List of women's rights activists
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This article is a list of notable
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
activists, arranged alphabetically by modern country names and by the names of the persons listed.


Afghanistan

* Amina Azimi – disabled women's rights advocate * Hasina Jalal – women's empowerment activist * Quhramaana Kakar – Senior Strategic Advisor for Conciliation Resources * Masuada Karokhi (born 1962) – Member of Parliament and women’s rights campaigner


Albania

*
Parashqevi Qiriazi Parashqevi Qiriazi, also known as Paraskevi D. Kyrias (2 June 1880 – 17 December 1970) was an Albanian teacher of the Kyrias family who dedicated her life to the Albanian alphabet and to the instruction of written Albanian language. She was a ...
(1880–1970) – teacher * Sevasti Qiriazi (1871–1949) – pioneer of female education * Urani Rumbo (1895–1936) – feminist, teacher, and playwright


Algeria

* Aïcha Lemsine (born 1942) – French-language writer and women's rights activist * Ahlam Mosteghanemi (born 1953) – writer and sociologist


Arabia

*
Muhammad ibn Abdullah Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
(570–632) – Founder of Sunni Islam and established women's rights of equality before God. This allowed women the ability to provide religious council and scholarship in Islam including the education and advisement of men. Other established rights in society include but are not limited to the right of protection from harm/abuse, to be educated, of inheritance, of property ownership, to conduct business, sign contracts, have an independent economic position, employment, and in marriage (choose/deny husband, a dowry paid to her, including rights over the household/children/husband) all of which has been set since the 7th century CE


Argentina

* Virginia Bolten (1870–1960) – Argentine journalist as well as an anarchist and feminist activist of German descent * Raymunda Torres y Quiroga – 19th-century Argentine writer and women's rights activist * Azucena Villaflor (1924–1977) – social activist, a founder of the human rights association
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is an Argentine human rights association formed in response to the National Reorganization Process, the military dictatorship by Jorge Rafael Videla, with the goal of finding the '' desaparecidos'', initially, a ...


Australia

* Thelma Bate (1904–1984) – community leader, advocate for inclusion of Aboriginals in
Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is the largest regional and rural advocacy group in Australia. It comprises seven independent State and Territory Associations, who are passionate advocates for country women and their families, working ...
*
Rosie Batty Rosemary Anne "Rosie" Batty (born 1962) is an English-born Australian domestic violence campaigner. She became a campaigner in 2014, after her 11-year-old son Luke Batty was murdered by his father, Greg Anderson. She was made Australian of the Y ...
(born 1962) – 2015 Australian of the Year and family violence campaigner * Sandra Bloodworth – labour historian, socialist activist, co-founder of Trotskyist Socialist Alternative, editor of ''Marxist Left Review'' *
Eva Cox Eva Maria Cox (née Hauser; born 21 February 1938) is an Austrian-born Australian writer, feminist, sociologist, social commentator and activist. She has been an active advocate for creating a "more civil" society. She was a long-term member of ...
(born 1938) – sociologist and feminist active in politics and social services, member of Women's Electoral Lobby, social commentator on women in power and at work, and social justice *
Zelda D'Aprano Zelda Fay D'Aprano (24 January 1928 – 21 February 2018) was a feminist activist living in Melbourne, Victoria. Life Early life D'Aprano (born Zelda Fay Orloff) grew up in a two-bedroom house in Carlton with her brother Maurice, her siste ...
(born 1928) – trade unionist, feminist, in 1969 chained herself to doors of Commonwealth Building over equal pay *
Louisa Margaret Dunkley Louisa Margaret Dunkley (28 May 1866 – 10 March 1927) was an Australian telegraphist and labor organiser who successfully campaigned for the right for women to obtain equal pay for equal work in the Australian commonwealth public service. ...
(1866–1927) – telegraphist and labour organizer *
Elizabeth Evatt Elizabeth Andreas Evatt (born 11 November 1933), an eminent Australian reformist lawyer and jurist who sat on numerous national and international tribunals and commissions, was the first Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, the fi ...
(born 1933) – legal reformist, jurist, critic of Australia's Sex Discrimination Act, first Australian in
United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of ...
*
Miles Franklin Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (14 October 187919 September 1954), known as Miles Franklin, was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her novel ''My Brilliant Career'', published by Blackwoods of Edinburgh in 1901. While ...
(1879–1954) – writer and feminist *
Vida Goldstein Vida Jane Mary Goldstein (pron. ) (13 April 186915 August 1949) was an Australian suffragist and social reformer. She was one of four female candidates at the 1903 federal election, the first at which women were eligible to stand. Goldstein wa ...
(1869–1949) – early Australian feminist campaigning for women's suffrage and social reform, first woman in British Empire to stand for national election *
Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literat ...
(born 1939) – author of '' The Female Eunuch'', academic and social commentator *
Bella Guerin Julia Margaret Guerin Halloran Lavender (23 April 1858 in Williamstown, Victoria – 26 July 1923 in Adelaide, South Australia), known popularly as Bella Guerin, was an Australian feminist, women's activist, women's suffragist, anti-conscrip ...
(1858–1923) – first woman to graduate from an Australian university, Guerin was a prominent socialist feminist (although with periods of public dispute) within the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
* Louisa Lawson (1848–1920) – feminist, suffragist, author, founder of The Dawn, pro-republican federalist * Fiona Patten (born 1964) – leader of Australian Sex Party, lobbyist for personal freedoms and progressive lifestyles *
Michelle Payne Michelle J. Payne (born 29 September 1985) is an Australian jockey. She won the 2015 Melbourne Cup, riding Prince of Penzance, and is the first and only female jockey to win the event. Early life The youngest child of ten of Paddy and Mary Pa ...
(born 1985) – first female winner of
Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...
and an advocate of increased presence of women in sport * Eileen Powell (1913–1997) – trade unionist, women's activist and contributor to the Equal Pay for Equal Work decision * Millicent Preston-Stanley (1883–1955) – first female member of
New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
, campaigner for custodial rights of mothers in divorce and for women's health care * Elizabeth Anne Reid (born 1942) – world's first women's affairs adviser to head of government (
Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...
), active in the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
and on HIV * Bessie Rischbieth (1874–1967) – earliest female appointee to any court (honorary, Perth Children's Court, 1915), active against the Australian government practice of taking Aboriginal children from their mothers ( Stolen Generation) * Jessie Street (1889–1970) – Australian suffragette, feminist and human rights campaigner influential in labour rights and early days of the UN *
Anne Summers Anne Summers AO (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian writer and columnist, best known as a leading feminist, editor and publisher. She was formerly First Assistant Secretary of the Office of the Status of Women in the Department of the Prime M ...
(born 1945) – women's rights activist in politics and media, women's advisor to Labor premier
Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
, editor of ''Ms.'' magazine (NY) * Mary Hynes Swanton (22 June 1861 – 25 November 1940) – Australian women's rights and trade unionist


Austria

*
Auguste Fickert Auguste Fickert (born 25 May 1855, Vienna - died 9 June 1910, Maria Enzersdorf, Austria) was a pioneering Austrian feminist and social reformer. Her politics were on the left wing of Austrian feminism and she allied with proletarian organization ...
(1855–1910) – feminist and social reformer * Marianne Hainisch (1839–1936) – activist, exponent of women's right to work and education * Bertha Pappenheim (1859–1936) – Austrian-Jewish feminist, founder of the German Jewish Women's Association


Belgium

* Marguerite Coppin (1867–1931) – female Poet Laureate of Belgium and advocate of women's rights * Christine Loudes (1972–2016) – proponent of gender equality and women's rights * Frédérique Petrides (1903–1983) – Belgian-American pioneer female orchestral conductor, activist and editor of ''
Women in Music Women in music include women as composers, songwriters, instrumental performers, singers, conductors, music scholars, music educators, music critics/music journalists, and in other musical professions. Also, it describes music movements (e. ...
'' * Marie Popelin (1846–1913) – lawyer, feminist campaigner, leader of the Belgian League for Women's Rights


Bosnia & Herzegovina

* Indira Bajramović – Roma activist, director of the Association of Roma Women from
Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, e ...


Botswana

*
Unity Dow Unity Dow ( Diswai; born 23 April 1959) is a Motswana lawyer, human rights activist, specially elected member of parliament, and a writer. She formerly served as a judge on the High Court of Botswana and in various government ministries. Born ...
(born 1959) – judge and writer, plaintiff in case allowing children of mixed parentage to be deemed nationals


Brazil

* Clara Ant (born 1948) – architect and political activist for the Partido dos Trabalhadores * Albertina de Oliveira Costa (born 1943) – feminist activist, member of th
Nacional dos Direitos da Mulher
(National Council for Women's Rights) * Jaqueline Jesus (born 1978) –
LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...
activist * Lily Marinho (1921 - 2011) –
UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. UNESCO goodwill ambas ...
for Brazil from 1999 - 2011 * Míriam Martinho (born 1954) – leading feminist journalist and LGBT rights activist, known for her pioneering in Lesbian Feminism * Laudelina de Campos Melo (1904–1991) – created the first trade association for domestic workers in Brazil * Lucia Nader (born 1977) – human rights activist * Matilde Ribeiro (born 1960) – political activist, feminist and part of the anit-racism movement in Brazil, as well as former Chief Minister of SEPPIR, a government agency promoting racial equality in Brazil * Alzira Rufino (born 1949) - feminist, part of both the Black Movement and the Black Women's Movement * Heleieth Saffioti (1934 - 2010) - feminist activist and
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
professor * Miêtta Santiago (1903 - 1995) - suffragist, feminit activist, writer and poet * Viviane Senna (born 1957) - president of the Instituto Ayrton Senna * Yara Yavelberg (1943 - 1971) - university lecturer and part of the resistance against
military dictatorship in Brazil The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against President João Goulart. The Brazilian dicta ...


