorned full matching outfits and signs, but as it became apparent that these demonstrations were being ignored, the suffragettes adopted a more radical approach. It was the radical actions of the suffragettes that made them notorious in British civil rights history.

The suffragettes would smash windows, destroy fine art and even set fire to the houses of their political opponents. At their extreme, the suffragettes resorted to planting explosives and IED’s in places like Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, the Bank of England, the National Gallery, railway stations and many other locations, all in the name of keeping their cause in the front pages of the newspaper. Whilst the motive of the suffragettes was commendable, their actions led them to be labelled a terrorist organisation.

However, the anger that caused to suffragettes to go to these lengths came from years of pent up frustration, repression and humiliation. The suffragettes demonstrated this by adopting slogans like “Deeds not Words.” Not only had women been repressed to near slaves, when women finally used their words and respectfully and peacefully stood up for their rights, they were also mocked and ignored. It was due to this response that the suffragettes believed that the only way they would be heard was through violence.

The radical actions of the militant suffragettes gained them a bad reputation with both the press and the left/mid-wing of the women suffrage movement. The media would often depict the suffragettes as being unfeminine and crazed, partly because of their radical actions but partly because these women were not conforming to the social norms set out by an oppressive Victorian society. The fact that these empowered women were standing up for what they believed in made Victorian Britain very uncomfortable. As the media had made the suffragists look crazed, public pageantry and image were imperative to the success of the movement. This was the suffragette’s opportunity to change societies perspective of what a woman and femininity were.

However, the suffragette’s publicity strategy would come to change on the 18th of November 1910, a day coined Black Friday. On this day, an estimated 300 suffragettes, including Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a decedent of Punjabi royalty and Goddaughter of Queen Victoria, congregated in parliament square to demand the women’s right to vote. The suffragettes were met with harrowing conditions as they were bombarded by policemen. On this tragic day, an estimated 150 suffragettes were physically or sexually assaulted. Some of the recollections from the suffragettes paint a truly disgusting picture of men’s attitude towards women in this period. There are stories of women being sexually assaulted by policemen who would incite others to follow their revolting acts. All these terrible acts took place right outside the House of Commons.

On Black Friday, the Police arrested 115 suffragettes and just 4 men, all of whose charges were dropped the following day. When the Conciliation Committee called for a public inquiry for the incident, it was rejected by the then Home Secretary, Winston Churchill. From then on, the suffragettes held fewer public demonstrations where they would be surrounded by the police. They resorted back to the destruction of property as it allowed the suffragettes a chance to escape if they feared a repeat of the atrocities that took place on Black Friday. Despite a lot of suffragettes being scared to be associated with the group, the movement went on.

One of the most shocking elements of Black Friday was the media’s reaction to it. Despite being treated in such a terrible manner, the media continued to portray the suffragettes as the villains. On the 19th of November 1910, according to historian Caroline Morrell, the newspapers "almost unanimously refrained from any mention of police brutality", and instead focussed on the behaviour of the suffragettes. The Daily Mirror wrote that "the police displayed great temper and tact throughout and avoided making arrests, but as usual many of the Suffragettes refused to be happy until they were arrested ... in one scuffle a constable got hurt and had to be led limping away by two colleagues." The newspaper did not even mention the horrendous act that were done against the suffragettes and instead used the opportunity to portray the victims as the perpetrators.

Despite this, the suffragettes were clear. They would not stop until they were rightfully given the right to vote. This spirit was carried by women like Emily Wilding Davison, one of the most notable, respected and extreme suffragettes. Previously, Emily had been jailed 9 times for multiple offences, went on hunger strikes 7 times whilst in prison and was subsequently force-fed 49 times in prison.

During one of her imprisonments in 1912, Davison threw herself from a prison balcony in a suicide attempt to draw public attention to the tortuous force-feeding that the suffragettes were enduring in prison. Davison later stated that “If I had succeeded, I am sure that forcible feeding could not in all conscience have been resorted to again”. Force-feeding is still used in American prisons, such as Guantanamo Bay, to this day. Ex-prisoners of Guantanamo Bay state that they would rather die than have to face the ordeal of force-feeding again. However, force-feeding was not unique to Davison. Over 1,000 suffragettes were arrested, a lot of whom would have gone on hunger strikes whilst in prison and would have subsequently been force-fed.

The following year, at the 1913 Epsom Derby, Davison took her ambition to the most extreme yet. In front of a crowd of over 500,000 people, including King George the 5th, Davison would pay the ultimate price for women’s suffrage, her life. As the derby was taking place Davison snuck under the guard barrier and jumped in front of the Kings racehorse. She was struck by the kings’ horse at full speed whilst holding the suffragette flag in her hands. It was unclear whether Davison intended to take down the 2-ton horse or simply pin the suffragette flag to it, to bring attention to the cause. But 4 days later Emily Davison died from her injuries.

In the days that passed, the public response to Emily Davison’s death was mixed. Shockingly people were more outraged that Davison had “ruined” the Derby rather than looking at the cause that she died standing for. Whilst for most Davison had “ruined” the derby, for the suffragettes, Emily Davison became a martyr. A huge funeral was organised for Davison where 5,000 suffragettes wore white dresses and black armbands and marched in solemn procession through the streets of London. The imagines from Davison’s funeral brought sympathy for the struggle of women suffrage from across the world.

The following year WW1 broke out and the suffragettes put their movement on hold to contribute to the war effort. Many women took up jobs that were traditionally done by men, such as working in ammunition factories. Women were the reason that men had a country to come back to after the war had ended. The combination of the increased public attention for the women’s suffrage cause, the death Emily Wilding Davison and the women of Britain doing the jobs that men traditionally did, gained the women’s suffrage movement a lot of respect and caused public consensus towards women to begin to shift. Women had proven, to those who doubted, that they were every bit as equal as men. The government subsequently promised to grant women the right to vote at the next general election.

In 1918 the Representation of the People Act was passed by parliament which added 8.5 million women, those over 30 who owned property or were graduates voting in a university constituency, to the electoral roll. It also gave the vote to 5.6 million more men after the voting age for men was lowered to 21, and the property qualification abolished. However, as women and men were still legally treated differently, due to this law, the political stance of women was still inferior to men.

It took another 10 years for full suffrage to be granted to women on an equal footing as men, which was done by the 1928 Equal Franchise Act. Up until 1918, women had not been allowed to become Members of Parliament. However, the 1918 Representation of People Act changed this, leading to the first women being elected to the House of Commons in 1919.

What the march towards gender equity highlights is the danger of democracy. This danger was epitomised by Thomas Jefferson who stated: “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine”. Victorian Britain was the personification of Jeffersons’ fear.

Whilst women have fought hard for equality, there still persists bigotry and sexism to this day. This is seen when looking at statistics like the gender pay gap. Whilst the gender pay gap was around 60% in the Victorian era, in 2019 it was still 17.3%. This shows that whilst gender equality has come a long way, there is still a lot more that needs to be done.