Editing Women's rights (section)

== History ==
{{See also|Legal rights of women in history|Timeline of women's rights (other than voting)}}

=== Ancient history ===

==== Mesopotamia ====

[[File:Disk of Enheduanna (2).jpg|thumb|Ancient [[Sumer]]ian bas-relief portrait depicting the poet [[Enheduanna]]]]

Women in ancient [[Sumer]] could buy, own, sell, and inherit property.<ref name=Kramer1963>{{citation|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character|year=1963|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-0-226-45238-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu/page/78 78]|url=https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu/page/78}}</ref> They could engage in commerce,<ref name=Kramer1963/> and testify in court as witnesses.<ref name=Kramer1963/> Nonetheless, their husbands could [[divorce]] them for mild infractions,<ref name=Kramer1963/> and a divorced husband could easily remarry another woman, provided that his first wife had borne him no offspring.<ref name=Kramer1963/> Female deities, such as [[Inanna]], were widely worshipped.<ref name=Nemet1998>{{citation|last=Nemet-Nejat|first=Karen Rhea|author-link=Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat|year=1998|title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0313294976|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme}}</ref>{{rp|182}} The [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] poet [[Enheduanna]], the priestess of Inanna, is the earliest known poet whose name has been recorded.<ref>{{cite book|last=Binkley|first=Roberta|year=2004|title=Rhetoric before and beyond the Greeks|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9780791460993|page=47|chapter=Reading the Ancient Figure of Enheduanna}}</ref> 

[[First Babylonian dynasty|Old Babylonian]] law codes permitted a husband to divorce his wife under any circumstances,<ref name=Nemet1998/>{{rp|140}} but doing so required him to return all of her property and sometimes pay her a fine.<ref name=Nemet1998/>{{rp|140}} Most law codes forbade a woman to request her husband for a divorce and enforced the same penalties on a woman asking for divorce{{Undue weight inline|date=October 2024}} as on a woman caught in the act of [[adultery]].<ref name=Nemet1998/>{{rp|140}} Some Babylonian and [[Assyria]]n laws, however, afforded women the same right to divorce as men, requiring them to pay the same fine.<ref name=Nemet1998/>{{rp|140}} The majority of [[East Semitic]] deities were male.<ref name=Nemet1998/>{{rp|179}}
==== Egypt ====
{{Main|Women in ancient Egypt}}

[[File:Hatshepsut.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of the female pharaoh [[Hatshepsut]] on display at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]|144x144px]]

In ancient Egypt, women enjoyed the same rights under the law as a man, however rightful entitlements depended upon [[social class]]. Landed property descended in the female line from mother to daughter, and women were entitled to administer their own property. Women in ancient Egypt could buy, sell, be a partner in [[legal contract]]s, be executors in wills and witnesses to legal documents, bring court action, and adopt children.<ref>{{cite news|author=Joshua J. Mark |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/623/ |title=Women in Ancient Egypt |newspaper=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |date = 4 November 2016|access-date=26 July 2017}}</ref>

==== India ====
{{Main|Women in India}}

Women during the early [[Vedic period]]<ref name="infochange_women">{{cite news | last = Madhok | first = Sujata |title=Women: Background & Perspective |url=http://www.infochangeindia.org/WomenIbp.jsp |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080724121920/http://www.infochangeindia.org/WomenIbp.jsp | work = InfoChange India |archive-date=24 July 2008 | url-status = usurped |access-date=24 December 2006 }}</ref> enjoyed [[gender equality|equal status]] with men in all aspects of life.<ref name="vedam_towards_gender">{{cite book | last = Mishra | first = R. C. | title = Women in India: towards gender equality | publisher = Authorspress | location = New Delhi | year = 2006 | isbn = 9788172733063 }} [https://web.archive.org/web/20101029125524/https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no43902.htm Details.]</ref> Works by ancient Indian grammarians such as [[Patanjali]] and [[Katyayana]] suggest that women were educated in the early Vedic period.<ref>''Varttika'' by [[Katyayana]], 125, 2477</ref><ref>Comments to Ashtadhyayi 3.3.21 and 4.1.14 by [[Patanjali]]</ref> Rigvedic verses suggest that women married at a mature age and were probably free to select their own husbands in a practice called [[swayamvar]] or live-in relationship called [[Gandharva marriage]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Majumdar |first1=R.C. |last2=Pusalker |first2=A.D. |author-link1=R. C. Majumdar |year=1951 |contribution=Chapter XX: Language and literature |editor-last1=Majumdar |editor-first1=R.C. |editor-last2=Pusalker |editor-first2=A.D. |editor-link1=R. C. Majumdar |title= The history and culture of the Indian people, volume I, the Vedic age |page=394 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |location=Bombay |oclc=500545168 |title-link=The History and Culture of the Indian People }}</ref>

