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In 1893 New Zealand, then a self-governing British colony, became the first country in which all adult women could vote in parliamentary elections. The law was signed on 19 September, and women voted for the first time in the election that November.

History

History

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The change followed years of campaigning led by Kate Sheppard and the Women's Christian Temperance Union, a movement that wanted to curb drinking and believed women's votes would help. Campaigners sent Parliament a series of petitions; the last, in 1893, carried nearly 32,000 signatures, almost a quarter of the adult European women in the colony. The Electoral Act gave the vote to all women aged 21 and over, Māori women included. Women could not stand for Parliament until 1919, and the first woman MP, Elizabeth McCombs, was elected in 1933. Since 1991 Kate Sheppard's portrait has appeared on New Zealand's ten-dollar note. In Turkey, women won the right to vote and stand in parliamentary elections in 1934.

Türkçe oku
Yeni Zelanda 1893'te, yetişkin kadınların tamamına genel seçimlerde oy hakkı tanıyan ilk ülke oldu. Ülke o dönem Britanya'ya bağlı, ama kendi kendini yöneten bir koloniydi. Yasa 19 Eylül'de onaylandı; kadınlar ilk oylarını aynı yılın kasım ayındaki seçimde kullandı.

Bu adım, Kate Sheppard'ın öncülük ettiği uzun bir kampanyanın sonucuydu. Kampanyanın arkasında WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Union) adlı Hristiyan kadın örgütü vardı. Örgüt alkol tüketimini sınırlamak istiyor, kadınlar oy kullanırsa bu amaca ulaşmanın kolaylaşacağına inanıyordu. Kadınlar parlamentoya art arda dilekçeler gönderdi; 1893'teki sonuncusunda 32.000'e yakın imza vardı. Bu, koloninin Avrupa kökenli yetişkin kadınlarının neredeyse dörtte biri demekti. Seçim Yasası, Maori kadınları dâhil 21 yaşını doldurmuş bütün kadınlara oy hakkı verdi. Ancak kadınlar 1919'a kadar milletvekili adayı olamadı; ilk kadın milletvekili Elizabeth McCombs 1933'te seçildi. Kate Sheppard'ın portresi 1991'den beri Yeni Zelanda'nın 10 dolarlık banknotunda yer alıyor. Türkiye'de kadınlar milletvekili seçme ve seçilme hakkını 1934'te kazandı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Women's suffrage in New Zealand
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