Women's suffrage, the right of women to vote in elections, emerged as a transformative movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, marking a critical turning point in the struggle for gender equality. While some countries achieved universal suffrage early in the 20th century—such as Finland and New Zealand—others faced decades of resistance, with many women in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe battling deeply entrenched patriarchal structures and legal barriers to claim their rightful place in political life.

Africa Algeria

Women's suffrage was in place in Algeria from 1962.

Women's suffrage was introduced in Algeria by the French colonial authorities after a long struggle, and confirmed after Algeria became an independent nation in 1962. Women's suffrage was introduced in France in 1944. This right automatically included French women residing in French Algeria; but it did not include Muslim Algerian women, since indigenous Algerians was not governed by French law, but indigenous Islamic law.Maamri, M. R. (2015). The State of Algeria: The Politics of a Post-Colonial Legacy. Storbritannien: Bloomsbury Publishing. p.

The advocates of women's suffrage raised the question of an extension of suffrage to Muslim women in Algeria to the French National Assembly in 1947;Maamri, M. R. (2015). The State of Algeria: The Politics of a Post-Colonial Legacy. Storbritannien: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 113 in September 1947 the Organic Statute was passed which granted citizenship to Muslim women in Algeria, but Article 4 of the statue gave the Algerian Assembly free choice to decide when to exercise and introduce that reform. In 1949 the Justrabo Proposal put forvard in the Algerian Assembly suggested to extend suffrage to educated Muslim women, which was a very small minority, but the suggestion did not pass.Maamri, M. R. (2015). The State of Algeria: The Politics of a Post-Colonial Legacy. Storbritannien: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 114

When the UN created the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) the French UN-delegate Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux worked to have France ratify it to force them to introduce suffrage in Algeria.Maamri, M. R. (2015). The State of Algeria: The Politics of a Post-Colonial Legacy. Storbritannien: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 114–115 She succeeded on 20 December 1952 when General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Political Rights of Women.Maamri, M. R. (2015). The State of Algeria: The Politics of a Post-Colonial Legacy. Storbritannien: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 115 After this, there was great pressure on France to introduce this reform in the Algerian colony. The French colonial authorities finally passed women's suffrage in 1958.Harrison, N. (2019). Our Civilizing Mission: The Lessons of Colonial Education. Storbritannien: Liverpool University Press. p. 210

Algeria became an independent nation in 1962, and the Algerian Constitution of 1962 confirmed the existing equal political rights to vote and be elected to all citizens.Maamri, M. R. (2015). The State of Algeria: The Politics of a Post-Colonial Legacy. Storbritannien: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 71

Egypt The struggle for women's suffrage in Egypt first sparked from the nationalist 1919 Revolution in which women of all classes took to the streets in protest against the British occupation. The struggle was led by several Egyptian women's rights pioneers in the first half of the 20th century through protest, journalism, and lobbying, and through women's organizations, primarily the Egyptian Feminist Union (EFU). President Gamal Abdel-Nasser consolidated women's suffrage in 1956 after they were denied the vote in elections for the Egyptian government under the British, who suppressed popular movement and interfered with democratic processes in parliament under the Egyptian monarchy.

Liberia

In 1920, the women's movement organized in the National Liberian Women's Social and Political Movement, who campaigned without success for women's suffrage, followed by the Liberia Women's League and the Liberian Women's Social and Political Movement, and in 1946, limited suffrage was finally introduced for women of the privileged Libero-American elite, and expanded to universal women's suffrage in 1951.

Libya

In Kingdom of Libya (1951–1969) the 1951 Constitution did secure women basic rights, since they were not excluded from the rights granted to all citizens under the constitution. A women's movement was organized by a minority of educated urban elite women who wished to secure women equal rights, starting with the first women's association in Benghazi 1955, followed by one in Tripoli in 1957.Habib, H. (1981). Libya Past and Present. Libyen: Edam Publishing House. 20

The municipal suffrage was granted in 1951.Bernini, Simone. Le elezioni politiche del 1952 in Libia, "Oriente Moderno" Nuova serie, Anno 17 (78), Nr. 2 (1998), pp. 337–351, Fn. 10, p. 339. The Constitution of 1963 extended the suffrage to women.Nyrop, R. F. (1973). Area Handbook for Libya. US: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 37

Morocco

Women's suffrage was introduced in Morocco in 1963.The Crisis of Citizenship in the Arab World. (2017). Nederländerna: Brill. p. 435

The right to vote was technically granted for both the local and national levels on 1 September 1959. This right was however not enforced until 18 June 1963.

The first woman was elected to Parliament in 1993, thirty years after women first participated in the election as voters.

Sierra Leone One of the first occasions when women were able to vote was in the elections of the Nova Scotian settlers at Freetown. In the 1792 elections, all heads of household could vote and one-third were ethnic African women.Simon Schama, Rough Crossings, (2006), p. 431. Women won the right to vote in Sierra Leone in 1930.

