September 19, 1893 - Kate Sheppard - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

New Zealand becomes first country to grant women the vote. Although women in Wyoming and Utah were allowed to vote starting in 1869 and 1870 respectively, New Zealand was the first country to grant women universal suffrage. Initially, it allowed them to vote in a parliamentary election on September 19, 1893. The victory stemmed from the efforts of Christian Temperance Union leader Kate Sheppard, who led the women’s movement in New Zealand, and the support she received from politician John Hall. In Canada, the right to vote for women was taken away when Canada became a country in 1867. In 1917, women of British descent were allowed to vote if they had a close relative fighting in the war. Then all white women were given the right to vote federally in 1919. The vote at the provincial level started with Manitoba in 1916 and finished with Quebec in 1940. Elsewhere in the world, western democratic countries got on the equality band wagon at different times. Women of Germany and Russia got the vote in 1918 while those in the United Kingdom had to wait another decade. Swiss women had to wait until 1971. There are still many countries where women are not allowed to vote even though men are, such as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Brunei. Iranian women got the vote in 1980 and Kuwaiti women got the vote in 2007.

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