The term women's suffrage refers to the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage — the right to vote — to women. The movement's modern origins lie in France in the 18th century. Of currently existing independent countries, New Zealand was the first to give women the right to vote in 1893.

Similarly, the colony of South Australia enacted legislation giving women the vote in 1894. Places with similar status which granted women the vote include Wyoming Territory (1869). Other possible contenders for first "country" to grant female suffrage include the Corsican Republic, the Isle of Man (1881), the Pitcairn Islands, Franceville, and Tavolara, but some of these had brief existences as independent states and others were not clearly independent.

Australia extended this right in 1901 to some women, and then in 1902 to all non-aboriginal women. A contestant for being the first independent nation to grant the right to vote for women would be Sweden, where some women were in fact allowed to vote during the age of liberty (1718-1771), although this right was far from applying to women in general. Voting rights for women were introduced into international law in 1948 when the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As stated in Article 21 “(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.” Women’s suffrage is also explicitly stated as a right under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted by the United Nations in 1979.

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