New Zealand the First

On September 19, 1893, the Governor signed the Bill and the women of New Zealand finally won the vote.

In 1893 New Zealand was the first coun country to give women the vote and as such one of the most progressive in terms of women's rights. Sadly, very little has been done to keep this up. In fact, of late, the New Zealand Government has been going to the other extreme with increasingly heavy attacks on women's rights. The 1977 Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act denies women the right to control their own bodies; cuts have been made in the Domestic Purposes Benefit and the privacy of solo mothers has been violated. Women are amongst the first to be laid off and their right to work is coming under increasing attack. And why? The reasons remain the same. Just as in the late 19th Century, women were denied equality because as an inferior sex they provided cheap and uncomplaining labour, women today are being pushed back into the home where they will form a reserve labour force if and when the economy experiences an upturn.

Isolated in the home, it is difficult for women to organise and join with others in demanding their rights. But, as the women of the late 19th Century fought until they won, so will the women of today. The fight for equality will be a long and hard one but it is a just one and as such must win.

Lamorna Rogers