Europe

The origins of women’s rights are often associated with this region. From very different perspectives both capitalist and communist nations have regularly claimed to lead. The Nordic countries, sometimes quizzically referred to as the ‘magical kingdoms’ because of their social advances, are often celebrated. In fact, feminism’s progress here has been uneven. Equally unfortunately, supposed superiority in the status of women has sometimes provided an excuse for European adventurism in other parts of the globe, in India in the past and in Afghanistan in the present, to give only two examples. Imperially-mined European women, like others in North America, sometimes operated from the same assumption of superiority when they founded the first international women’s groups, such as the International Council of Women (1888), the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (1904) and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (1915). That unhappy connection should not, however, obscure significant advances in women’s political rights in the region since the 19th century and the valuable work done by such global ‘sisterhoods.’ They and their successors are largely responsible for the achievement of UN Women today.

Europe Suffrage Timeline

Right to Vote Right to Stand for Election Albania 1920 1920 Andora April 14th, 1970 September 5th, 1973 Armenia February 2nd, 1921 February 2nd, 1921 Austria December 19th, 1918 December 19th, 1918 Azerbaijan May 19th, 1921 May 19th, 1921 Belarus February 4th, 1919 February 4th, 1919 Belgium May 9th, 1919*/March 27th, 1948** February 7th, 1921*/March 27th, 1948** Belgium Notes *”Right to vote in national elections to the widows and mothers of servicemen killed in World War I, to the widows and mothers of citizens shot or killed by the enemy, and to female political prisoners who had been held by the enemy” (p. 34). **Right to vote extended to “all women… with the same conditions applied to men” (p. 34). Bosnia and Herzegovina January 31st, 1949 January 31st, 1949 Bulgaria October 16th, 1944 October 16th, 1944 Croatia August 11th, 1945 August 11th, 1945 Cyprus August 16th, 1960 August 16th, 1960 Czech Republic 1920 1920 Denmark 1908 (local authorities)/

June 5th, 1915 1908 (local authorities)/

June 5th, 1915 Estonia November 24th, 1918 November 24th, 1918 Finland July 20th, 1906 July 20th, 1906 France April 21st, 1944 April 21st, 1944 Georgia November 22nd, 1918 November 22nd, 1918 Germany November 12th, 1918 November 12th, 1918 Greece January 1st, 1952 January 1st, 1952 Hungary 1918 1918 Iceland June 19th, 1915 June 19th, 1915 Ireland June 2nd, 1918 (Women over 30 years of age)/

July 2nd 1928 June 2nd, 1918 (Women over 30 years of age)/

July 2nd 1928 Italy February 1st, 1945 February 1st, 1945 Kazakhstan January 31st, 1924 January 31st, 1924 Latvia November 18th, 1918 December 18th, 1918 Liechtenstein* July 1st, 1984 July 1st, 1984 Liechtenstein Notes Last country in Europe to grant women suffrage. Lithuania October 5th, 1921 October 5th, 1921 Luxembourg May 15th, 1919 May 15ht, 1919 Macedonia December 31st, 1946 December 31st, 1946 Malta September 5th, 1947 September 5th, 1947 Moldova April 4th, 1978 April 4th, 1978 Monaco December 17th, 1962 December 17th, 1962 Netherlands August 9th, 1919 November 29, 1917 Norway 1907* 1907*/1913 Norway Notes *“Special conditions related to private mans, property, and income. Those restrictions were removed in 1913” (p. 289). Poland November 28th, 1918 November 28th, 1918 Portugal May 5th, 1931* May 5th, 1931/

November 16th, 1934/

June 2nd, 1976 Portugal Notes *“In 1931, women were given the right to vote and stand for election, with the restriction that they had to have completed secondary or higher education (men only had to know how to read and write). All citizens who were literate were granted the right to vote and stand for election in 1934. Some restrictions on women, however, remained for election to certain local administrative bodes under a l968 law. Full equality of the sexes with regard to the franchise and right of election to all bodies was achieved in 1976″ (p. 312). Romania 1929*/

1946** 1929*/

July 1946** Romania Notes *”Restricted electoral rights” (p. 316). **”Under the same conditions as men” (p. 316). Russia June 1918 June 1918 San Marino April 29th, 1959 September 10th, 1973 Slovakia 1920 1920 Slovenia August 10th, 1945 August 10th, 1945 Spain December 9th, 1931 May 8th, 1931 Sweden 1862/

1918 “local elections”/

May 1919 “granted”/

1921 “in effect” 1862/

1918 “local elections”/

May 1919 “granted”/

1921 “in effect” Switzerland February 7th, 1971 February 7th, 1971 Turkey April 3rd, 1930 December 5th, 1934 Ukraine March 10th, 1919 March 10th, 1919 United Kingdom February 2nd, 1918 (“over 30 years of age”)/

July 2nd, 1928 February 2nd, 1918 (“over 30 years of age”)/

July 2nd, 1928

Resources

Dahlerup, Drude and Lenita Freidenwvall, et al. 2008. Electoral Gender Quota Systems and their Implementation in Europe.Women in Politics Centre. Stockholm University. http://www.europeanpwn.net/files/euquotaonderzoek.pdf

Freeman, Jane. 2002. “Women in the European Parliament.” Parliamentary Affairs. 55:1. 179-188.

Hellsten, Sirkku K., Anne M. Holli and Krassimira Daskalova, eds. 2005. Women’s Citizenship and Political Rights. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

LeGates, Marlene. 2001. In Their Time: A History of Feminism in Wesstern Society. London: Routledge.

Lovenduski, Joni. 1986. Women and European Politics. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.

Mertus, Julie. “Human Rights of Women in Central and Eastern Europe.” Journal of Gender & the Law. 6. 368-484.

Mertus,Julie. 1999. “Women in Kosovo: Contested Terrains.” In Gender Politics in the Western Balkans. Ed. Sabrina P. Ramet (Philadelphia, Penn: Pennsylvania State University.

Norris, P. and J. Lovenduski (1995). Political Recruitment: Gender, Race and Class in the British

Parliament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Offen, Karen. 2000. European Feminism 1700-1950: A Political History. Stanford University Press.

Raaum, N. C. (1999). ‘Women in Parliamentary Politics: Historical Lines of Development.” In C. Bergqvist, A Borchorst, A. Christensen, V. Ramstedt-Silén, N. C. Raaum and A. Styrkársdóttir (eds.), Equal Democracies? Gender and Politics in the Nordic Countries, Olso: Scandinavian University Press.

Ravnbol, Camilla I. 2010. “The Human Rights of Minority Women: Romani Women’s Rights from a Perspective on International Human Rights Law and Politics.” International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. 17:1. 1-45.

Ruthchild, Rochelle G. 2010. Equality & Revolution: Women’s Rights in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917. Pttsburgh, Penn.: Univeristy of Pittsburgh Press.