50 powerful photos of women fighting for their rights

Suffragettes march in London in 1857
British suffragettes protest in London for the right to vote in the first decade of last century
Suffragette Dora Thewlis is arrested outside Buckingham Palace in London in 1907
British suffragettes appear in court, accused of conspiracy in 1908
Suffragettes march on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1912
Suffragettes demand passage of the Bristow-Mondell Amendment in Washington, DC
British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is arrested at Buckingham Palace in 1914
Women march for their rights in Algeria in 1917
Suffragette Lucy Branham speaks at a rally in Washington, DC, in 1919
Women demonstrate outside the Republican Convention, demanding the right to vote in Chicago in 1920
American suffragist Alice Paul celebrates the passing of the 19th Amendment
Suffragettes protest in Paris in 1936
Suffragettes in Egypt demand the right to vote in 1956
An African-American woman resists arrest during a civil rights demonstration in New York City in 1963
Women participate in the March on Washington in 1963
Texas State Senator Barbara Jordan meets with civil rights leaders at the White House in 1967
Women march on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1970
Women protest for their rights in Washington, DC, in 1970
Activists march for women’s liberation in Washington, DC, in 1970
Women march for equal rights in 1971
Women march for equal rights in Washington, DC, in 1977
Women protest in the streets of Paris in 1980
Women picket author Erin Pizzey in 1982
Dr. Wendy Savage is greeted by supporters in 1986
Coretta Scott King and other civil rights activists march in defiance of the KKK in 1987
Over half a million march for their rights in Washington, DC, in 1989
White women protest apartheid in South Africa in 1991
Women in the Congo protest violence against women in 2005
Women’s rights supporters voice their support for the right to vote in Kuwait in 2005
Women in Pakistan protest on International Women’s Day in 2006
Protesters take to the streets in Paris to condemn violence against women in 2006
Protesters clash with police on International Women’s Day in the Philippines in 2007
Women in Kashmir demonstrate against human right violations in 2007
Myanmar activists wearing portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi demonstrate for democracy and human rights in 2007
Women celebrate International Women’s Day by demanding more rights and better wages in Pakistan in 2007
Women protest sex tourism in Ukraine in 2008
Activists protest attacks on women wearing miniskirts in South Africa in 2008
Women protest for fundamental rights on International Women’s Day in Peru in 2011
Women march against domestic violence in Lebanon in 2011
Women protest for their rights on International Women’s Day in Yemen in 2013
Texas Democratic Senator Wendy Davis speaks at a Women’s Rights Rally in support of a woman’s right to choose in 2013
Young activists march in solidarity with Standing Rock in New York City in 2016
Women stage a protest against gender-based violence in Panama in 2019
Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot addresses the audience at the Conference of Mayors in Washington, DC, in 2020
Masked women take to the streets to protest violence against women in Italy in 2020
Thousands attend the 4th annual Women’s March in Washington, DC, in 2020
Women protest femicide in Mexico in 2020
Women protest against sexual assault and torture in Bangladesh in 2020
Masked protesters swarm the capital to voice their opposition to the tightening of the abortion law in Poland in 2020

Despite many wins over the past few decades, countless women around the world are still denied equal rights to men. All too often women are the target of gender-based violence and discrimination. Here are 50 inspiring photos of women fighting for their rights across the globe.

Suffragettes march in London in 1857

In 1832, the Great Reform Act was passed in Britain, formally acknowledging that “women did not form part of the electorate and were therefore excluded” from voting. In 1918, however, women over the age of 30 were granted the right to vote. Finally, in 1928, women over the age of 21 could vote, the same age as men.

British suffragettes protest in London for the right to vote in the first decade of last century

In Britain, women began campaigning for female suffrage in the 1830s. Almost a hundred years later, in 1928, the Representation of the People Act finally gave every British citizen over the age of 21 the right to vote. In 1929, women were able to vote in their first general election.