Bulgaria

* Dimitrana Ivanova (1881–1960) – educational reformer and suffragist * Ekaterina Karavelova (1860–1947) – suffragist and women's rights activist * Anna Karima (1871–1949) – suffragist and women's rights activist * Eugenia Kisimova (1831–1885) – feminist, philanthropist, women's rights activist * Kina Konova (1872–1952) – publicist and suffragist * Julia Malinova (1869–1953) – suffragist and founder of the Bulgarian Women's Union


Canada

*
Edith Archibald Edith Jessie Archibald (7 April 1854 – 11 May 1936) was a Canadian suffragist and writer who led the Maritime Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), National Council of Women of Canada and the Local Council of Women of Halifax. For her many ...
(1854–1936) – suffragist, writer, promoter of Maritime
Women's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program ...
,
National Council of Women of Canada The National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC, french: Conseil national des femmes du Canada, (''CNFC'')) is a Canadian advocacy organization based in Ottawa, Ontario, aimed at improving conditions for women, families, and communities. A federati ...
and Local Council of Women of Halifax * Laura Borden (1861–1940) – president of the Local Council of Women of Halifax *
Thérèse Casgrain Marie Thérèse Casgrain, ., née Forget (10 July 1896 – 3 November 1981) was a French Canadian feminist, reformer, politician and senator. She was a leader in the fight for women's right to vote in the province of Quebec, as well as the first ...
(1896–1981) – suffragette, reformer, feminist, politician and senator, mainly active in Quebec * Françoise David (born 1948) – politician, feminist activist * Emily Howard Stowe (1831–1903) – physician, advocate of women's inclusion in medical profession, founder of Canadian Women's Suffrage Association * Marie Lacoste-Gérin-Lajoie (1867–1945) – suffragette, self-taught jurist *
Nellie McClung Nellie Letitia McClung (; 20 October 18731 September 1951) was a Canadian author, politician, and social activist, who is regarded as one of Canada's most prominent suffragists. She began her career in writing with the 1908 book ''Sowing Seeds ...
(1873–1951) – feminist and suffragist, part of
The Famous Five (Canada) The Famous Five (), also known as The Valiant Five, and initially as The Alberta Five, were five prominent Canadian suffragists who advocated for women and children: Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, and I ...
* Jamie McIntosh (21st century) – lawyer and women's rights activist *Micheal John O'Brien (21st century) – CEO of The RINJ Foundation * Eliza Ritchie (1856–1933) – prominent suffragist, executive member of Local Council of Women of Halifax * Léa Roback (1903–2000) – feminist and workers' union activist tied with communist party *
Idola Saint-Jean Idola Saint-Jean (May 19, 1880 – April 6, 1945) was a Quebec journalist, educator and feminist. She devoted her life to the pursuit of equal rights for women in Quebec and her efforts lead to women being given the right to vote in Quebec in ...
(1880–1945) – suffragette, journalist * Mary Two-Axe Earley (1911–1996) – indigenous women's rights activist


Cape Verde

* Isaura Gomes (born 1944)


Chad

* Lydie Beassemda (born c. 1967) * Céline Narmadji (born 1964)


Chile

* Alicia Herrera Rivera (1928–2013) – feminist lawyer and minister of the Court of Appeals of Santiago * María Rivera Urquieta (born 1894) – professor and feminist


China

*
Cai Chang Cai Chang (; 14 May 1900 – 11 September 1990) was a Chinese politician and women's rights activist who was the first chair of the All-China Women's Federation, a Chinese women's rights organization. Early life Cai Chang was born in 1900 t ...
*
Chen Xiefen Chen Xiefen ( Chinese: 陳擷芬; pinyin: chén xié fēn; Wade-Giles: ch'en hsieh fen; pen name: Chu‘nan nūzi; 1883 – 1923), a Chinese feminist, revolutionary and journalist of the Qing era, is regarded as one of the first progressive Chi ...
* Fok Hing-tong * He Xiangning * Huixing (educator) * Jiang Shufang * Li Maizi * Lin Zongsu * Liu-Wang Liming * Lü Jinghua * Mao Hengfeng * Miao Boying * Nurungul Tohti * Qiu Yufang * Wan Shaofen * Wang Huiwu * Wei Tingting *
Xiang Jingyu Xiang Jingyu (, – , ''née'' Xiang Junxian), was one of the earliest female members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), widely regarded as a pioneer of the women's movement of China. Early life Xiang Jingyu was born in Xupu, Hunan provinc ...
* Xie Xuehong * Ye Haiyan * Zheng Churan


Colombia

* Juana de J. Sarmiento (1899-1979), Colombian politician, activist


Croatia

* Jelica Belović-Bernardzikowska


Democratic Republic of Congo

Julienne Lusenge – Women's activist recognized for advocating for survivors of wartime sexual violence.


Denmark

* Sophie Alberti (1846–1947) – pioneering women's rights activist and a leading member of Kvindelig Læseforening (Women Readers' Association) *
Widad Akrawi Widad Akreyi is a Kurdish health expert and human rights activist. She has co-founded the human rights organization Defend International and is the author of several books about both health issues and human rights. Akreyi holds a master's degre ...
(born 1969) – writer and doctor, advocate for gender equality,
women's empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training.Kabeer, Naila ...
and participation in peace-building and post-conflict governance * Johanne Andersen (1862–1925), active in Funen and in the Danish Women's Society * Ragnhild Nikoline Andersen (1907–1990) – trade unionist, Communist party politician and Stutthof prisoner * Signe Arnfred (born 1944), sociologist specializing in gender studies * Matilde Bajer (1840–1934) – women's rights activist and pacifist * Annestine Beyer (1795–1884) – pioneer of women's education * Anne Bruun (1853–1934) – schoolteacher and women's rights activist * Esther Carstensen (1873–1955) – women right's activist, journal editor, active in the Danish Women's Society * Severine Casse (1805–1898) – women's rights activist, successful in fighting for a wife's right to dispose of her earnings * Ulla Dahlerup (born 1942) – writer, women's rights activist, member of the Danish Red Stocking Movement * Thora Daugaard (1874–1951) – women's rights activist, pacifist, editor * Henni Forchhammer (1863–1955) – educator, feminist, peace activist * Inger Gamburg (1892–1979) – trades unionist, Communist politician * Suzanne Giese (1946–2012) – writer, women's rights activist, prominent member of the Red Stocking Movement * Bente Hansen (born 1940) – writer, supporter of the Red Stocking Movement * Eline Hansen (1859–1919) – feminist and peace activist * Eva Hemmer Hansen (1913–1983) – writer and feminist * Estrid Hein (1873–1956) – ophthalmologist, women's rights activist, pacifist * Dagmar Hjort (1860–1902) – schoolteacher, writer, women's rights activist * Thora Ingemann Drøhse (1867–1948) – temperance campaigner and women's rights activist in Randers * Katja Iversen (born 1969) – author, advisor, women's rights advocate, President of Women Deliver 2014-2020 * Thyra Jensen (1865–1949) – writer and women's rights activist in southern Schleswig * Erna Juel-Hansen (1845–1922) – novelist, early women's rights activist * Lene Koch (born 1947), gender studies researcher *
Anna Laursen Ane (Anna) Marie Laursen née Christensen (1845–1911) was a Danish schoolteacher and women's rights activist. In 1891, she became headmistress of the realskole in Aarhus which was later known as Fru Laursens Skole (Mrs Laursen's School). Founded ...
(1845–1911) – educator, head of the Aarhus branch of the Danish Women's Society * Anna Lohse (1866–1942), Odense schoolteacher and women's rights activist * Line Luplau (1823–1891) – feminist, suffragist, founder of the Danish Women's Suffrage Society * Elisabeth Møller Jensen (born 1946) – historian, feminist, director of
Kvinfo The Danish Center for Research on Women and Gender (KVINFO) is a Danish information center about women's issues. It primarily aims to provide the general public with information about the results of women's studies and gender research undertak ...
from 1990 to 2014 * Thora Knudsen (1861–1950), nurse, women's rights activist and philanthropist *
Nynne Koch Anna Lise (Nynne) Koch (1915–2001) was a Danish feminist, writer and a pioneering researcher in gender studies. After publishing novels in the 1950s, she joined the Royal Danish Library in 1961 where she paved the way for establishing Kvinfo, t ...
(1915–2001), pioneering women's studies researcher * Else Moltke (1888–1986), writer and leader of women's discussion group in Copenhagen * Elna Munch (1871–1845) – feminist, politician, co-founder of the Danish Association for Women's Suffrage * Louise Nørlund (1854–1919) – feminist, pacifist, founder of the Danish Women's Suffrage Society * Birgitte Berg Nielsen (1861–1951) – equal rights activist, educator * Charlotte Norrie (1855–1940) – nurse, women's rights activist, voting rights campaigner * Tania Ørum (born 1945), women's research activist, literary historian * Thora Pedersen (1875–1954) – educator, school inspector, women's rights activist who fought for equal pay for men and women * Johanne Rambusch (1865–1944) – feminist, politician, co-founder of the radical suffrage association ''Landsforbundet for Kvinders Valgret'' * Caja Rude (1884–1949), novelist, journalist and women's rights activist * Vibeke Salicath (1861–1921) – philanthropist, feminist, editor, politician *
Astrid Stampe Feddersen Astrid Stampe Feddersen, usually known as Astrid Stampe, (1852–1930) was a Danish women's rights activist and author alongside her sister Rigmor Stampe Bendix. Stampe joined the women's movement early on and from 1883 to 1887, she was on the bo ...
(1852–1930) – chaired first Scandinavian meeting on women's rights * Karen Syberg (born 1945) – writer, feminist, co-founder of the Red Stocking Movement * Caroline Testman (1839–1919) – feminist, co-founder of Dansk Kvindesamfund * Ingeborg Tolderlund (1848–1935) – women's rights activist and suffragist * Clara Tybjerg (1864–1941) – women's rights activist, pacifist * Anna Westergaard (1882–1964) – railway official, trade unionist, women's rights activist, politician * Louise Wright (1861–1935) – philanthropist, feminist, peace activist *
Natalie Zahle Ida Charlotte Natalie Zahle (11 June 1827 – 11 August 1913) was a Danish reform pedagogue and pioneer of women's education. She founded N. Zahle's School in 1851. Life Her parents were the Roskilde vicar Ernst Sophus Wilhelm Zahle (1797-1837) ...
(1827–1913) – pioneer of women's education


East Timor

* Magdalena Bidau Soares – ex-guerilla, peace activist


Ecuador

* Rosa Zárate y Ontaneda (1763–1813) – feminist and independence activist


Egypt

* Qasim Amin (1863–1908) – jurist, early advocate of women's rights in society * Soraya Bahgat (born 1983) – Egyptian-Finnish women's rights advocate, social entrepreneur and founder of Tahrir Bodyguard * Ihsan El-Kousy (born 1900) – headmistress, writer and rights activist * Nawal el-Saadawi (born 1931) – writer and doctor, advocate of women's health and equality * Entisar Elsaeed (fl. 2000s) – activist fighting female genital mutilation and domestic abuse * Engy Ghozlan (born 1985) – coordinator of campaigns against sexual harassment * Hoda Shaarawi (1879–1947) – feminist organizer of Mubarrat Muhammad Ali (women's social service organization), Union of Educated Egyptian Women, and Wafdist Women's Central Committee, founder president of Egyptian Feminist Union


