December 2008 marked the 90th anniversary of the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons and the first election in which women over the age of 30 were able to stand as candidates and to vote.

With the outbreak of the First World War, the energies of the Suffragette movement were directed towards the support of the war effort. With great effect, women across the country proved themselves to be indispensable as they worked tirelessly in the fields and armament factories, in what was to be a decisive moment in the campaign.

By 1918, the pressure for female suffrage was insurmountable, with the Representation of the Peoples Act passed, allowing women over the age of 30 the right to vote. A decade later, in 1928, the age was lowered to 21, with women finally being given the same voting rights as men under the Equal Franchise Act.

2008 is also a monumental year in Bhutan where universal suffrage was granted to all men and women. Until 2008, election law in the tiny Himalayan country allowed only one vote per household, with votes almost always cast by men, even though Bhutanese women hold the majority of property deeds and run households.

Important female issues were incorporated into party policies including concerns of sexual harassment in the workplace, lack of care for the elderly and support for uneducated and divorced single mothers. In total, three women were elected to the 20 open seats of the National Council, with all but four female candidates of the Bhutanese Peace and Prosperity Party winning seats to the Bhutanese National Assembly.

To date, there have been a total of 53 elected female heads of state and government around the world, with 13 women currently presiding over this position. They include

Pratibha Patil, India’s first woman president
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor
Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia
President of the Phillipines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand
Irish President, Mary McAleese
Michelle Bachelet, the Chilean Prime Minister
Tarja Kaarina Halonen, President of Finland
Lu’sa Dias Diogo, President of Mozambique
Micheline Calmy-Rey, Switzerland’s Prime Minister
Cristina Fern·ndez de Kirchner, Argentinean President
and the Antilles Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Emily de Jongh Elhage,

www​.imow​.org/​w​p​p​/​s​t​o​r​i​e​s​/​v​i​e​w​S​t​o​r​y​?​s​t​o​r​y​i​d​=​1​699
www​.womenworldleaders​.org/