Suffragette Dora Thewlis is arrested outside Buckingham Palace in London in 1907

At the tender age of 16, a mill worker named Dora Thewlis joined the British suffragettes in their mission to break into the Houses of Parliament. She was arrested and thrown in jail for her actions. Sadly, the history books have all but forgotten the movement’s poor and uneducated members.

British suffragettes appear in court, accused of conspiracy in 1908

Key players in the British suffragette movement included Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughter Christabel Pankhurst, and Flora Drummond, pictured here at court after they were arrested for conspiracy to commit damage.

Suffragettes march on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1912

Women didn’t gain the right to vote in the United States until 1920. Leading up to this achievement, the suffragettes (women’s suffrage movement) fought for nearly a century to win this right.

Suffragettes demand passage of the Bristow-Mondell Amendment in Washington, DC

In 1913, thousands of women marched in Washington, one day ahead of President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, demanding that the right to vote not be restricted by gender. Although the Bristow-Mondell Amendment failed to pass, the 19th Amendment eventually did, granting women in the United States the right to vote in 1920.

British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is arrested at Buckingham Palace in 1914

British activist Emmeline Pankhurst is best known for founding the Women’s Social and Political Union (known as the suffragettes) and was jailed numerous times for her use of “militant tactics.”

Women march for their rights in Algeria in 1917

In 1917, Algeria was still under French rule. As in other countries around the world, women were rising up to demand equal rights. Women would go on to play a key role in Algeria’s war for independence, which spanned from 1954 to 1962.

Suffragette Lucy Branham speaks at a rally in Washington, DC, in 1919

Lucy Branham was an American suffragette from Maryland with a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD from Columbia University. Branham took part in protests, gave speeches, and helped organize demonstrations.

Women demonstrate outside the Republican Convention, demanding the right to vote in Chicago in 1920

In the United States, all female U.S. citizens were granted the right to vote in 1920 with the passing of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. It should be noted, however, that Native Americans and African-American women continued to face barriers hindering their ability to vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

American suffragist Alice Paul celebrates the passing of the 19th Amendment

Alice Paul was an outspoken leader of the American women’s suffrage movement. She played a pivotal role in the passing of the 19th Amendment.

Suffragettes protest in Paris in 1936

Leading up to 1944, when women finally got the right to vote in France, suffragettes would protest in the streets, often facing a reaction from police.

Suffragettes in Egypt demand the right to vote in 1956

Women in Egypt won the right to vote and run for office in 1956. Today, however, lower-class women still face much discrimination, including being “prosecuted and imprisoned for simply singing and dancing,” while upper-class women are subject to less discrimination.

An African-American woman resists arrest during a civil rights demonstration in New York City in 1963

The year 1963 was pivotal for the American civil rights movement, in no small part thanks to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when Martin Luther King gave his historic speech: “I Have a Dream.”

Women participate in the March on Washington in 1963

Often eclipsed by men, women played a key role in the American civil rights movement, fighting for integrated schools, founding local civil rights organizations, and designing community education programs that focused on literacy and other vital skills.

Texas State Senator Barbara Jordan meets with civil rights leaders at the White House in 1967

The first Black woman to serve as a Texas state senator, Barbara Jordan was also the first African-American congresswoman from the South. Jordan gave the opening speech at President Richard Nixon’s impeachment hearings in 1974.

Women march on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1970

In 1970, 50 years after the 19th Amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote in the United States, some 50,000 women marched down Fifth Avenue in New York in the Women’s Strike for Equality March.

Women protest for their rights in Washington, DC, in 1970

From the 1960s to the 1980s, there was a second wave of feminism, when women in America broke with “tranquil suburban life” and sought equality in the workforce, among other things.

Activists march for women’s liberation in Washington, DC, in 1970

In addition to seeking the right to be in the workforce, women in the second wave of feminism also brought issues such as sexual assault, reproductive rights, and domestic violence to the fore.

