Women's Suffrage in Syara
Women's Suffrage in Syara, the legal right to vote, was promoted locally and later nationally until it was adopted by the Republic of Syara in 1919. The modern Syaran constitution, adopted in 1988, guarantees universal sufferage among all Syaran citizens regardless of sex.
The campaign for women's suffrage in Syara originated as far back as the 1820s through the works of Makedonian writer Ksenija Psaltis, who published several works on feminist theory and female empowerment between 1812-1834. At the time Syara was not yet unified, and none of it's four independent Realms (Makedon, Galania, Scitaria, Hayreniky) guaranteed women the right to vote in national elections, although certain Scitarian provinces did allow women to vote in local elections. The call for women's suffrage increased between the 1850s-1870s as Syaran nationalism began to rise and calls for unification increased. Several prominent political groups were created in the years leading up to Syaran unification which called for a Syaran government that guaranteed universal suffrage for all Syarad adult citizens.
Despite these efforts the Conference of Pella in 1875 did not guarantee the right to vote for women in the newly established Syaran Republic. In response to this, the Syaran Women's Council for Equality was established by author Kamka Kochanova and philosopher Izabela Boras in 1876 and began a nationwide call for women's suffrage. The movement steadily grew in size and publicity at the start of the 20th century, earning the ire of the Syaran government by organizing strikes in women-dominant economic sectors, namely textiles. Accusations of socialist and communist support from the Ruvelkan Socialist Republic resulted in the organization being temporarily banned by the Syaran government during the Syaran-Ruvelkan War, but the ban was lifted in 1912. The struggle for equal rights continued throughout the 1910s; following the outbreak of the Ruvelkan Civil War the Women's Council surged back into national attention, holding public rallies in Zovahr and all the Realm capitols. The Divide War proved to be a boon for the Council as Syaran women were encouraged to partake in Syaran industry and economy in greater numbers than ever before. Bolstered by Syara's victory in the war and the mass mobilization of Syaran women, the Senate of Syara voted and approved legislation guaranteeing women the right to vote in 1919. Izabela Boras attended the signing of the legislation by President Zoran Milaković.