Estonia

* Elisabeth Howen (1834–1923) – women's educational pioneer


Finland

* Hanna Andersin (1861–1914) – educator, feminist * Soraya Bahgat (born 1983) – see Egypt * Elisabeth Blomqvist (1827–1901) – pioneering female educator * Minna Canth (1844–1897) – writer, women's rights proponent * Adelaïde Ehrnrooth (1826–1905) – feminist, writer, early fighter for voting rights *
Alexandra Gripenberg Alexandra Gripenberg, also known as Alexandra van Grippenberg, (1857 – 24 December 1913) was a Finnish social activist, author, editor, newspaper publisher, and elected politician, and was a leading voice within the movement for women's rights ...
(1857–1913) – writer, women's rights activist, treasurer of the
International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...
* Lucina Hagman (1853–1946) – feminist, politician, pacifist, president of the League of Finnish Feminists * Rosina Heikel (1842–1929) – feminist, first medical doctor in Finland * Alma Hjelt (1853–1907) – gymnast, women's rights activist, chair of the Finnish women's association ''Suomen Naisyhdistyksen'' * Hilda Käkikoski (1864–1912) – suffragist, writer, schoolteacher, early politician


France

* Isnelle Amelin (1907–1994) – feminist and trade unionist from La Réunion *
Hubertine Auclert Hubertine Auclert (; 10 April 1848 – 4 August 1914) was a leading French feminist and a campaigner for women's suffrage. Early life Born in the Allier ''département'' in the Auvergne area of France into a middle-class family, Hubertine Aucl ...
(1848–1914) – feminist activist, suffragette * Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) – philosopher, writer * Marie-Thérèse Lucidor Corbin (1749–1834) – French Creole activist and abolitionist in the
French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...
*
Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (;; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical ...
(1772–1837) – philosopher *
Françoise Giroud Françoise Giroud, born Lea France Gourdji (21 September 1916 in Lausanne, Switzerland and not in Geneva as often written – 19 January 2003 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French journalist, screenwriter, writer, and politician. Biography Giroud ...
(1916–2003) – journalist, writer, politician * Olympe de Gouges (1748–1793) – playwright and political activist who wrote the 1791 Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen * Blanche Moria (1858–1927) – sculptor, educator, feminist * Ndella Paye (born c. 1974) - Senegal-born militant Afro-feminist and Muslim theologian * Maria Pognon (1844–1925) – writer, feminist, suffragist, pacifist * Alphonse Rebière (1842–1900) – author of ''Les Femmes dans la science'' and advocate for women's scientific abilities * Léonie Rouzade (1839–1916) – journalist, novelist, feminist * Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt (1762–1817) – politician * Flora Tristan (1803-1844) French-Peruvian activist, early advocate of socialism and feminism * Louise Weiss (1893–1983) – journalist, writer, politician


Germany

* Jenny Apolant (1874–1925) – Jewish feminist, suffragist * Ruth Bré (c. 1862/67–1911) – writer, advocate of
matrilineality Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...
and
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, founder of ''Bund für Mutterschutz'' (League for Maternity Leave) * Johanna Elberskirchen (1864–1943) - feminist and activist for women's rights, gays and lesbians * Johanna von Evreinov (1844–1919) – Russian-born German feminist writer, pioneering female lawyer and editor *
Lida Gustava Heymann Lida Gustava Heymann (15 March 1868 – 31 July 1943) was a Germans, German feminist, pacifist and women's rights activist. Together with her partner Anita Augspurg she was one of the most prominent figures in the bourgeois women's movement ...
(1868–1943) – feminist, pacifist and women's rights activist * Luise Koch (1860–1934) – educator, women's rights activist, suffragist, politician *
Helene Lange Helene Lange (9 April 1848 in Oldenburg – 13 May 1930 in Berlin) was a pedagogue and feminist. She is a symbolic figure of the international and German civil rights feminist movement. In the years from 1919 to 1921 she was a member of the ...
(1848–1930) – educator, pioneering women's rights activist, suffragist * Sigrid Metz-Göckel (born 1940) – sociologist, gender studies academic * Ursula G. T. Müller (born 1940) – sociologist, gender studies academic * Louise Otto-Peters (1819–1895) – suffragist, women's rights activist, writer * Alice Salomon (1872–1948) – social reformer, women's rights activist, educator, writer * Käthe Schirmacher (1865–1930) – early women's rights activist, writer *
Auguste Schmidt Auguste Schmidt, full name, ''Friederike Wilhelmine Auguste Schmidt, ''(3 August 1833, Breslau, then Germany now Poland – 10 June 1902, Leipzig, Germany) was a pioneering German feminist, educator, journalist and women's rights activist. Life ...
(1833–1902) – pioneering women's rights activist, educator, journalist *
Alice Schwarzer Alice Sophie Schwarzer (born 3 December 1942) is a German journalist and prominent feminist. She is founder and publisher of the German feminist journal '' EMMA''. Beginning in France, she became a forerunner of feminist positions against anti-ab ...
(born 1942) – journalist and publisher of the magazine ''Emma'' * Gesine Spieß (1945–2016), educationalist specializing in gender studies * Marie Stritt (1855–1928) – women's rights activist, suffragist, co-founder of the International Alliance of Women * Johanna Vogt (1862–1944) – suffragist, first woman on the city council of Kassel starting in 1919. *
Marianne Weber Marianne Weber (born Marianne Schnitger; 2 August 1870 – 12 March 1954) was a German sociologist, women's rights activist and the wife of Max Weber. Life Childhood, 1870–1893 Marianne Schnitger was born on 2 August 1870 in Oerlinghausen ...
(1870–1954) – sociologist, women's rights activist, writer * Clara Zetkin (1857–1933) – Marxist theorist, women's rights activist, suffragist, politician


Ghana

* Annie Jiagge (1918–1996) – lawyer, judge, women's rights activist, drafted Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, co-founded Women's World Banking


Greece

* Kalliroi Parren (1861–1940) – founder of the Greek women's movement * Avra Theodoropoulou (1880–1963) – music critic, pianist, suffragist, women's rights activist, nurse


Greenland

* Aviâja Egede Lynge (born 1974), educator, activist for indigenous peoples and women's rights * Henriette Rasmussen (1950–2017), educator, journalist, women's rights activist and politician


Hungary

* Clotilde Apponyi (1867–1942) – suffragist *
Enikő Bollobás Enikő Bollobás (born June 19, 1952 in Budapest, Hungary) is a Hungarian literary scholar, professor at the School of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. She is a corresponding mem ...
(born 1952) – academic specializing in women's studies * Vilma Glücklich (1872–1927) – educational reformer and women's rights activist * Teréz Karacs (1808–1892) – writer and women's rights activist *
Rosika Schwimmer Rosika Schwimmer ( hu, Schwimmer Rózsa; 11 September 1877 – 3 August 1948) was a Hungarian-born pacifist, feminist, world federalist, and women's suffragist. A co-founder of the Campaign for World Government with Lola Maverick Lloyd, her ...
(1877–1948) – feminist, suffragist, World Peace Prize (1937) * Éva Takács (1780–1845) – writer and feminist * Blanka Teleki (1806–1862) – feminist and advocate of female education * Pálné Veres (1815–1895) – founder of Hungarian National Association for Women's Education


Iceland

* Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason (1867–1941) – politician, suffragist, schoolteacher, gymnast * Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir (1856–1940) – activist for women's liberation and women's suffrage *
Þórunn Jónassen Þórunn Jónassen, also Þórunn Hafstein Pétursdóttir (1850–1922) was an Icelandic feminist, the first chair of Thorvaldsensfélagið (Thorvaldsen's Society), Iceland's oldest women's association, a post she maintained for 47 years. She was ...
(1850–1922) – active member of the women's movement *
Katrín Magnússon Katrín Sigríður Skúladóttir Magnússon (1858–1932) was an early Icelandic feminist who played an important part in promoting women's voting rights and women's education in the late 19th century. She served as a municipal councillor of Reykj ...
(1858–1932) – promoter of women's voting rights and women's education


India

* Angellica Aribam (born 1992) – political activist, founder of Femme First Foundation * Annie Basil (1911–1995) – Iranian-Indian activist for Armenian women * Yogita Bhayana – Indian anti-sexual violence activist and head of People Against Rape in India * Margaret "Gretta" Cousins (1878–1954) – Irish-Indian
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
, established
All India Women's Conference The All India Women's Conference (AIWC) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Delhi. It was founded in 1927 by Margaret Cousins in order to improve educational efforts for women and children and has expanded its scope to also tackle ...
, co-founded Irish Women's Franchise League * Madhusree Dutta (born 1959) – co-founder of Majlis, Mumbai, author, cultural activist, filmmaker, curator * Rehana Fathima (born 1986) – women's rights activist * Ruchira Gupta (born 1964) – journalist and activist. She is the founder of Apne Aap, a non-governmental organization that works for women's rights and the eradication of sex trafficking * Nazli Gegum (1874–1968) – Indian girl education activist * Kirthi Jayakumar (born 1987) – founder of The Red Elephant Foundation, rights activist, campaigner against violence against women *
Shruti Kapoor Dr. Shruti Kapoor (born 25 September) is an Indian economist, women's rights activist, and social entrepreneur. She is the founder of Sayfty, an initiative that aims to educate and empower young women and girls against all forms of violence. B ...
– women's rights activist, economist, social entrepreneur *
Sunitha Krishnan Sunitha Krishnan (born 1972) is an Indian social activist and chief functionary and co-founder of Prajwala, a non-governmental organization that rescues, rehabilitates and reintegrates sex-trafficked victims into society. She was awarded India' ...
(born 1972) – Indian social activist, co-founder of
Prajwala Prajwala is a non-governmental organization based in Hyderabad, India, devoted exclusively to eradicating prostitution and sex trafficking. Founded in 1996 by Ms. Sunitha Krishnan and Brother Jose Vetticatil, the organization actively works in ...
which assists trafficked women, girls and transgender people in finding shelter, education and employment * Subodh Markandeya – senior advocate *
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
- prominent Indian freedom fighter * Periyar E. V. Ramasamy – Indian social reforms leader, predominantly fought for women rights *
Jyotirao Phule Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, also known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890) was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including erad ...
(1827–1890) – social reformer, critic of caste system, founded school for girls, widow-remarriage initiative, home for upper-caste widows, and home for infant girls to curb female infanticide * Manasi Pradhan (born 1962) – founder of nationwide Honour for Women National Campaign against violence to women * Mamatha Raghuveer Achanta – women's and child rights activist, chair of Child Welfare Committee, Warangal District, active in A.P. State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, founder director of Tharuni, focusing on girl-child and women empowerment


Indonesia

* Electronita Duan – founder of ''Politeknik Pembangunan Halmahera'' * Raden Adjeng Kartini (1879–1904) – Javanese advocate for native Indonesian women, critic of polygamy and lack of women's education * Valentina Sagala (born 1977) – women's rights activist * Nani Soewondo-Soerasno (born 1918) – lawyer, suffragist, and women's rights activist.