Women march for equal rights in 1971

Following the civil rights movement in America, which rose to national importance in the mid-1950s, the women’s liberation movement picked up speed in the 1960s and 1970s, with women taking to the streets to demand “freedom from oppression and male supremacy.”

A prominent member of the Black Panthers, university professor, and author of multiple books, Angela Davis was a prominent civil rights activist in the 1960s and ’70s. In 1970, Davis was charged with helping a Black radical escape from prison. She served a year and a half in prison before being acquitted.

Women march for equal rights in Washington, DC, in 1977

As the second wave of feminism was making great strides in America in the 1970s, it also faced serious pushback from the conservative movement, especially over issues such as the right to an abortion, women’s role as homemakers, and LGBTQ rights.

Women protest in the streets of Paris in 1980

Although women were granted the right to vote in France in 1944, it seems the fight for equal rights is never over. Even today, women in France still face a gender pay gap, sexual harassment, and violence, among other issues.

Women picket author Erin Pizzey in 1982

Author and activist Erin Pizzey was a feminist hero, known for founding Britain’s first shelter for women facing domestic violence. But Pizzey stirred up controversy after she went on to become a men’s rights activist and drew heavy criticism for claiming that women were as much to blame for domestic violence as men and that men also suffer equal rates of violence at the hands of women (claims that are not borne out by the data).

Dr. Wendy Savage is greeted by supporters in 1986

British gynecologist, women’s rights advocate, and author Dr. Wendy Savage came under fire for her controversial opposition to what she called the unnecessary use of caesarean births as well as her support for community healthcare and home births versus “hi-tech hospital-based medicine.”

Coretta Scott King and other civil rights activists march in defiance of the KKK in 1987

Wife of Martin Luther King, Coretta Scott King was, in her own right, a strong civil rights activist who participated in the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Here King is seen marching with other civil rights activists in protest against the Ku Klux Klan, which had barred members of the Black community from protesting.

Over half a million march for their rights in Washington, DC, in 1989

In 1989, women’s reproductive rights were at risk in the United States, with the threat of a reversal of Roe v. Wade. In response, over half a million people marched on Washington in April in the March for Women’s Lives.

White women protest apartheid in South Africa in 1991

The Black Sash movement, a non-violent protest organization, was founded in the 1950s in South Africa by white middle-class women who opposed apartheid. The black sashes they wore symbolized the “mourning of the death of the Constitution.”

Women in the Congo protest violence against women in 2005

Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo have faced high levels of sexual violence for decades. Many women and girls have also been abducted and held as sex slaves.

Women’s rights supporters voice their support for the right to vote in Kuwait in 2005

In 2005, women were finally granted the right to vote—and run for public office—in Kuwait, so long as they observe Islamic laws.

Women in Pakistan protest on International Women’s Day in 2006

In 2020, Pakistan ranked 151 out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index Report. Violence against women remains all too common in the South Asian country, and efforts to improve the lives of women continue to face pushback from Islamist and conservative groups.

Protesters take to the streets in Paris to condemn violence against women in 2006

The National Collective for Women’s Rights (CNDF) organised the demonstration on November 25 as part of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. They wanted to highlight the fact that one woman dies every three days in France as a result of violence in the home, a problem that affects 10 percent of French women. Indeed, the pandemic lockdowns in France have further contributed to a “steep rise” in domestic violence.

Protesters clash with police on International Women’s Day in the Philippines in 2007

Although the Philippines “ranks high in gender equity due to women’s high levels of education, labor force participation, and history of political participation,” women still face a high degree of gender-based violence and are often exploited when they migrate overseas to work as domestic servants.

Women in Kashmir demonstrate against human right violations in 2007

In 2007, dozens of Muslim women’s rights activists were detained for protesting, demanding the United Nations put pressure on India to stop human rights violations by Indian forces in the Kashmir Valley. Beginning in the late 1980s, the area, under Indian control, was the scene of large protests for independence, which also gave rise to women protesting alongside men and even staging their own all-women protest marches.