==== Greece ====
{{Main|Women in Greece}}

{{multiple image|align=right|total_width=300
| image1=Clothes washing Louvre G547.jpg|width1=2050|height1=1990|alt1=Photograph of a red-figure vase showing two women washing clothes
| image2=Street vendor Pan Painter MAN.jpg|width2=1750|height2=2625|alt2=Photograph of a red-figure vase showing a woman selling food
| footer=Respectable Athenian women were expected to involve themselves in domestic tasks such as washing clothes (left); in reality, many worked (right).
}}
Although most women lacked political and equal rights in the [[city states]] of ancient Greece, they enjoyed a certain freedom of movement until the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic age]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite book|title = Women of Ancient Greece|url = https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryseri00donn_0|url-access = registration|last = Nardo|first = Don|publisher = Lucent Books|year = 2000|location = San Diego|page = [https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryseri00donn_0/page/28 28]|isbn = 9781560066460}}</ref> Records also exist of women in ancient [[Delphi]], [[Gortyn]], [[Thessaly]], [[Megara]], and [[Sparta]] owning land, the most prestigious form of [[private property]] at the time.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Gerhard| first = Ute| title = Debating women's equality: toward a feminist theory of law from a European perspective| publisher = Rutgers University Press| year = 2001| page = 33| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XMohyLfGDDsC&q=women+right+to+property| isbn = 978-0-8135-2905-9}}</ref> However, after the Archaic age, legislators began to enact laws enforcing gender segregation, resulting in decreased rights for women.<ref name=":10" />

[[Women in Classical Athens]] had no legal personhood and were assumed to be part of the ''[[oikos]]'' headed by the male ''[[Kurios|kyrios]]''. Until marriage, women were under the guardianship{{Cn|date=October 2024}} of their father or another male relative. Once married, the husband became a woman's ''kyrios''. As women were barred from conducting legal proceedings, the ''kyrios'' would do so on their behalf.<ref name="google114">{{Cite book| last = Blundell| first =Sue| title = Women in ancient Greece, Volume 1995, Part 2| publisher = Harvard University Press| year = 1995| page = 114| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Xfx1VaSIOgQC&q=women+ancient+greece| isbn = 978-0-674-95473-1}}</ref> Athenian women could only acquire rights over [[property]] through gifts, dowry, and inheritance, though her ''kyrios'' had the right to dispose of a woman's property.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Blundell| first =Sue| title = Women in ancient Greece, Volume 1995, Part 2| publisher = Harvard University Press| year = 1995| page = 115| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Xfx1VaSIOgQC&q=women+ancient+greece| isbn = 978-0-674-95473-1}}</ref> Athenian women could only enter into a contract worth less than the value of a "''[[medimno]]s'' of barley" (a measure of grain), allowing women to engage in petty trading.<ref name="google114"/> Women were excluded from ancient [[Athenian democracy]], both in principle and in practice. Slaves could become Athenian citizens after being freed, but no woman ever acquired citizenship in ancient Athens.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Robinson| first = Eric W.| title = Ancient Greek democracy: readings and sources| publisher = Wiley-Blackwell| year = 2004| page = 302| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Jug6crxEImIC&q=Aristophanes+ecclesiazusae+women%27s+rights| isbn = 978-0-631-23394-7 }}</ref>

In [[classical Athens]] women were also barred from becoming poets, scholars, politicians, or artists.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|url = http://digitalcommons.apus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=saberandscroll|title = Social and Political Roles of Women in Athens and Sparta|last = Pry|first = Kay O|year = 2012|journal = Sabre and Scroll |volume=1 |issue=2|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170513082146/http://digitalcommons.apus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=saberandscroll|archive-date = 13 May 2017|url-status = dead}}</ref> During the [[Hellenistic period]] in Athens, the philosopher [[Aristotle]] thought that women would bring disorder and evil, therefore it was best to keep women separate from the rest of the society. This separation would entail living in a room called a ''[[gynaeceum|gynaikeion]]'', while looking after the duties in the home and having very little exposure to the male world. This was also to ensure that wives only had legitimate children from their husbands. Athenian women received little education, except home tutorship for basic skills such as spinning, weaving, cooking, and some knowledge of money.<ref name=":0" />

