Women’s rights are the political, legal, economic and social rights every woman and girl deserves by nature of being human. Without women’s rights, a gender-equal society is not possible. Historically, women’s rights have not been as protected as men’s rights, leading to persistent and systemic discrimination and inequality around the world. In this article, we’ll explore the history of women’s rights, give examples and describe some of the most influential women’s rights activists.
Women’s rights are the political, legal, economic and social rights granted to women. Rights cover an array of issues such as the right to vote, the right to equal education, the right to equal pay for equal work, reproductive rights and freedom of movement.
The history of women’s rights
The history of women’s rights is long and complex, but when distilled down, the story can be broken into three must-know parts: women’s rights in ancient times, the birth of the women’s rights movement and the waves of feminism.
Women’s rights in ancient times
Ancient civilizations varied in their views on women’s rights, but many places treated women fairly well. In Mesopotamia, women could buy and sell land, own businesses, initiate a divorce and live alone. They were still seen as inferior to men, however, which was a common belief in other ancient civilizations. In ancient Greece, women had significantly fewer financial rights and were not allowed to inherit property, although they could engage in trade. In ancient Rome, freeborn Roman women enjoyed the most rights as they were allowed to divorce, buy property and inherit wealth. Globally, women in the ancient world enjoyed a few rights, which were often taken away or given back depending on who was in charge, but full equality was very rare.
The birth of the women’s rights movement
Many credit the 1848 Seneca Falls convention as the birth of the women’s rights movement, but activists had been working on women’s rights for years before. The convention is still a major milestone as it was the first women’s rights convention in the United States. Around 300 people attended. During the meeting, 11 resolutions on women’s rights were passed, including resolutions that said “woman is man’s equal” and that “the women of this country ought to be enlightened in regard to the laws under which they leave.” The ninth resolution, which resolved to give women the right to vote, only passed after Frederick Douglass, a formerly enslaved man and abolitionist, urged its passage. The convention’s attendees and other activists campaigned for decades, winning small victories, until in 1920, women won the right to vote through the Nineteenth Amendment. Racial discrimination, which was present in the women’s rights movement from the very beginning, was not formally addressed until the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed voter discrimination based on race.
What about the women’s rights movement in countries outside the United States? According to Pew Research, at least 19 countries gave women the right to vote before the United States. New Zealand was the first in 1893. More than half of the countries and territories surveyed by Pew achieved universal suffrage before 1960, while at least 19 nations at first restricted the right to vote for women based on factors like age, education, marital status or race.
The waves of feminism
The women’s rights movement and the feminist movement have a close relationship. While feminism is complex and ever-evolving, the movement can be distilled into a series of “waves.” The first wave focused primarily on the right to vote for women, while the second included more discussions on gender roles, workplace discrimination, reproductive freedom and the tensions between white-led feminist organizations, Black women and other women of color. The third wave, which kicked off in the 1990s, continued to prioritize workplace protections, representation in politics and positions of power, individuality and intersectional feminism. Many believe we’re in the fourth wave now, so it’s more difficult to define. Intersectionality continues to be key to the women’s rights movement, as do persistent issues like the gender pay gap, racial discrimination, labor rights and reproductive justice.
Learn more about intersectional feminism here.
Examples of women’s rights
The UN defines human rights as “rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status.” This means all genders are entitled to equal rights. Here are five examples of rights women have fought for and continue to fight for:
The right to vote
The right to vote, also known as suffrage, is the right to vote in public political elections and referendums without restrictions based on factors like gender, age, education and race. The early women’s movement focused on the right to vote as a core tenet. Why is this right so important? It’s essential to democracy as it ensures representation, holds politicians accountable to voters and encourages social change. As members of society, women deserve the right to make their voices heard. Universal suffrage has often moved slowly with women first gaining the right to vote in local elections, and then national ones. In 2015, Saudi Arabia became the most recent country to grant the vote to women. Despite legal changes, women often face systemic barriers when voting.
The right to education
Historically, only men were allowed to get an education, as women were expected to be wives, mothers or domestic laborers. While certain places evolved their thinking on gender roles, discrimination remains prevalent. As an example, in the United States, women in the 1960s were not protected in educational institutions, even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As National Geographic describes, girls weren’t allowed to perform tasks like running projectors, while they were required to take home economics classes. At higher education levels, schools went so far as to ban women outright or limit how many female students they accepted. In 1972, the passage of Title IX banned sex-based discrimination at any school or program that receives federal funding. Globally, the gender gap in education is steadily closing, but according to the World Bank, around 129 million girls are not in school due to factors like poverty, gender bias and violence.