Iran

* Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh (born 1958) – women's rights activist, founder of ZananTV and NGO Training Center * Parvin Ardalan (born 1967) – women's rights activist *
Bibi Khanoom Astarabadi Bibi Khānoom Astarābādi ( fa, بی بی خانم استرآبادی)‎ (1858/9 – 1921) was a notable Iranian writer, satirist, and one of the pioneering figures in the women's movement of Iran. Biography Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi was bor ...
(1859–1921) – writer * Annie Basil (1911–1995) – Iranian-Indian activist for Armenian women *
Sediqeh Dowlatabadi Sediqeh Dowlatabadi ( fa, صدیقه دولتآبادی ; 1882 in Isfahan – July 30, 1961 in Tehran) was an Iranian feminist activist and journalist and one of the pioneering figures in the Persian women's movement. On one of the occasions when ...
(1882–1962) – journalist and women's rights activist *
Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi ( fa, شيرين عبادى, Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian political activist, lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was ...
(born 1947) – activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner for efforts for rights of women and children * Mohtaram Eskandari (1895–1924) – women's rights activist, founder of "Jam'iat e nesvan e vatan-khah" ( Society of Patriotic Women) * Soheila Hejab (born 1990) * Sheema Kalbasi (born 1972) – writer, advocate for human rights and gender equality * Saba Kord Afshari * Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani (born 1970) – women's rights activist *
Shadi Sadr Shadi Sadr ( fa, شادی صدر; born 1974) is an Iranian lawyer, human rights advocate, essayist and journalist. She co-founded Justice for Iran (JFI) in 2010 and is the Executive Director of the NGO. She has published and lectured worldwide. S ...
(born 1975) – women's rights activist *
Shahla Sherkat Shahla Sherkat (born March 30, 1956) is an Iranian journalist, publisher, author, feminist, women's rights activist. She is a prominent Persian feminist author, and one of the pioneers of Women's rights movement in Iran. Biography Sherkat wa ...
(born 1956) – journalist *
Táhirih Táhirih (Ṭāhira) ( fa, طاهره, "The Pure One," also called Qurrat al-ʿAyn ( "Solace/Consolation of the Eyes") are both titles of Fatimah Baraghani/Umm-i Salmih (1814 or 1817 – August 16–27, 1852), an influential poet, women's rights ...
(died 1852) – Bábí poet, theologian, exponent of women's rights in 19th century *
Roya Toloui Roya Toloui (born May 22, 1966, in Baneh, Kurdistan Province, Iran) is a prominent Kurdish-Iranian journalist, human rights activist and feminist, currently residing in the US. She was born in Baneh in western Iran. She received her high school d ...
(born 1966) – women's rights activist * Rayehe Mozafarian (born 1986) – women's rights activist, author, documentary filmmaker


Ireland

* Hilary Boyle (1899–1988) – journalist, broadcaster, and activist * Margaret "Gretta" Cousins (1878–1954): see India. *
Anna Haslam Anna Maria Haslam (née Fisher; 1829–1922) was a suffragist and a major figure in the 19th and early 20th century women's movement in Ireland. Early life and family Anna Maria Fisher was born in Youghal, County Cork, Ireland on 6 April 1829. ...
(1829–1922) – early women's movement figure, founded the Dublin Women's Suffrage Association * Francis Hutcheson (8 August 1694 – 8 August 1746) – philosopher born to activist family of Scots Presbyterians, opponent of slavery and advocate of women's rights * Sarah Winstedt (4 April 1886 – 9 September 1972) –
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, surgeon and
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...


Israel

* Ketzia Alon (born 1971) – academic, social activist, Mizrahi feminist, art curator and critic; one of the founders of the Ahoti – for Women in Israel movement * Esther Eillam (born 1939) – founder of the Feminist Movement organization; Mizrahi second wave and Mizrahi feminism activist * Carmen Elmakiyes (born 1979) – social and political activist, Mizrahi feminist; works on behalf of women in public housing * Marcia Freedman (born 1938) – founder of Israel's feminist movement (1971); politician, social activist and writer *
Anat Hoffman }; born 1954) is an Israeli activist and serves as Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center, also known as IRAC. She is the director and founding member of Nashot HaKotel, also known as Women of the Wall. Hoffman is a former member ...
(born 1954) – executive director,
Israel Religious Action Center The Israel Religious Action Center (Hebrew: המרכז הרפורמי לדת ומדינה) also known as IRAC, was established in 1987 as the public and legal advocacy arm of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. It is located in Jerusalem ...
; director and founding member,
Women of the Wall Women of the Wall (Hebrew: נשות הכותל, ''Neshot HaKotel'') is a multi-denominational Jewish feminist organization based in Israel whose goal is to secure the rights of women to pray at the Western Wall, also called the Kotel, in a fashi ...
* Shula Keshet (born 1959) – social and political activist and entrepreneur, Mizrahi feminist, artist, curator, writer, educator, and publisher; one of the founders and the executive director of the Ahoti – for Women in Israel * Vicki Knafo (born 1960) – social activist; led the 2003 single-mothers struggle against austerity decrees * Reut Naggar (born 1983) – producer, cultural entrepreneur and social activist, mainly focusing on LGBT and women's rights * Vicki Shiran (1947–2004) – one of the founders of the Mizrahi feminism movement * Iris Stern Levi (born 1953) – activist for rehabilitation of trafficked women


Italy

* Alma Dolens (1869–1948) – pacifist, suffragist and journalist, founder of several women's organizations * Linda Malnati (1855–1921) – women's rights activist, trade unionist, suffragist, pacifist and writer * Anna Maria Mozzoni (1837–1920) – pioneering women's rights activist and suffragist * Eugenia Rasponi Murat (1873–1958) – women's rights activist and open lesbian who fought for civil protections. * Gabriella Rasponi Spalletti (1853–1931) – feminist, educator and philanthropist, founder of the National Council of Italian Women in 1903 * Laura Terracina (1519–c.1577) – widely published poet, writer, protested violence against women and promoted women's writing


Japan

* Raicho Hiratsuka (1886–1971) * Sayaka Osakabe (born 1978) * Umeko Tsuda (1864–1929) * Yajima Kajiko (1833–1925)


Kenya

* Nice Nailantei Leng'ete (born 1991)– Advocate for alternative rite of passage (ARP) for girls in Africa and campaigning to stop female genital mutilation (FGM). *
Wangari Maathai Wangarĩ Muta Maathai (; 1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was a Kenyan social, environmental and a political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. As a beneficiary of the Kennedy Airlift, she studied in the Un ...
(1940–2011)


Latvia

* Berta Pīpiņa (1883–1942)


Lebanon

* Lydia Canaan * Laure Moghaizel (1929–1997) – lawyer and women's rights advocate


Libya

*
Alaa Murabit Alaa Murabit M.D ( ar, آلاء المرابط; born 26 October 1989) is a Libyan-Canadian physician, Meritorious Service Cross recipient, one of 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals Advocates appointed by the Secretary-General of the United ...
(born 1989) – physician, advocate of inclusive security, peace-building and post-conflict governance


Lithuania

* Felicija Bortkevičienė * Sofija Kymantaitė-Čiurlionienė * Ona Mašiotienė


Luxembourg

* Marguerite Mongenast-Servais * Netty Probst * Catherine Schleimer-Kill * Marguerite Thomas-Clement


Mali

* Jacqueline Ki-Zerbo (1933 – 2015) – activist, nationalist and educator


Mauritania

* Zeinebou Mint Taleb Moussa


Netherlands

*
Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali (; ; Somali: ''Ayaan Xirsi Cali'':'' Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī;'' born Ayaan Hirsi Magan, ar, أيان حرسي علي / ALA-LC: ''Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī'' 13 November 1969) is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist and former politicia ...
(born 1969) – see Stomalia. * Wilhelmina Drucker (1847–1925) – politician and writer * Mariane van Hogendorp (1834–1909) * Mietje Hoitsema (1847–1934) * Cornélie Huygens (1848–1902) – writer, social democrat and feminist * Aletta Jacobs (1854–1929) – physician and
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
activist * Charlotte Jacobs * Jeltje Kemper * Selma Meyer * Anette Poelman * Cornelia Ramondt-Hirschmann


Namibia

* Monica Geingos *
Gwen Lister Gwen Lister (born 5 December 1953 in East London, South Africa) is a Namibian journalist, publisher, anti-apartheid and press freedom activist. Early life Growing up under the apartheid system, Lister resolved to fight it as an adult, and c ...
* Rosa Namises


New Zealand

*
Kate Sheppard Katherine Wilson Sheppard ( Catherine Wilson Malcolm; 10 March 1848 – 13 July 1934) was the most prominent member of the women's suffrage movement in New Zealand and the country's most famous suffragist. Born in Liverpool, England, she emi ...
(1848–1934) – suffragette, influential in winning voting rights for women in 1893 (first country and national election in which women have vote)


Nigeria

* Priscilla Achapka – women and gender environmental activist * Osai Ojigho (born 1976) – human rights and gender equality advocate *
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, MON ( /ˌfʊnmiˈlaɪjoʊ ˈrænsəm ˈkuːti/; born Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas; 25 October 190013 April 1978), also known as Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti, was a Nigerian educator, political campaigner, suff ...
(1900–1978) – women's rights activist


