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Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the world's first female prime minister when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She chaired the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1960 to 1994 and served three terms as prime minister, two times as the chief executive, from 1960 to 1965 and from 1970 to 1977, and once again in a presidential system from 1994 to 2000, governing under the presidency of her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia", was a Ceylonese statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of the Dominion of Ceylon, serving from 1956 until his assassination. The founder of the left-wing and Sinhalese nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party, his tenure saw the country's first left-wing reforms.
Women's suffrage – the right of women to vote – has been achieved at various times in countries throughout the world. In many nations, women's suffrage was granted before universal suffrage, in which cases women and men from certain socioeconomic classes or races were still unable to vote. Some countries granted suffrage to both sexes at the same time. This timeline lists years when women's suffrage was enacted. Some countries are listed more than once, as the right was extended to more women according to age, land ownership, etc. In many cases, the first voting took place in a subsequent year.
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Women in Sri Lanka make up to 52.09% of the population according to the 2012 census of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan women have contributed greatly to the country's development, in many areas. Historically, a masculine bias has dominated Sri Lankan culture, although woman have been allowed to vote in elections since 1931. Although Sri Lanka has been tremendously successful in achieving greater gender parity, women still suffer a lower status compared with men.
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Caroline Katzenstein was an American suffragist, activist, advocate for equal rights, insurance agent, and author. She was active in the local Philadelphia suffragist movement through the Pennsylvania branch of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and the Equal Franchise Society of Philadelphia. She played a role in the formation of the Congressional Union for Women Suffrage, which later became the National Women's Party. Katzenstein was also active in the movement for equal rights, serving on the Women's Joint Legislative Committee with Alice Paul, and championing the cause for the Equal Rights Amendment. She was the author of Lifting the Curtain: the State and National Woman Suffrage Campaigns in Pennsylvania as I Saw Them (1955).
Mary Helen Rutnam was a Canadian doctor, gynaecologist, suffragist, and pioneer of women's rights in Sri Lanka. She became nationally recognised for her work in women's health and health education, birth control, prisoners' rights, and the temperance movement.
Women in Sri Lanka have had suffrage since 1931.
References
- 1 2 Rappaport, Helen (2001). Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers. ABC-CLIO. pp. 181, 803. ISBN 978-1-57607-101-4 – via books.google.com.
- 1 2 Neloufer De Mel Women & the Nation's Narrative: Gender and Nationalism in Twentieth Century Rowman & Littlefield (via books.google.com)
- ↑ ed. Sumita Mukherjee Indian Suffragettes: Female Identities and Transnational Networks Oxford University Press (via books.google.com)