Women's Suffrage In Australia Essay

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Pages: 2

the womens suffrage movement began in australia in the late nineteenth century. during this time the position of women in society was extremely difficult in comparison to todays standards. often they were considered to be the property of first their fathers and then their husbands. they had no rights to own property have any sort of economic role in the community were not permitted to vote or have any sort of say in how things were done within the community in which they lived. women were expected to be properly subject to men and [keep to] their place in the private domestic sphere pateman 1989 womens suffrage or the right to vote in political elections was one of the earliest milestones of the womens suffrage movement towards gender equality …show more content…
but still the women of australia persevered. formed in 1884 by suffragists henrietta dugdale and annie lowe the victorian womens suffragist society was the first of many such organizations in the australian colonies. the aim of this society was to enable women to enjoy the same voting rights that men in australia had at the time. in addition to voting rights the victorian womens suffragist society also championed for equality for women in justice privileges in marriage and divorce the right to own property and the rights of mothers to have custody of children in divorce proceedings. by 1900 there were thirty-two different societies within the australian colonies whose goals were to improve the lives and rights of women in australia. these societies were all affiliated with the united council for womens suffrage council which was formed in 1894 by annette bear crawford in an effort to coordinate the efforts of all of the suffrage movements. in 1891 many of the societies within the united council for womens suffrage council worked together to gather signatures throughout victoria requesting the right for women to vote within the