The long fight for women's suffrage: A timeline of the journey

In the early centuries, women partaking in any decision-making was only a fiction. This is displayed in the long years it took to fight for women's suffrage. This experience can now be referred to in the past tense. However, various countries granted women the right to vote at different times.

Here's a breakdown of when women were allowed to vote around the world:

Early Adopters

- New Zealand (1893): Led by suffrage activist Kate Sheppard, New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote.

-Australia (1902): Australia followed suit, with the Commonwealth Franchise Act granting voting rights to all Australian women.

-Finland (1906): Finland became the first European country to grant women the right to vote.

Post-WWII Advancements

- United States (1920): The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote, although this right was initially limited to white women.

- Canada (1917): Women in Canada gained the right to vote, except Indigenous Canadians.

- United Kingdom (1918): Women over 30 were granted the right to vote, with full universal suffrage coming in 1928.

Mid-20th Century Progress

- France (1944): Women in France gained the right to vote after World War II.

- Italy (1945): Italy granted women the right to vote, with women participating in national elections for the first time in 1946.

- Japan (1945): Japan granted women the right to vote, with over 13 million women voting in the first post-war election.

Late Bloomers

- Switzerland (1971): Switzerland was one of the last European countries to grant women the right to vote.

- Iraq (1980): Iraq granted women the right to vote, although women's rights have been restricted in recent years.

- Namibia (1989): Namibia granted women the right to vote, with women now holding 44% of political seats in the country.