Women's Rights

A woman's place before 1900 depended on her class and family circumstances. Throughout the nineteenth century the ideal for even the poorest was to be supported by a husband. In wealthier families daughters stayed at home, supported by their fathers, until a suitable husband could be found. Girls from poorer families, however, were sent out to work as soon as they were old enough.

Until the late nineteenth century a woman not only belonged in the home, she belonged to her men-folk. The only women with any measure of independence were wealthy widows or single women with money of their own. At the start of Queen Victoria's reign a married woman had no separate existence in law. She was in effect her husband's property. On marriage her property became her husband's, and remained his even if she left him. Only in 1882 were women granted the same rights to their property as single women.

Until 1923 divorce laws favoured men. They could divorce a wife for adultery; a wife could not divorce her husband for the same reason. In addition to adultery she had to prove cruelty, a difficult task when wife beating was both legal and acceptable as long as the stick used was no thicker than a man's thumb.

Women had no rights to their children until 1839, when the Custody of Infants Act gave women, innocent of adultery, the right to the custody of children under the age of 7, and access to children under 16. The right to see their children was only extended to all separated and divorced women in 1873.

Women faced a great deal of discrimination in employment, particularly in the professions. In 1919 the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act made it unlawful to refuse a woman entry to the professions on the grounds of her sex. By the 1920s the Victorian idea that a woman's place was in the home was dead, at least for single women. However, pressure was put on married women to return to the home. Many employers, including the civil service and local government, introduced a marriage bar. Women teachers, nurses, doctors and civil servants were amongst the many who lost their jobs on marriage.

Women had to wait another five decades for laws making it illegal to pay women less than men for the same work.

Until the second half of the nineteenth century a girl's education was not taken seriously. It was believed that women's bodies were too frail and their brains too weak to take the strain of learning. Upper and middle class girls were taught at home. Their education was designed to make them into suitable wives. Learning to listen attentively whenever a man spoke to them was one of their most important lessons.

In the second half of the nineteenth century women campaigned for change. A number of academic schools for girls were opened. At Cheltenham Ladies' College girls were taught science and mathematics, along with deportment, decorum and modesty.

Working class girls received little or no education until the Education Act of 1870 established compulsory education for all children between the ages of 5 and 10. Working class girls rarely went on to secondary education.

Emily Davies, who was an experienced campaigner on women's issues, spent much of her time fighting for a woman's right to higher education. She was one of the founders of Girton College, the first woman's college in Cambridge. She also played a role in persuading London University to open their degrees to women.

Women had been campaigning for the vote since 1860. The campaign for women's suffrage escalated at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1918 the right to vote was granted to women over the age of 30. In 1928 women finally achieved full recognition as citizens when they were granted the same voting rights as men.

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Updated:	Wed 23 Apr 2008 - 1
Interpretation written by	Barbara Harris
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