The right to equal pay (and equal work)
The gender pay gap remains one of the most persistent issues facing women today. According to UN Women, women make just 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. Disparities are present everywhere and across all sectors. Work traditionally dominated by women is undervalued, while the biggest gaps exist between men and women of color, immigrant women and mothers. The gender pay gap is one of the reasons why most of the world’s poorest people are women. According to Oxfam, there are 700 million fewer women than men in paid work, and at the current rate of progress, it’ll take 170 years to reach equality. Women also perform at least twice (and sometimes up to 10 times as much) unpaid work. Achieving gender equality in the economy would equal around $9 trillion a year.
The right to reproductive freedom
According to Human Rights Watch, reproductive rights include prenatal services, safe childbirth, access to contraception, and access to safe, legal abortion. In 2021, the UN World Population Fund estimated that around half of the women in 57 developing countries lacked bodily autonomy. They weren’t given a choice about whether to have sex with their partners, use contraception or access healthcare. When reproductive rights are threatened, women’s rights to privacy, freedom from violence, to family, health and more are threatened, as well.
The right to freedom of movement
Freedom of movement is the right to travel within a country, out of the country and to return to the country. This is one of the most basic human rights, but women have often faced restrictions. In the United States, passports didn’t start to become standardized until the 1800s, and while single women could get a passport, married women were listed on their husband’s passports. This triggered a battle over a married woman’s right to choose her name, and in 1925, the first passport without this “wife” designation was issued under the woman’s preferred name. Today, many countries in North Africa and the Middle East don’t allow women to travel at all without a male guardian. Even when women are allowed to travel by themselves, they face increased threats to their rights.
Interested in working on women’s rights? Check our guide on women’s rights jobs.
Women’s rights activists
Activists have fought for women’s rights for centuries even in the face of harassment, imprisonment and even death. Here are five examples:
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
Mary Wollstonecraft was a women’s rights activist best known for Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which was released in 1792. It’s considered the first and most important document advocating for gender equality. Wollstonecraft was born in England, where she educated herself and founded a girl’s school in London. In Vindication, Wollstonecraft argued that reason and rationality weren’t traits exclusive to men, and so women should be allowed to participate and contribute to society equally. Only by educating women would society progress. Wollstonecraft died soon after the birth of her daughter, Mary, who would go on to write Frankenstein at age 19.
Lucretia Mott (1793-1880)
Lucretia Mott was one of America’s most famous suffragettes and abolitionists. Born in Massachusetts, Mott’s Quaker faith taught her to view all people as equal under God. These values led her to join the abolitionist cause with the Anti-Slavery Society in the 1830s, but she quickly experienced sexism. When she did not get to participate in the World Anti-Slavery Convention equally, Mott met Elizabeth Cady Stanton and became involved in the women’s rights movement. With Stanton, Mott organized the Seneca Falls Convention. She continued to actively participate in the abolitionist movement, as she believed both causes were important.
Fannie Lou Hammer (1917-1977)
Fannie Lou Hammer was a voting rights advocate, women’s rights activist and prominent civil rights leader. She was born to sharecroppers in Mississippi, where she grew up to work as a sharecropper herself for almost 20 years. In 1962, she tried to register to vote (which was technically legal at the time), but when her boss and landlord heard about it, he fired her and forced her to leave. Hammer faced other threats to her safety, including a brutal assault that partially blinded her. She continued to fight for voting rights, gender equality, economic rights and more. While the suffragettes of the 19th century focused on voting rights for white women, activists like Fannie Lou Hammer fought for Black women and other people of color.
Malala Yousafzai (1997-)
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistan-born advocate for girls’ education. Her father is also an advocate for education, so Malala received more schooling access than many other girls. When the Taliban gained power, they destroyed hundreds of schools and banned girls from receiving an education. Malala began writing a blog where she criticized the Taliban and advocated for equal education. By age 15, she was famous throughout the country. In 2012, a Taliban member boarded her school bus and shot her in the head. She recovered in England, where she still lives. In 2014, she won the Nobel Peace Prize at 17 years old. Today, she runs the Malala Fund, which invests in education for girls.
Tarana Burke (1973-)
Tarana Burke is a community organizer and activist known for starting the “Me Too” movement, which is a global social movement that raises awareness about sexual violence. Born in New York, Burke began community organizing at a young age. She created initiatives around racial discrimination, economic justice and housing inequality. After moving to Alabama, she began meeting survivors of sexual violence. As a survivor herself, Burke realized young survivors – especially Black women – didn’t have the resources and support they needed. This led her to harness the phrase “me too” to promote what she calls “empowerment through empathy.” When the phrase went viral on Twitter in 2017, Burke became internationally recognized.
