Current Events Lesson Plan: December 10-16, 2015
Current Event: Saudi Women Vote—and Win Elections—for the First Time
On Dec. 12, 2015, women in Saudi Arabia were elected to office for the first time in landmark municipal elections. It was also the first time that Saudi women were allowed to vote and to run for office. Women made up a small portion of the electorate in the elections. Only 130,000 women registered to vote, compared with 1.36 million men. While overall turnout was a little less than 50 percent, the turnout of women was nearly 80 percent in some places. Although women won only a fraction of the total number of local council seats, it was seen as a turning point in this ultra-conservative monarchy in which women are still deprived of many basic rights. Saudi Arabia had been the only other country besides Vatican City that denied women the right to vote where men had the right.
Objective:
Woman suffrage is the right of women to vote. Today, women in all countries except Vatican City have the same voting rights as men. But women did not begin to gain such rights until the late 1800′s, and they had to overcome strong opposition to do so. The men and women who supported the drive for suffrage were called suffragists. The suffragists faced strong opposition. Most people who opposed woman suffrage believed that women were less intelligent and less able to make political decisions than men. Some people feared that women’s participation in politics would lead to the end of family life. In 1893, New Zealand became the first nation to grant women full voting rights. In 1902, Australia granted all non-Aboriginal women the right to vote. In 1918, Canada’s federal government gave all women over 21 the right to vote in federal elections and the British Parliament gave women over 30 the right to vote. Two years later, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States granted American women the right to vote. In 1928, the United Kingdom extended the vote to all women over 21. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore woman suffrage.
Words to know:
- Civil rights
- Human rights
- League of Women Voters
- Nineteenth Amendment
- Saudi Arabia
- Voting
- Woman suffrage
- Women’s movement
Discussion Topics
1. Saudi women were elected to office for the first time in municipal elections held on Dec. 12, 2015. Ask your students to name some women who have been elected to high office. (Students might say Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Bidhya Devi Bhandari of Nepal, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Helen Clark of New Zealand, Indira Gandhi of India, Julia Gillard of Australia, Mary McAleese of Ireland, Golda Meir of Israel, Angela Merkel of Germany, Park Geun-hye of South Korea, Mary Robinson of Ireland, Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, Jenny Shipley of New Zealand, Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom, Khaleda Zia of Pakistan.)
2. Ask your students to name some famous women who fought for civil and human rights. (Students might say Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Viola Desmond, Henrietta Dugdale, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Vida Goldstein, Dolores Huerta, Annie Lowe, Nellie McClung, Lucretia Coffin Mott, Emily Gowan Murphy, Christabel Pankhurst, Emmeline Goulden Pankhurst, Maud Wood Park, Rosa Parks, Alice Paul, Catherine Helen Spence, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Gloria Steinem, Lucy Stone, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Malala Yousafzai.)
3. Ask your students, “Why do you think that some countries granted women the right to vote earlier than others?”
4. Nepal, which recently elected its first woman president, requires that one-third of its parliament seats be reserved for women. (See the World Book Behind the Headlines article Nepal’s Madame President, Oct. 29, 2015) Ask your students to debate, “To insure fair representation, countries should reserve some of their political positions for women and/or minorities?”
5. Ask your students to use World Book’s Timelines feature to view or add to the Woman suffrage timeline. (Students may wish to use World Book’s Woman suffrage article for help.)