Norway

* Marit Aarum (1903–1956), economist, politician, activist * Irene Bauer (1945–2016), government official, activist * Anna Louise Beer (1924–2010), lawyer, judge, activist * Margunn Bjørnholt (born 1958), sociologist, economist, gender researcher, activist *
Randi Blehr Randi Marie Blehr (née Nilsen; 12 February 1851 – 13 June 1928) was a Norwegian feminist, liberal politician, suffragist, peace activist and women's rights activist. She was married to Prime Minister of Norway Otto Blehr, and was therefore ...
(1851–1928), feminist, co-founder of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights * Karin Maria Bruzelius (born 1941), Swedish-born Norwegian judge, government official, rights activist * Nicoline Hambro (1861–1926), politician, women's rights proponent * Siri Hangeland (born 1952), politician, activist *
Aasta Hansteen Aasta Hansteen, also known as Hasta Hanseen (born December 10, 1824 – April 13, 1908), was a Norwegian painter, writer, and early feminist. Life and career Aasta Hansteen was born in Christiania, modern day Oslo, the daughter of Christopher ...
(1824–1908), painter, writer, feminist * Sigrun Hoel (born 1951), government official, activist * Anniken Huitfeldt (born 1969), historian, politician, reported on women's rights * Grethe Irvoll(born 1939), political supporter of women's rights * Martha Larsen Jahn (1875–1954), peace and women's activist * Dakky Kiær (1892–1980), politician, civic leader, activist * Betzy Kjelsberg (1866–1950), right's activist, suffragist, politician *
Eva Kolstad Eva Severine Lundegaard Kolstad (born Eva Severine Lundegaard Hartvig; 6 May 1918 – 26 March 1999) was a Norwegian politician and government minister for the Liberal Party. A major figure in the history of liberal feminism and the development of ...
(1918–1999), politician, minister, proponent of gender equality * Gina Krog (1947–1916), proponent of women's right to education, politician, editor * Berit Kvæven (born 1942), politician, activist * Aadel Lampe (1857–1944), women's rights leader, suffragist, teacher *
Mimi Sverdrup Lunden Mimi Sverdrup Lunden (13 June 1894 – 8 January 1955) was a Norwegian educator, non-fiction writer and proponent for women's rights Personal life Lunden was born in Sulen, Sogn og Fjordane, a daughter of Lutheran theologian Edvard Sv ...
(1894–1955), educator, writer, women's rights proponent * Fredrikke Mørck (1861–1934), editor, teacher, activist * Ragna Nielsen (1845–1924), headmistress, politician, activist *
Marit Nybakk Marit Nybakk (born 14 February 1947, in Nord-Odal) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, a former First Vice-President of the Norwegian Parliament, the Storting, and a former President of the Nordic Council. From 2016 to 2018 she was ...
(born 1947), politician, activist *
Amalie Øvergaard Amalie Constance Øvergaard, née Angell (3 March 1874 – 19 November 1960) was a Norwegian women's leader. She was born in Sørreisa as a daughter of businessman Ingebrigt Angell and Severine Johansen. From 1899 she was married to ship-owner R ...
(1874–1960), women's leader, active in housewives associations * Kjellaug Pettersen (1934–2012), government official, politician, gender equality proponent * Kjellaug Pettersen (1843–1938), politician, founder of the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association * Ingerid Gjøstein Resi (1901–1955), philologist, women's rights leader, politician * Torild Skard (born 1936), psychologist, politician, women's rights leader * Kari Skjønsberg (1926–2003), academic, writer, activist * Anna Stang (1834–1901), politician, women's rights leader * Sigrid Stray (1893–1978), lawyer, women's rights proponent * Signe Swensson (1888–1974), physician, politician, women's leader *
Thina Thorleifsen Thina Nilsine Thorleifsen (1885–1959) was a Norwegian politician who was active in the women's movement. She was a prominent member of ''Den Kvinnelige Tjenerstands Forening'' (The Women's Servant Class Association) from 1910 and its chair from ...
(1855–1959), women's movement activist * Clara Tschudi (1856–1945), writer, biographer of women's rights activists *
Vilhelmine Ullmann Vilhelmine Ullmann (née Dunker; 16 March 1816 – 28 April 1915) was a Norwegian pedagogue, publicist, literary critic and proponent for women's rights. Early and personal life Ullmann was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the ...
(1816–1915), pedagogue, writer, women's rights proponent * Grethe Værnø (born 1938), politician, writer, national and international women's rights supporter * Margrethe Vullum (1846–1918), Danish-born Norwegian journalist, writer, women's rights proponent * Fredrikke Waaler (1865–1952), musician, activist * Gunhild Ziener (1868–1937), pioneer in the women's movement, editor


Pakistan

*
Gulalai Ismail Gulalai Ismail ( ps, ; ur, گلالئی اسماعیل) is a Pashtun human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. She is the chairperson of Aware Girls, a global ambassador for Humanists International, and a leading member of the P ...
(born 1986) –
Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
women's rights activist campaigning in the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, and founder of Aware_Girls *Fatima_Lodhi_(born_1989)_–_Pakistani.html" ;"title="Fatima_Lodhi.html" ;"title="Aware Girls *Fatima Lodhi">Aware Girls *Fatima Lodhi (born 1989) – Pakistani">Fatima_Lodhi.html" ;"title="Aware Girls *Fatima Lodhi">Aware Girls *Fatima Lodhi (born 1989) – Pakistani women's rights activist who addressed colorism *Zubeida Habib Rahimtoola (1917–2015) – member of All Pakistan Women's Association *
Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai ( ur, , , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997), is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second P ...
(born 1997) – Pakistani women's rights activist shot in assassination attempt by
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
for advocating for girls' education, now in UK


Peru

* María Jesús Alvarado Rivera


Philippines

*
Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel Ana Theresia Navarro Hontiveros-Baraquel (; born February 24, 1966) is a Filipino politician, community leader, and journalist who has been serving as a senator of the Philippines since 2016. She previously served as a party-list representat ...
– women's right activities * Liza Maza *
Teresita Quintos Deles Teresita "Ging" Quintos Deles is a Filipina feminist, peace advocate, and government official best known for having been the Philippine government's Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) from 2003–2005 and 2010 to 2016. Deles began ...


Poland

* Maria Konopnicka


Portugal

*
Carolina Beatriz Ângelo Carolina Beatriz Ângelo (16 April 1878 – 3 October 1911) was a Portuguese physician and the first woman to vote in Portugal. Life Carolina Beatriz Ângelo was a medical doctor practising in Lisbon. She was a feminist and suffragette who parti ...
*
Sara Beirão Sara Beirão (1880 - 1974) was a Portuguese writer, journalist, women's rights activist and philanthropist. As an author, she is particularly known for fiction aimed at children and youth and for her work as publisher and editor of the '' Alma fe ...
* Cesina Bermudes * Adelaide Cabete *
Ana de Castro Osório Ana de Castro Osório (18 June 1872 – 23 March 1935) was a Portuguese feminist, active in the field of children's literature and political Republicanism. Early life Osório was born into a well-off family on 18 June 1872, her mother being Mari ...
* Elina Guimarães * Lutegarda Guimarães de Caires (1873–1935) – poet and women's rights activist * Maria Lamas


Puerto Rico

*
Luisa Capetillo Luisa Capetillo (October 28, 1879 – April 10, 1922) was one of Puerto Rico's most famous labor leaders. She was an anarchist writer, activist, labor organizer who fought for workers' rights, women's rights, free love, and human emancipation. ...
(1879–1922) – labor union suffragette jailed for wearing pants in public


Romania

* Maria Baiulescu (1860–1941) – Austro-Hungarian born Romanian writer, suffragist and women's rights activist * Calypso Botez (1880–1933) – writer, suffragist and women's rights activist *
Alexandrina Cantacuzino Alexandrina "Didina" Cantacuzino ( Pallady; also known as Alexandrina Grigore Cantacuzino and ( Francized) Alexandrine Cantacuzène; 20 September 1876 – 1944) was a Romanian political activist, philanthropist and diplomat, one of her country's l ...
(1876–1944) – political activist, feminist, philanthropist and diplomat * Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu (1857–1919) – first female doctor in Romania, feminist supporter, founded the Maternal Society in 1897, and in 1899 organised the first crèche in Romania * Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck (1879–1969) – painter and feminist * Eugenia de Reuss Ianculescu (1866–1938) – teacher, writer, women's rights activist, suffragist * Clara Maniu (1842–1929) – feminist, suffragist *
Elena Meissner Elena Meissner also called Elena Buznea-Meissner, (born Elena Buznea; 1867–1940) was a Romanian feminist and suffragist. She was the co-founder of the Romanian women's movement organisation '' Asociația de Emancipare Civilă și Politică a Fem ...
(1867–1940) – feminist, suffragist, headed ''Asociația de Emancipare Civilă și Politică a Femeii Române'' * Sofia Nădejde (1856–1946) – writer, women's rights activist and socialist * Ella Negruzzi (1876–1948) – lawyer and women's rights activist * Elena Pop-Hossu-Longin (1862–1940) – Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian writer, journalist, suffragist and women's rights activist * Ilona Stetina (1855–1932) – pioneer educator and women's rights activist * Izabela Sadoveanu-Evan (1870–1941) – literary critic, educationist, journalist, poet and feminist militant


Russia

*
Anna Filosofova Anna Pavlovna Filosofova (russian: Анна Павловна Философова; née Diaghileva; August 5, 1837 – March 17, 1912) was a Russian philanthropist and feminist. She was an important charity organiser, and, alongside Maria Trubniko ...
(1837–1912) – early women's rights activist * Evgenia Konradi (1838–1898) – early women's rights activist and writer * Tatiana Mamonova (born 1943) – founder of modern Russian women's movement *
Nadezhda Stasova Nadezhda Stasova (1822–1895) was a Russian philanthropist and feminist. She worked to give Russian women greater access to education. A notable philanthropist, she was also, alongside Anna Filosofova (1837–1912) and Maria Trubnikova (1835–1 ...
(1822–1895) – early women's rights activist *
Maria Trubnikova Maria Trubnikova (1835–1897) was a Russian philanthropist and feminist. A notable philanthropist, she was also, alongside Anna Filosofova (1837–1912) and Nadezhda Stasova (1835–1895), one of the pioneer founders and leaders of the first or ...
(1835–1897) – early women's rights activist


Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

* Nelcia Robinson-Hazell – poet, community organizer and activist


Saudi Arabia

* Loujain al-Hathloul (born 1989) – women's rights leader, social media influencer, political prisoner


Serbia

* Ksenija Atanasijević (1894–1981) – philosopher, suffragette, first PhD Doctor in Serbian universities *
Helen of Anjou Helen of Anjou ( sr, Јелена Анжујска / Jelena Anžujska, ; c. 1235 – 8 February 1314) was the queen consort of the Kingdom of Serbia (medieval), Serbian Kingdom, as the spouse of King Stefan Uroš I, who ruled from 1243 to 1276. T ...
(1236–1314) – queen, feminist, establisher of women schools *
Jefimija Jefimija ( sr-Cyrl, Јефимија, ; 1349–1405), secular name Jelena Mrnjavčević (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Мрњавчевић, or ), daughter of Vojihna and widow of Jovan Uglješa Mrnjavčević, is considered the first female Serb ...
(1349–1405) – politician, poet, diplomat, feminist * Draga Ljočić (1855–1926) – physician, socialist, and feminist *
Milica of Serbia Princess Milica Hrebeljanović née Nemanjić ( sr, Милица Немањић Хребељановић · ca. 1335 – November 11, 1405) also known as Empress (''Tsaritsa'') Milica, was a royal consort of Serbia by marriage to Prince Lazar, ...
(1335–1405) – empress, feminist, poet * Katarina Milovuk (1844–1913) – educator and women's rights activist *
Milunka Savić Milunka Savić CMG ( sr-cyr, Милунка Савић; 28 June 1892 or 10 August 1888 – 5 October 1973) was a Serbian war heroine who fought in the Balkan Wars and in World War I. She is the most-decorated female combatant in the recorded h ...
(1888–1973) – first female combatant, soldier, feminist * Stasa Zajovic (born 1953) – co-founder and coordinator of Women in Black


Slovenia

* Alojzija Štebi (1883–1956) – suffragist, who saw socialism as a means of equalizing society for both men and women.


Somalia

*
Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali (; ; Somali: ''Ayaan Xirsi Cali'':'' Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī;'' born Ayaan Hirsi Magan, ar, أيان حرسي علي / ALA-LC: ''Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī'' 13 November 1969) is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist and former politicia ...
(born 1969) – Somali-Dutch feminist and atheist activist, writer and politician * Halima Ali Adan – Somali gender rights activist and an expert on female genital mutilation (FGM).


