When did women in Britain gain the right to vote? Listen and read to find out. (Phụ nữ ở Anh giành được quyền bầu cử khi nào? Nghe và đọc để nhận ra.)
VOTES FOR WOMEN
When we think of women who have led the way, we often think of people such as Marie Curie, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, or Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean. But there are also times in history when women have worked together to improve the lives of other women.
This happened in the Victorian era, when women in Britain started to fight for their right to vote. Before 1918, women were not allowed to vote. From around the 1860s, groups of women started to come together to organise activities and talk about helping women to get the right to vote. In 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst set up the Women’s Social and Political Union, or WSPU. The WSPU made speeches, wrote in newspapers, and demonstrated on the streets smashing windows and setting buildings on fire. However, during World War I, the WSPU stopped their attacks and supported the government. As men were away fighting in the war, women took on many jobs that men used to do, like police officers and bus drivers. In these jobs, women showed everyone they were equal to men.
In 1918, the government finally gave women over 30 the right to vote for the first time. It was an important step in the fight for equality for women in society. However, it wasn't until ten years later, in 1928, that all women over 21 could vote as men could.