Although [[Spartan]] women were formally excluded from military and political life, an extremely small group enjoyed considerable status as mothers of Spartan warriors. As men engaged in military activity, women took responsibility for running estates. Following protracted warfare in the 4th century&nbsp;BC, Spartan women owned approximately between 35% and 40% of all Spartan land and property.<ref name="Pomeroy" /><ref>{{Cite book| last = Tierney| first = Helen| title = Women's studies encyclopaedia, Volume 2| publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group| year = 1999| pages = 609–10| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2bDxJW3x4f8C&q=spartan+women| isbn = 978-0-313-31072-0}}</ref> By the Hellenistic Period, some of the wealthiest Spartans were women.<ref>Pomeroy, Sarah B. ''Spartan Women''. Oxford University Press, 2002. p. 137 [https://books.google.com/books?id=c3k2AN1GulYC&q=ethnicity]</ref> Spartan women controlled their own properties, as well as the properties of male relatives who were away with the army.<ref name="Pomeroy">[[Sarah B. Pomeroy|Pomeroy, Sarah B.]] ''Goddess, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity''. New York: Schocken Books, 1975. pp. 60–62.</ref> But despite relatively greater [[freedom of movement]] for Spartan women, their role in politics was the same as Athenian women.<ref name=":0" />

[[Plato]] acknowledged that extending [[civil and political rights]] to women would substantively alter the nature of the household and the state.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Robinson| first = Eric W.| title = Ancient Greek democracy: readings and sources| publisher = Wiley-Blackwell| year = 2004| page = 300| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Jug6crxEImIC&q=Aristophanes+ecclesiazusae+women%27s+rights| isbn = 978-0-631-23394-7 }}</ref> [[Aristotle]] denied that women were slaves or subject to property, arguing that "nature has distinguished between the female and the slave", but he considered wives to be "bought". He argued that women's main economic activity is that of safeguarding the household property created by men. According to Aristotle, the labour of women added no value because "the art of household management is not identical with the art of getting wealth, for the one uses the material which the other provides".<ref>{{Cite book| last = Gerhard| first = Ute| title = Debating women's equality: toward a feminist theory of law from a European perspective| publisher = Rutgers University Press| year = 2001| pages = 32–35| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XMohyLfGDDsC&q=women+right+to+property| isbn = 978-0-8135-2905-9}}</ref>

Contrary to Plato's views, the [[Stoicism|Stoic philosophers]] argued for equality of the sexes, sexual inequality being in their view contrary to the laws of nature.<ref name="Colish">{{cite book |title=The Stoic Tradition from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages: Stoicism in classical Latin literature |last=Colish |first=Marcia L. |author-link=Marcia Colish |year=1990 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09327-0 |pages=37–38  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WY-2MeZqoK0C&q=stoics%2Bslavery&pg=PA36}}</ref> In doing so, they followed the [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynics]], who argued that men and women should wear the same clothing and receive the same kind of education. They also saw marriage as a moral companionship between equals rather than a biological or social necessity. The Stoics adopted the views of the Cynics and added them to their own theories of human nature, thus putting their sexual egalitarianism on a strong philosophical basis.<ref name="Colish"/>

==== Rome ====
{{Further|Women in ancient Rome}}
[[File: Pompeii - Fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus 2 - MAN.jpg|thumb|right|Women working alongside a man at a dye shop (''fullonica''), on a wall painting from Pompeii]]
Roman law was created by men in favor of men.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book|title = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: 4 Volume Se|last = Smith|first = Bonnie G|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-19-514890-9|location = London, UK|pages = [https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/422 422–25]|url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/422}}</ref> Women had no public voice and no public role, which only improved after the 1st century to the 6th century BCE.<ref name=":1">[[A. N. Sherwin-White]], ''Roman Citizenship'' (Oxford University Press, 1979), pp. 211, 268; Bruce W. Frier and Thomas A. J. McGinn, ''A Casebook on Roman Family Law'' (Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 31–32, 457, ''et passim''.</ref> Freeborn women of [[ancient Rome]] were [[Roman citizenship|citizens]] who enjoyed legal privileges and protections that did not extend to [[peregrinus (Roman)|non-citizens]] or [[slavery in ancient Rome|slaves]]. [[Social class in ancient Rome|Roman society]], however, was [[patriarchal]], and women could not vote, hold [[Roman magistrate|public office]], or serve in the military.<ref>Sherwin-White (1979), ''Roman Citizenship'', pp. 211 and 268; Frier and McGinn (2004), ''A Casebook on Roman Family Law'', pp. 31–32, 457, ''et passim''.</ref> Women of the upper classes exercised political influence through marriage and motherhood. During the [[Roman Republic]], the mothers [[Cornelia Africana|of the Gracchus brothers]] and [[Aurelia Cotta|of Julius Caesar]] were noted as exemplary women who advanced the careers of their sons. During the [[Roman Empire|Imperial period]], women of the emperor's family could acquire considerable political power and were regularly depicted in official art and on coinage.<ref>Walter Eck, "The Emperor and His Advisors", ''Cambridge Ancient History'' (Cambridge University History, 2000), p. 211.</ref>