South Africa

* Shamima Shaikh (1960–1998) – member of the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa, exponent of Islamic gender equality


Spain

* Concepción Arenal (1820–1893) – feminist and activist *
Clara Campoamor Clara Campoamor Rodríguez (12 February 1888 – 30 April 1972) was a Spanish politician, lawyer and writer, considered by some the mother of the Spanish feminist movement. She was one of the main promoters for women's suffrage in Spa ...
(1888–1972) – politician and feminist


Sri-Lanka

* Rupika De Silva – women's rights activist * Saila Ithayaraj (born 1977) –
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
activist, especially for widows * Shreen Abdul Saroor (born 1969) – women's rights activist


Sweden

*
Gertrud Adelborg Gertrud Virginia Adelborg (10 September 1853 in Karlskrona – 25 January 1942) was a Swedish teacher, feminist and leading member of the women's rights movement. Biography Gertrud Adelborg was born at Karlskrona in Blekinge County, Sweden. She ...
(1853–1942) – teacher, leading member of the women's rights movement *
Sophie Adlersparre Carin ''Sophie'' Adlersparre, known under the pen-name Esselde (born Leijonhufvud; 6 July 1823 – 27 June 1895) was one of the pioneers of the 19th-century women's rights movement in Sweden. She was the founder and editor of the first women' ...
(1823–1895) – publisher, women's rights activist, pioneer * Alma Åkermark (1853–1933) – editor, journalist, activist * Ellen Anckarsvärd (1833–1898) – women's rights activist, co-founded Föreningen för gift kvinnas äganderätt ( Married Woman's Property Rights Association) *
Carolina Benedicks-Bruce Carolina Maria Benedicks-Bruce (28 October 1856 – 16 February 1935) was a Swedish sculptor. After studies at the Academy of Arts in Sweden she went to France, at first to study and later to live and work at the artists' colony in Grez-sur-Loin ...
(1856–1935) – sculptor, rights activist *
Ellen Bergman Ellen Bergman (5 January 1842 – 5 December 1921) was a Swedish musician, vocal educator and women's rights activist. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Biography Eleonora (Ellen) Magdalena Bergman was born at Strängnäs, S ...
(1842–1921) – musician, rights activist *
Fredrika Bremer Fredrika Bremer (17 August 1801 – 31 December 1865) was a Finland, Finnish-born Sweden and Norway, Swedish Swedish literature, writer and feminism in Sweden, feminist reformer. Her ''Sketches of Everyday Life'' were wildly popular in Bri ...
(1801–1865) – writer, feminist activist and pioneer * Frigga Carlberg (1851–1925) – writer, feminist and women's suffragist * Maria Cederschiöld (1856–1935) - journalist and women's rights activist * Josefina Deland (1814–1890) – feminist, writer, teacher, founded Svenska lärarinnors pensionsförening (Society for Retired Female Teachers) * Lizinka Dyrssen (1866–1952) – women's rights activist * Agda Montelius (1850–1920) – philanthropist feminist, chairman of the
Fredrika Bremer Association The Fredrika Bremer Association ( sv, Fredrika Bremer Förbundet, abbreviated FBF) is the oldest women's rights organisation in Sweden. The association stands for an inclusive, intersectional and progressive liberal feminism, and advocates for wome ...
*
Ebba von Eckermann Ebba Johanna Cecilia von Eckermann née ''von Hallwyl'' (21 May 1866 – 16 October 1960) was a Swedish women's rights activist. Ebba von Eckermann was the daughter of Walther and Wilhelmina von Hallwyl and sister of Ellen Roosval von Hallwyl. Sh ...
(1866–1960) – women's rights activist *
Ruth Gustafson Ruth Valborg Maria Gustafson née ''Pettersson'' (8 July 1881 – 5 April 1960), was a Swedish politician (Social Democrat), union worker, women's rights activist and editor. She was a member of the Stockholm city council from 1919 to 1938, a member ...
(1881–1960) – politician, trade unionist, women's rights activist, editor *
Anna Hierta-Retzius Anna Wilhelmina Hierta-Retzius, née ''Hierta'' (24 August 1841 – 21 December 1924), was a Swedish women's rights activist and philanthropist. She was the co-founder and secretary of the ''Married Woman's Property Rights Association'' (1873), fo ...
(1841–1924) – women's rights activist and philanthropist *
Lilly Engström Lilly Engström (1843–1921) was a Swedish women's rights activist and civil servant. In 1890, she became the first female member of a Board of education in Sweden, after a reform the year prior, in which women were allowed to serve on governmental ...
(1843–1921) – women's rights activist, government official * Soheila Fors (born 1967) – Iranian-Swedish women's rights activist *
Ruth Gustafson Ruth Valborg Maria Gustafson née ''Pettersson'' (8 July 1881 – 5 April 1960), was a Swedish politician (Social Democrat), union worker, women's rights activist and editor. She was a member of the Stockholm city council from 1919 to 1938, a member ...
(1881–1960) – politician, union worker and women's rights activist *
Ellen Hagen Ellen Helga Louise Hagen (''née'' Wadström; 1873–1967) was a Swedish suffragette, women's rights activist and politician. She was a member of the National Association for Women's Suffrage, the chairperson of Liberala kvinnor (Liberal Women) ...
(1873–1967) – suffragette, rights activist, politician * Lina Hjort (1881–1959) - schoolteacher, house builder and suffragist * Amanda Kerfstedt (1835–1920) – writer, active in the women's rights movement * Ellen Kleman (1867–1943) – writer, journal editor, women's rights activist * Lotten von Kræmer (1828–1912) – writer, poet, philanthropist, founder of literary society Samfundet De Nio * Lisbeth Larsson (1949–2021) – literary historian focusing on gender studies * Rosa Malmström (1906–1995), librarian and feminist * Sara Mohammad (born 1967) – Iraqi Kurdish-born Swedish human rights activist campaigning against honour killing * Agda Montelius (1850–1920) – philanthropist, suffrage activist * Rosalie Olivecrona (1823–1898) – pioneer of the women's rights movement * Gulli Petrini (1867–1941) – suffragette, women's rights activist, politician * Anna Pettersson (1886–1929) – lawyer and pioneer in legal advice to women * Eva Pineus (1905–1985) – librarian, politician and activist * Emilie Rathou (1862–1948) – journalist, editor, activist * Hilda Sachs (1857–1935) – journalist, writer and feminist * Sophie Sager, (1825–1902) – women's rights activist and writer * Anna Sandström (1854–1931) – educational reformer * Ida Schmidt (1857–1932) – women's rights activist, educator, politician * Alexandra Skoglund (1862–1938) – suffragette, activist, politician * Frida Stéenhoff (1865–1945) – writer, women's rights activist * Elisabeth Tamm (1880–1958) – politician, women's rights activist * Kajsa Wahlberg – Sweden's national rapporteur on human trafficking opposition activities * Anna Whitlock (1852–1930) – school pioneer, journalist and feminist


Switzerland

*
Marianne Ehrmann Marianne Ehrmann (née: Marianne Brentano-Corti, also ''Marianne Ehrmann-Brentano'' and ''Madame Sternheim'', born 25 November 1755; † 14 August 1795) was one of the first women novelists, publicists and journalists in the German-speaking count ...
(1755–1795) – among first women novelists and publicists in German-speaking countries * Margarethe Faas-Hardegger (1882–1963) – Swiss women's rights activist and trade unionist *
Marie Goegg-Pouchoulin Marie Goegg-Pouchoulin (1826–1899), was a pioneer in the women's rights movement and women's peace movement in Switzerland. She has been called the first feminist in Switzerland. In 1868, she founded ''Association internationale des femmes'' (IA ...
(1826–1899) – founder of the Swiss women's movement


Tunisia

* Néziha Zarrouk (born 1946) – minister who contributed to improvements in women's rights and women's health


Turkey

* Nezihe Muhiddin – feminist, founded a women's party * Sebahat Tuncel – women's rights activist, former nurse and member of Parliament in Turkey