Myanmar activists wearing portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi demonstrate for democracy and human rights in 2007

Pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for fighting for human rights against military oppression in Myanmar. In 2015, she claimed election victory after almost “50 years of military rule.” Sadly, the icon of peace and democracy has since fallen from grace for her heavily criticized response to the alleged genocide of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingyas.

Women celebrate International Women’s Day by demanding more rights and better wages in Pakistan in 2007

Pakistan has a long history of violence against women, including “sexual assault, domestic abuse, and harassment.” The women’s rights movement in Pakistan, which is gaining ground, still faces major opposition from Islamist and conservative groups.

Women protest sex tourism in Ukraine in 2008

In recent decades, Ukraine had become a “sex tourism mecca” for visiting Europeans. The issue, which has since dissipated, also led to high rates of child prostitution, child pornography, and HIV.

Activists protest attacks on women wearing miniskirts in South Africa in 2008

In recent decades, women in South Africa were the victims of violent assaults for wearing miniskirts, as more traditional men feel “women should not wear revealing clothing.” In response, women took to the streets in protest for their right to wear whatever they choose.

Women protest for fundamental rights on International Women’s Day in Peru in 2011

From 1995 to 2001, over 5,000 women, mainly poor and indigenous, were forcibly sterilized in Peru. Femicide, gender-based violence, missing women and girls, and poor access to abortion remain major issues in the South American country, problems worsened by the pandemic.

Women march against domestic violence in Lebanon in 2011

Gender-based violence and discrimination have long been an issue in Lebanon. With the economic crisis worsened by pandemic lockdowns and the massive explosion in Beirut, domestic violence has only gotten worse.

Women protest for their rights on International Women’s Day in Yemen in 2013

The civil unrest that followed the 2011 Arab Spring has led to “one of the worst humanitarian crises in history” in Yemen. Sadly, the crisis has increased gender-based violence and deepened discrimination against women.

Texas Democratic Senator Wendy Davis speaks at a Women’s Rights Rally in support of a woman’s right to choose in 2013

In 2013, Senator Wendy Davis gave an 11-hour filibuster speech to stop the passing of a bill that would severely limit women’s access to abortions in Texas.

Young activists march in solidarity with Standing Rock in New York City in 2016

In 2016, the Dakota Access Pipeline was approved to run near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, threatening the water supply and sacred tribal grounds. The Sioux blockaded construction crews and were joined and supported by people around the world.

Women stage a protest against gender-based violence in Panama in 2019

In recent years, domestic and gender-based violence has skyrocketed in Panama. To tackle the issue, the police service has created a 200-officer special unit.

Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot addresses the audience at the Conference of Mayors in Washington, DC, in 2020

Lori Lightfoot is the first Black female and openly gay mayor of Chicago. Lightfoot, who won by a landslide in 2019, is determined to transform the city plagued by racial disparities and gun violence.

Masked women take to the streets to protest violence against women in Italy in 2020

Lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 have exacerbated Italy’s “long-standing problem with violence against women,” leading to increased incidents of domestic violence and femicide.

Thousands attend the 4th annual Women’s March in Washington, DC, in 2020

On January 18, 2020, the Women’s March drew thousands from across the U.S. to the nation’s capital to protest against Donald Trump, demanding climate action, reproductive justice, and rights for immigrants.

Women protest femicide in Mexico in 2020

In 2020, women took to the streets of Saltillo, calling for justice for missing and murdered women and other victims of gender-based violence. Groups that search for the disappeared also joined in the march. Every single day in Mexico, 10 women are killed because of their gender.

Women protest against sexual assault and torture in Bangladesh in 2020

Following the violent sexual assault and torture of a woman that went viral on social media, women protested in Dhaka, demanding the government take meaningful action. Recently, Bangladesh has seen an “alarming rise in sexual violence against women and girls.”