African Women Who Fought for Women's Suffrage
4 women in the archive worked for women's suffrage. They came from different countries and different centuries, but each of them saw a wrong that others accepted and set out to change it. Read their stories to see how the same cause looked from very different lives.
4 women in the archive
IndependenceAoua Keita
Malian midwife, politician, and activist who became the first woman elected to Mali's National Assembly. Campaigned for women's suffrage, healthcare, and independence from France.
ModernConstance Cummings-John
Sierra Leonean politician and educator who became the first female mayor of a city in Africa when she was elected Mayor of Freetown in 1966. She spent her life fighting for women's political rights and access to education at a time when both were considered radical ideas.
IndependenceDoria Shafik
The Egyptian philosopher and publisher who stormed parliament with 1,500 women and starved herself until Egypt promised women the vote, then was erased from history for defying Nasser.
IndependenceGambo Sawaba
Nigerian activist who fought for women's right to vote in Northern Nigeria at enormous personal cost, arrested over 17 times and imprisoned repeatedly for defying the political establishment.