United Kingdom

* Lesley Abdela (born 1945) – women's rights campaigner, gender consultant, journalist who has worked for women's representation in over 40 countries including post-conflict countries: Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Aceh. In 1980 she founded the all-Party 300 Group to campaign to get more women into local, national, and European politics in the UK. Author of hundreds of features in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', and major women's magazines and the paperback ''Women with X Appeal: Women Politicians in Britain Today'' (London: Macdonald Optima 1989). * Jane Austen (1775–1817) – writer and feminist, focusing on women's rights and marriage complications through 6 novels * Clementina Black (1853–1922) – writer prominent in the
Women's Trade Union League The Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) (1903–1950) was a U.S. organization of both working class and more well-off women to support the efforts of women to organize labor unions and to eliminate sweatshop conditions. The WTUL played an important ...
and the forerunner of the Women's Industrial Council * Helen Blackburn (1842–1903) – suffragist and campaigner for women's employment rights * Barbara Bodichon (1827–1891) – active in the
Langham Place Circle The ''English Woman's Journal'' was a periodical dealing primarily with female employment and equality issues. It was established in 1858 by Barbara Bodichon, Matilda Mary Hays and Bessie Rayner Parkes. Published monthly between March 1858 an ...
, promoter of first journal to press for women's rights, the '' English Woman's Journal'' (1858–64) * Jessie Boucherett (1825–1905) – co-founder of
Society for Promoting the Employment of Women The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women (SPEW) was one of the earliest British women's organisations. The society was established in 1859 by Jessie Boucherett, Barbara Bodichon and Adelaide Anne Proctor to promote the training and emplo ...
in 1859, editor of '' Englishwoman's Review'' (1866–70), co-founder of Women's Employment Defence League in 1891 * Myra Sadd Brown (1872–1938) – suffragette, activist for women's rights and internationalist * Constance Bryer (1870–1952) – suffragette who went on
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
and was forcibly-fed *
Ida Craft Ida Augusta Craft (December 25, 1860 – September 14, 1947) was an American suffragist known for her participation in suffrage hikes. Early life Craft was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1860, the daughter of John Craft and Eleanor Voorhies Perle ...
(fl. 1910s) – suffragist, among main organizers of Suffrage Hikes * Laura Ormiston Chant (1848–1923) – social reformer, women's rights activist, writer, and member of the
International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...
(1888) *
Emily Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and a militant figh ...
(1872–1913),n English suffragette * June Eric-Udorie (born 1998) – anti-FGM campaigner * Kate Williams Evans (1866–1961) – suffragette and activist for women's rights *
Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897– ...
(1847–1929) – suffragist and feminist, president of
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was ren ...
* Mary Fildes (1789–1876) – political activist and founder of Manchester Female Reform Society *
Edith Margaret Garrud Edith Margaret Garrud (''née'' Williams; 1872–1971) was a British martial artist, suffragist and playwright. She was the first British female teacher of jujutsu and one of the first female martial arts instructors in the western world. ...
(1872–1971) – trained "Bodyguard" unit of
Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership an ...
in
jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...
techniques * Katharine Gatty (1870–1952) – journalist, lecturer, militant suffragette * Cicely Hamilton (1872–1952) – English actress, writer, journalist, suffragist, feminist * Diana Reader Harris (1912–1996) – educator and advocate of female ordination in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
*
Matilda Hays Matilda Mary Hays (8 September 1820 – 3 July 1897) was a 19th-century English writer, journalist and part-time actress. With Elizabeth Ashurst, Hays translated several of George Sand's works into English. She co-founded the '' English Woman's ...
(1820–1897) – co-founder of first journal to press for women's rights, the ''English Woman's Journal'' (1858–64) * Margaret Hills (1892–1967) – organiser of the
Election Fighting Fund The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was ren ...
* Anna Mary Howitt (1824–1884) – feminist prominent in the campaign that led to the Married Women's Property Act 1870 * Leyla Hussein – Somali-born British psychotherapist and social activist, co-founder of the Daughters of Eve * Anne Knight (1786–1862) – feminist and social reformer * Priscilla Bright McLaren (1815–1906) – women's rights campaigner * Hannah Mitchell (1872–1956) – suffragette and socialist, author of The Hard Way Up * John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) – philosopher, political economist, author of ''
The Subjection of Women ''The Subjection of Women'' is an essay by English philosopher, political economist and civil servant John Stuart Mill published in 1869, with ideas he developed jointly with his wife Harriet Taylor Mill. Mill submitted the finished manuscript ...
'' *
Elizabeth Montagu Elizabeth Montagu (née Robinson; 2 October 1718 – 25 August 1800) was a British social reformer, patron of the arts, salonnière, literary critic and writer, who helped to organize and lead the Blue Stockings Society. Her parents were both ...
(1718–1800) – social reformer and
Bluestocking ''Bluestocking'' is a term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800), the "Queen of the Blues", including E ...
* Olive Morris (1952–1979) – feminist,
black nationalist Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves aro ...
, squatters' rights activist * Caroline Norton (1808–1877) – social campaigner influencing the
Custody of Infants Act 1839 The Custody of Infants Act of 1839 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The bill was greatly influenced by the reformist opinions of Caroline Norton. Norton had a failed marriage with her husband. Her pamphlets arguing for the natur ...
,
Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 The Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act reformed the law on divorce, moving litigation from the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts to the civil courts, establishing a model of marriage ...
, and Married Women's Property Act 1870 * Christabel Pankhurst (1880–1958) – suffragette, co-founder and leader of
Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership an ...
* Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928) – founder leader of suffragette movement *
Bessie Rayner Parkes Elizabeth Rayner Belloc (; 16 June 1829 – 23 March 1925) was one of the most prominent English feminists and campaigners for women's rights in Victorian times and also a poet, essayist and journalist. Early life Bessie Rayner Parkes was b ...
(1829–1925) – editor of first journal to press for women's rights, the '' English Woman's Journal'' (1858–64) * Pleasance Pendred (1865–1948) – a secretary for the WSPU, writer and speaker for women's suffrage *
Dora Russell Dora, Countess Russell (née Black; 3 April 1894 – 31 May 1986) was a British author, a feminist and socialist campaigner, and the second wife of the philosopher Bertrand Russell. She was a campaigner for contraception and peace. She worked ...
(1894–1986) – campaigner, advocate of marriage reform, birth control, and female emancipation * Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh (8 August 1876 – 22 August 1948) – suffragette, involved in the Women's Tax Resistance League * Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (1840–1929) – author and campaigner for women's rights, mother of Marie Stopes * Marie Stopes (1880–1958) – advocate of birth control and equality in marriage * Alice Vickery (1844–1929) – physician, supporter of birth control as means of women's emancipation *
Emma Watson Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and activist. Known for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as for her women's rights work, she has received a selection of accolades, includi ...
(born 1990) – actress, feminist, women's rights activist *
Catherine Winkworth Catherine Winkworth (13 September 1827 – 1 July 1878) was an English hymnwriter and educator. She translated the German chorale tradition of church hymns for English speakers, for which she is recognized in the calendar of the Evangelical Luth ...
(1827–1878) – translator and women's rights activist, secretary of the Clifton Association for Higher Education for Women *
Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...
(1759–1797) – writer and feminist *
Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai ( ur, , , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997), is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second P ...
(born 1997) – see Pakistan *
Alice Zimmern Alice Louisa Theodora Zimmern (22 September 1855 – 22 March 1939) was an English writer, translator and suffragist. Her books made a significant contribution to debate on the education and rights of women. Early years and education Zimmern wa ...
(1855–1939) – writer and suffragist


