Human cost of the fight for a women's vote: Gaunt hunger-striking suffragettes are seen being force-fed in prison a century on from their historic victory

'Deeds not Words': The story of the suffrage movement

The women's suffrage movement began in the mid-1800s as organised campaigns began to take place across the UK after Mary Smith delivered the first women's suffrage petition to parliament.

In 1866, a women's suffrage committee was formed in London, which soon sparked other groups being set up in other areas, such as the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage.

Millicent Garrett Fawcett lead the The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), which was set up in 1897.
They were known as 'suffragists', as they believed in enfranchising women by peaceful means such as protests and petitions. They stayed away from violence.

But Emmeline Pankhurst, who was then a member of the NUWSS, decided to employ more direct and militant tactics, leading her to set up the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1906 with her two daughters, Sylvia and Christabel.
The union's motto was 'Deeds not Words' and many of their actions were considered extreme by the population. They included large rallies and hunger strikes.

Another group, the Women's Freedom League (WFL), was set up a year later by Charlotte Despard and Teresa Billington-Grieg, and were somewhere in between the other two groups in regards to their approach.
But the onset of World War One changed the minds of many opposed to suffrage. Prime Minister Herbert Asquith declared his support of women's suffrage in 1916.

Women over 30 were finally granted the right to vote in 1918 and ten years later, the Representation of the People Act was amended to allow everyone over the age of 21 to vote.








http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4812186/Hunger-striking-suffragettes-pictured-rare-images.html

https://www.infoplease.com/us/gender-sexuality/womens-suffrage