Yesterday, May 9th marked the occasion of 100 years of women’s right to vote in the Netherlands. Groninger Museum celebrated this historic fact with the exhibition called Strijd! 100 years of women’s suffrage. The exhibition illustrates how years of campaigning has ultimately resulted in a victory for the women’s suffrage movement.
This exhibition provides an extensive overview of the history of the struggle for women’s suffrage in the Netherlands, in which Groningen women had a prominent role. It shows that the women's suffrage movement was widely supported in the Netherlands as active divisions were formed right up to the smallest villages from the founding of the Association for Women's Suffrage in 1894. At the same time, the electoral rights movement was a worldwide phenomenon and the Dutch were important partners in this international struggle. Following these efforts, ultimately in 1919 the Dutch Parliament passed a law giving men and women equal rights to vote. To commerate the 100 years of women’s right to vote, the exhibition highlights the most important developments regarding women's suffrage and also shows that the struggle for gender equality is still ongoing.
As a member of the Steering Committee on the National Commemoration, Ms Bano on behalf of Gender Concerns International, would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Groninger Museum, in cooperation with Atria, Verhalen van Groningen, Groninger Forum and University of Groningen, for organizing such a valuable and inspirational event to commemorate this incredible event in history.