United States

*
Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...
(1860–1935) – major social activist, president
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...
*
Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...
(1820–1906) – prominent opponent of slavery, played a pivotal role in the 19th-century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
* Yolanda Bako (born 1946) – New York activist, focused on addressing domestic violence * Helen Valeska Bary (1888–1973) – suffragist, researcher, social reformer *
Alice Stone Blackwell Alice Stone Blackwell (September 14, 1857 – March 15, 1950) was an American feminist, suffragist, journalist, radical socialist, and human rights advocate. Early life and education Blackwell was born in East Orange, New Jersey to Henry Browne ...
(1857–1950) – feminist and journalist, editor of the '' Woman's Journal'', a major women's rights publication * Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825–1921) – founded American Woman Suffrage Association with Lucy Stone in 1869 *
Henry Browne Blackwell Henry Browne Blackwell (May 4, 1825 – September 7, 1909), was an American advocate for social and economic reform. He was one of the founders of the Republican Party and the American Woman Suffrage Association. He published '' Woman's Jou ...
(1825–1909) – businessman, abolitionist, journalist, suffrage leader and campaigner *
Harriot Stanton Blatch Harriot Eaton Blatch ( Stanton; January 20, 1856–November 20, 1940) was an American writer and suffragist. She was the daughter of pioneering women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Biography Harriot Eaton Stanton was born, the sixt ...
(1856–1940) – writer, suffragist, daughter of pioneering women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton *
Amelia Bloomer Amelia Jenks Bloomer (May 27, 1818 – December 30, 1894) was an American newspaper editor, women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as bloomers, her name became associat ...
(1818–1894) – advocate of women's issues, suffragist, publisher and editor of ''The Lily'' *
Helen Gurley Brown Helen Gurley Brown ( Helen Marie Gurley; February 18, 1922 – August 13, 2012) was an American author, publisher, and businesswoman. She was the editor-in-chief of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine for 32 years. Garner 2009. Early life Helen Mar ...
(1922–2012) – author of ''
Sex and the Single Girl ''Sex and the Single Girl'' is a 1962 non-fiction book by American writer Helen Gurley Brown, written as an advice book that encouraged women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships before or without marriage. The ...
'', long-time editor of '' Cosmopolitan'', advocate of women's self-fulfillment *
Lucy Burns Lucy Burns (July 28, 1879 – December 22, 1966) was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate.Bland, 1981 (p. 8) She was a passionate activist in the United States and the United Kingdom, who joined the militant suffragettes. Burns ...
(1879–1966) – suffragist and women's rights activist *
Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt ...
(1859–1947) – suffragist leader, president of
National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...
, founder of League of Women Voters and
International Alliance of Women The International Alliance of Women (IAW; french: Alliance Internationale des Femmes, AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international org ...
* Jacqueline Ceballos (born 1925) – feminist and founder of Veteran Feminists of America * Rebecca Chalker – women's health writer and activist who fought for abortion rights and promoted self-help techniques for women to avoid the gynecologist's office *
William Henry Channing William Henry Channing (May 25, 1810 – December 23, 1884) was an American Unitarian clergyman, writer and philosopher. Biography William Henry Channing was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Channing's father, Francis Dana Channing, died when he wa ...
(1810–1884) – minister, author * Grace Julian Clarke (1865–1938) – suffragist, journalist, author * Hillary Rodham Clinton (born 1947) – lawyer, professor, author, First Lady, U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of State, first female presidential nominee in U.S. history *
Mabel Craft Deering Mabel Craft Deering (born Mabel Clare Craft, 1873–1953) was a San Francisco Bay Area socialite, journalist and supporter of progressive causes such as women's suffrage and the admission of black women to a national women's organization. As a Un ...
(1873–1953) – journalist *
Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
(1818–1895) – abolitionist, writer, speaker * Virginia Hewlett Douglass (1849–1889) – suffragist * Carol Downer (born 1933) – founder of women's self-help movement, feminist, attorney *
Muriel Fox Muriel Fox (born February 3, 1928) is an American public relations executive and feminist activist. Childhood and education Muriel Fox's parents were Anne Rubenstein Fox and M. Morris Fox. In 1980, Muriel said (at a Mother's Day rally for the Equa ...
(born 1928) – public relations executive and feminist activist * Elisabeth Freeman (1876–1942) – suffragist, civil rights activist, participated in Suffrage Hikes * Nancy Friday (born 1933) – writer and activist *
Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
(1921–2006) – writer, activist, feminist * Courtney Kelleigh (1990–Present) – Christian entrepreneur, founder of the '' Women’s Advocacy Network', a women's rights coalition emerging from the non-profit ‘Outreach Angels Inc.’ * Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) – Transcendentalist, advocate of women's education, author of '' Woman in the Nineteenth Century'' *
Matilda Joslyn Gage Matilda Joslyn Gage (March 24, 1826 – March 18, 1898) was an American writer and activist. She is mainly known for her contributions to women's suffrage in the United States (i.e. the right to vote) but she also campaigned for Native Ameri ...
(1826–1898) – suffragist, editor, writer, organizer *
William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he foun ...
(1805–1879) – abolitionist, journalist, organizer, advocate *
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...
(1933–2020) – academic and lawyer for several women's rights cases before the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
; she herself became a Supreme Court Justice in 1993. * Emma Goldman (1869–1940) – campaigner for birth control and other rights *
Judy Goldsmith Judy Goldsmith (born November 26, 1938) is an American feminist, academic, and activist. She served as president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 1982 to 1985, which is the largest feminist organization in the United States; prio ...
(born 1938) – feminist activist, President of
National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...
(NOW) * Helen M. Gougar (1843–1907) – lawyer, temperance and women's rights advocate * Grace Greenwood (1823–1904) – first woman reporter on ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', advocate of social reform and women's rights * Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1828–1911) – abolitionist, minister, author *
Marjorie Hillis Marjorie Hillis (1889–1971) was an American author of popular nonfiction books for women in the 1930s. Her book ''Live Alone and Like It'' was one of the most popular titles of the decade. Early life Born Margaret Louise Hillis in Peoria ...
(1889–1971) – author writing in support of single working women * Isabella Beecher Hooker (1822–1907) – leader, lecturer and activist in the American Suffragist movement *
Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...
(1818–1910) – suffragist, writer, organizer *
Jane Hunt Jane Clothier Hunt or Jane Clothier Master (26 June 1812 – 28 November 1889) was an American Quaker who hosted the Seneca Falls meeting of Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Life Hunt was born in Philadelphia in 1812 to William and Ma ...
(1812–1889) – philanthropist * Rosalie Gardiner Jones (1883–1978) – suffragist and organizer of the Suffrage Hikes * Abby Kelley (1811–1887) – opponent of slavery, women's rights activist, one of the first women to voice views in public speeches * Kate Kelly (born 1980) – feminist and human rights lawyer, founder of Ordain Women, works for Planned Parenthood * Eva Kotchever (1891–1943) – friend of Emma Goldman, owner of the
Eve's Hangout Eve's Hangout was a New York City lesbian nightclub established by Polish feminist Eva Kotchever in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, in 1925. The establishment was also known as "Eve Adams' Tearoom", a pun on the names Eve and Adam. History ...
in New York, assassinated at Auschwitz * Mabel Ping-Hua Lee (1896–1966) – suffragist, advocate for women's rights and for the Chinese immigrant community * Mary Livermore (1820–1905) – suffragist and women's rights journalist * Ah Quon McElrath (1915–2008) – labor and women's rights activist * Inez Milholland (1886–1916) – suffragist, key participant in
National Woman's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NW ...
and
Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913 The Woman Suffrage Procession on 3 March 1913 was the first suffragist parade in Washington, D.C. It was also the first large, organized march on Washington for political purposes. The procession was organized by the suffragists Alice Paul and ...
* Lee Minto (born 1927) – women's health and rights activist, sex education advocate, former Executive Director of Seattle-King County Planned Parenthood *
Janet Mock Janet Mock (born March 10, 1983) is an American writer, television host, director, producer and transgender rights activist. Her debut book, the memoir '' Redefining Realness'', became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. She is a contributing edit ...
(born 1983) – writer,
transgender rights A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establi ...
activist, producer, journalist *
Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key radical feminist member of the American Women's Movement, and a leader in the ...
(born 1941) – poet, political theorist, journalist, lecturer *
Lucretia Mott Lucretia Mott (''née'' Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was an American Quaker, abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongs ...
(1793–1880) – abolitionist, women's rights activist, social reformer, who helped write
Declaration of Sentiments The Declaration of Sentiments, also known as the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, is a document signed in 1848 by 68 women and 32 men—100 out of some 300 attendees at the first women's rights convention to be organized by women. Held in Sen ...
during 1848
Seneca Falls Convention The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. It advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman".Wellman, 2004, p. 189 Held in the Wesleyan Chapel of the tow ...
*
Pauli Murray Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, gender equality advocate, Episcopal priest, and author. Drawn to the ministry, in 1977 she became one of the first women ...
(1910–1985) – civil and women's rights activist, lawyer, Episcopal priest
additional text.
*
Diane Nash Diane Judith Nash (born May 15, 1938) is an American civil rights activist, and a leader and strategist of the student wing of the Civil Rights Movement. Nash's campaigns were among the most successful of the era. Her efforts included the first s ...
(born 1938) – Civil Rights Movement leader and organizer, voting rights exponent * John Neal (1793–1876) – eccentric, writer and critic, America's first women's rights lecturer * Zelda Kingoff Nordlinger (born 1932) – instigator of first rape-reform laws * Rose O'Neill (1874–1944) – famous illustrator (Kewpie creator) who worked for women's right to vote by creating posters and advertising material to promoting the women's movement * Mary Hutcheson Page (1860–1940) – member of the Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government,
National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...
, and National Executive Committee of the Congressional Union for Women Suffrage, 1910 President of the
National Woman Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement s ...
*
Maud Wood Park Maud Wood Park (January 25, 1871 – May 8, 1955) was an American suffragist and women's rights activist. Career overview She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1887 she graduated from St. Agnes School in Albany, New York, after which she ta ...
(1871–1955) – founder College Equal Suffrage League, first president League of Women Voters * Adele Parker (1870–1956) – ardent suffragist, 1903 University of Washington law school graduate, 1911-1913 owned and operated the Western Woman Voter newspaper, 1934 House Representative 37th District in WA * Deborah Parker (born 1970) – major player in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 and activist for indigenous women's rights * Alice Paul (1885–1977) – one of the leaders of the 1910s Women's Voting Rights Movement for the 19th Amendment, founder of
National Woman's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NW ...
, initiator of
Silent Sentinels The Silent Sentinels, also known as the Sentinels of Liberty, were a group of over 2,000 women in favor of women's suffrage organized by Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party, who protested in front of the White House during Woodrow Wilson's ...
and 1913 Women's Suffrage Parade, author of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment * Frédérique Petrides (1903–1983) – see Belgium *
Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips (November 29, 1811 – February 2, 1884) was an American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, orator, and attorney. According to George Lewis Ruffin, a Black attorney, Phillips was seen by many Blacks as "the one whi ...
(1811–1884) – abolitionist, orator, lawyer * Mónica Ramírez – author, civil rights attorney, speaker * Margaret Sanger (1879–1966) – writer, nurse, founder American Birth Control League, founder and first president of Planned Parenthood *
May Wright Sewall May Wright Sewall (May 27, 1844 – July 22, 1920) was an American reformer, who was known for her service to the causes of education, women's rights, and world peace. She was born in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Sewall served as cha ...
(1844–1920) – educator, feminist, president of National Council of Women for the United States, president of the
International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...
*
Anna Howard Shaw Anna Howard Shaw (February 14, 1847 – July 2, 1919) was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and one of the first ordained female Methodist ministers in the United States. Early life Shaw ...
(1847–1919) – president of
National Women's Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement spl ...
* Pauline Agassiz Shaw (1841–1917) – founder president of Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government *
Eleanor Smeal Eleanor Marie Smeal ( Cutri; born July 30, 1939) is a modern-day American feminist leader. She is the president and a cofounder of the Feminist Majority Foundation (founded in 1987) and has served as president of the National Organization for Wom ...
(born 1939) – organizer, initiator, president of
NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...
, founder and president of the Feminist Majority Foundation * Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902) – social activist, abolitionist, suffragist, organizer of 1848 Women's Rights Convention, co-founder of
National Woman Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement s ...
and
International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...
*
Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steinem was a c ...
(born 1934) – writer, activist, feminist, women's rights journalist *
Doris Stevens Doris Stevens (born Dora Caroline Stevens, October 26, 1888 – March 22, 1963) was an American suffragist, woman's legal rights advocate and author. She was the first female member of the American Institute of International Law and first cha ...
(1892–1963) – organizer for National American Women Suffrage Association and
National Woman's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NW ...
,
Silent Sentinels The Silent Sentinels, also known as the Sentinels of Liberty, were a group of over 2,000 women in favor of women's suffrage organized by Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party, who protested in front of the White House during Woodrow Wilson's ...
participant, author of ''Jailed for Freedom'' * Lucy Stone (1818–1893) – orator, one of the initiators of the first
National Women's Rights Convention The National Women's Rights Convention was an annual series of meetings that increased the visibility of the early women's rights movement in the United States. First held in 1850 in Worcester, Massachusetts, the National Women's Rights Convention ...
, founder of '' Woman's Journal'', force behind the American Woman Suffrage Association, noted for retaining her surname after marriage *
Roshini Thinakaran Roshini Thinakaran is a National Geographic Emerging Explorer (named in 2007), TED Global Fellow, Journalist, Photographer, Researcher, Humanitarian, and Anthropologist (Cultural). She also is a documentary filmmaker from Sri Lanka and the Unite ...
– film-maker focusing on lives of women in post-conflict zones * Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) – Buffalo and New York suffragist, later journalist and radio broadcaster * Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–1883) –
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
, women's rights activist and speaker * Ella Lillian Wall Van Leer (1892–1986) – American artist, architect, women's rights activist * Maryly Van Leer Peck (1930–2011) – academic, first female engineer at
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
, pioneer, women's rights activist and board member of Society of Women Engineers *
Frances Willard Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879 an ...
(1839–1898) – long-time president of the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...
, which, under her leadership, supported women's suffrage * Mabel Vernon (1883–1975) – suffragist, member of Congressional Union for Women Suffrage, organizer for
Silent Sentinels The Silent Sentinels, also known as the Sentinels of Liberty, were a group of over 2,000 women in favor of women's suffrage organized by Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party, who protested in front of the White House during Woodrow Wilson's ...
* Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) – civil rights and anti- lynching activist, journalist, educator,
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
noted for refusal to avoid media attention as an African American *
Victoria Woodhull Victoria Claflin Woodhull, later Victoria Woodhull Martin (September 23, 1838 – June 9, 1927), was an American leader of the women's suffrage movement who ran for President of the United States in the 1872 election. While many historians ...
(1838–1927) – suffragist, eugenicist, publisher, organizer, first woman to run for U.S. presidency


Uruguay

* María Abella de Ramírez (1863–1926) – feminist noted for her role in establishing Uruguayan and Argentine women's groups in the early 1900s


Venezuela

* Sheyene Gerardi – human rights advocate, peace activist, founder of the SPACE movement


Yemen

* Muna Luqman – activist, peace builder, founder of the organization Food4Humanity and co-founder of Women in Solidarity Network


Zimbabwe

* Talent Jumo (born 1980/1981) – teacher, co-founder and director of the Katswe Sistahood


See also

*
History of Feminism The history of feminism comprises the narratives ( chronological or thematic) of the movements and ideologies which have aimed at equal rights for women. While feminists around the world have differed in causes, goals, and intentions depen ...
*
List of civil rights leaders Civil rights leaders are influential figures in the promotion and implementation of political freedom and the expansion of personal civil liberties and rights. They work to protect individuals and groups from political repressio ...
* List of feminists *
List of suffragists and suffragettes This list of suffragists and suffragettes includes noted individuals active in the worldwide women's suffrage movement who have campaigned or strongly advocated for women's suffrage, the organisations which they formed or joined, and the public ...
* List of women pacifists and peace activists * List of women's rights organizations * Timeline of first women's suffrage in majority-Muslim countries *
Timeline of women's rights (other than voting) Timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) represents formal changes and reforms regarding women's rights. The changes include actual law reforms as well as other formal changes, such as reforms through new interpretations of laws by ...
*Timeline of women's suffrage *List of suffragists and suffragettes#Major suffrage organizations, Women's suffrage organizations


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Women's Rights Activists Women's rights activists, * Feminists, * Lists of people by ideology, Women's rights activists Lists of women Feminism-related lists, Women's rights activists Lists of social activists, Womens Rights Activists