South Africa The campaign for women's suffrage was conducted largely by the Women's Enfranchisement Association of the Union, which was founded in 1911.Ian Christopher Fletcher, Philippa Levine, Laura E. Nym Mayhall :Women's Suffrage in the British Empire: Citizenship, Nation and Race

The franchise was extended to white women 21 years or older by the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930. The first general election at which women could vote was the 1933 election. At that election Leila Reitz (wife of Deneys Reitz) was elected as the first female MP, representing Parktown for the South African Party. The limited voting rights available to non-white men in the Cape Province and Natal (Transvaal and the Orange Free State practically denied all non-whites the right to vote, and had also done so to white foreign nationals when independent in the 1800s) were not extended to women, and were themselves progressively eliminated between 1936 and 1968.

The right to vote for the Transkei Legislative Assembly, established in 1963 for the Transkei bantustan, was granted to all adult citizens of the Transkei, including women. Similar provision was made for the Legislative Assemblies created for other bantustans. All adult coloured citizens were eligible to vote for the Coloured Persons Representative Council, which was established in 1968 with limited legislative powers; the council was however abolished in 1980. Similarly, all adult Indian citizens were eligible to vote for the South African Indian Council in 1981. In 1984 the Tricameral Parliament was established, and the right to vote for the House of Representatives and House of Delegates was granted to all adult Coloured and Indian citizens, respectively.

In 1994 the bantustans and the Tricameral Parliament were abolished and the right to vote for the National Assembly was granted to all adult citizens.

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesian white women won the vote in 1919 and Ethel Tawse Jollie (1875–1950) was elected to the Southern Rhodesia legislature 1920–1928, the first woman to sit in any national Commonwealth Parliament outside Westminster. The influx of women settlers from Britain proved a decisive factor in the 1922 referendum that rejected annexation by a South Africa increasingly under the sway of traditionalist Afrikaner Nationalists in favor of Rhodesian Home Rule or "responsible government". Black Rhodesian males qualified for the vote in 1923 (based only upon property, assets, income, and literacy). It is unclear when the first black woman qualified for the vote.

Tunisia

Women's suffrage was introduced in Tunisia in 1957.

The context of the introduction of women's suffrage in Tunisia was a part of a big reform program in women's rights. Tunisia became an independent nation in 1956 and saw a number of progressive reforms in favor of women's rights under the Secular President Habib Bourguiba, whose Code of Personal Statue (CSP) replaced the Islamic sharia law with a secular family law: raised the age of marriage, abolished arranged marriages and polygamy and introduced equal divorce law, as well as breaking Islamic sex segregation and encouraged women to appear unveiled.Tchaïcha, J. D., Arfaoui, K. (2017). The Tunisian Women's Rights Movement: From Nascent Activism to Influential Power-broking. Storbritannien: Taylor & Francis. p. 78 This progressive policy was completed by the introduction of women's suffrage the same year. Women were granted the right to vote in 1957, and became eligible for political office in 1959.Freedom House, Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa 2010 – Tunisia, 3 March 2010, https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/freehou/2010/en/72312 [accessed 17 February 2025]

Asia Afghanistan

Women were granted suffrage in 1919 but elections were abolished in 1929. Women were again granted suffrage in 1964, and have been able to vote in Afghanistan since 1965 (except during Taliban rule, 1996–2001 and since 2021, under which no elections have been held). , women have been casting fewer ballots in part due to being unaware of their voting rights."Fewer Women Cast Votes In Afghanistan." Herizons 23.2 (2009): 7. Academic Search Complete. Web. October 4, 2016. In the 2014 election, Afghanistan's elected president pledged to bring women equal rights.Jason, Straziuso. "Afghanistan's President-Elect Promises Prominent Role, Equal Rights For Country's Women." Canadian Press, The (n.d.): Newspaper Source Plus. Web. October 4, 2016.

In early 2021, there were 69 women elected as members of parliament in Afghanistan; however, after the Fall of Kabul in late 2021, 60 of them fled the country. Legally, women are allowed to vote. However, there have been no government elections in the country since 2021, and all political parties have been banned since 2023.

Bahrain

The Bahrain formally introduced women's suffrage in 2002, when Article 1, Paragraph E, of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain, explicitly included women in the citizens eligible to vote.Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Citizenship and Justice. (2005). US: Freedom House. p. 61

Bangladesh Bangladesh was (mostly) the province of Bengal in British India until 1947 when it became part of Pakistan. It became an independent nation in 1971. Women have had equal suffrage since 1947, and they have reserved seats in parliament. Bangladesh is notable in that since 1991, two women, namely Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, have served terms as the country's Prime Minister continuously. Women have traditionally played a minimal role in politics beyond the anomaly of the two leaders; few used to run against men; few have been ministers. Recently, however, women have become more active in politics, with several prominent ministerial posts given to women and women participating in national, district and municipal elections against men and winning on several occasions. Choudhury and Hasanuzzaman argue that the strong patriarchal traditions of Bangladesh explain why women are so reluctant to stand up in politics.

China