The central core of Roman society was the ''[[pater familias]]'' or the male head of the household who exercised his authority over all his children, servants, and wife.<ref name=":04"/> Girls had equal inheritance rights with boys if their father died without leaving a will.<ref name="David Johnston 1999 p. 134">David Johnston, ''Roman Law in Context'' (Cambridge University Press, 1999), chapter 3.3; Frier and McGinn (2004), '' A Casebook on Roman Family Law'', Chapter IV; Yan Thomas, "The Division of the Sexes in Roman Law", in ''A History of Women from Ancient Goddesses to Christian Saints'' (Harvard University Press, 1991), p. 134.</ref> Roman women had a guardian (called "tutor") who managed and oversaw all her activity.<ref name=":04"/> This tutelage had limited female activity but by the first century to sixth century BCE, tutelage became very relaxed and women were accepted to participate in more public roles such as owning and managing property or acting as municipal patrons for gladiator games and other entertainment activities<ref name=":04"/> Childbearing was encouraged by the state. By 27–14 BCE the ''ius tritium liberorum'' ("legal right of three children") granted symbolic honors and legal privileges to a woman who had given birth to three children and freed her from any male guardianship.<ref>Yan Thomas, "The Division of the Sexes in Roman Law", in ''A History of Women from Ancient Goddesses to Christian Saints'' (Harvard University Press, 1991), p. 133.</ref>

In the earliest period of the Roman Republic, a bride passed from her father's control into the "hand" ''(manus)'' of her husband. She then became subject to her husband's ''potestas'', though to a lesser degree than their children.<ref>Frier and McGinn (2004), ''A Casebook on Roman Family Law'', p. 20.</ref> This archaic form of ''manus'' marriage was largely abandoned by the time of [[Julius Caesar]], when a woman remained under her father's authority by law even when she moved into her husband's home. This arrangement was one of the factors in the independence Roman women enjoyed.<ref>[[Eva Cantarella]], ''Pandora's Daughters: The Role and Status of Women in Greek and Roman Antiquity'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987), pp. 140–41; J.P. Sullivan, "Martial's Sexual Attitudes", ''Philologus'' 123 (1979), p. 296, specifically on sexual freedom.</ref>

Although women had to answer to their fathers in legal matters, they were free of his direct scrutiny in their daily lives,<ref>Beryl Rawson, "The Roman Family", in ''The Family in Ancient Rome: New Perspectives'' (Cornell University Press, 1986), p. 15.</ref> and their husbands had no legal power over them.<ref>Frier and McGinn (2004), ''A Casebook on Roman Family Law'', pp. 19–20, 22.</ref> When a woman's father died, she became legally emancipated ''([[sui iuris]])''. A married woman retained ownership of any [[property]] she brought into the marriage.<ref name="autogenerated19">Frier and McGinn (2004), ''A Casebook on Roman Family Law'', pp. 19–20.</ref> Girls had equal inheritance rights with boys if their father died without leaving a will.<ref name="David Johnston 1999 p. 134"/> Under classical [[Roman law]], a husband had no right to abuse his wife physically or compel her to have sex.<ref>Frier and McGinn (2004), ''A Casebook on Roman Family Law'', p. 95.</ref> Wife beating was sufficient grounds for divorce or other legal action against the husband.<ref>Garrett G. Fagan, "Violence in Roman Social Relations", in ''The Oxford Handbook of Social Relations'' (Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 487.</ref>

Because of their legal status as citizens and the degree to which they could become emancipated, women in ancient Rome could own property, enter contracts, and engage in business.<ref>Frier and McGinn (2004), ''A Casebook on Roman Family Law,'' p. 461; W.V. Harris, "Trade", in ''The Cambridge Ancient History: The High Empire A.D. 70–192'' (Cambridge University Press, 2000), vol. 11, p. 733.</ref> Some acquired and disposed of sizable fortunes, and are recorded in inscriptions as benefactors in funding major public works.<ref>Woodhull, Margaret L., "Matronly Patrons in the Early Roman Empire: The Case of Salvia Postuma", in ''Women's Influence on Classical Civilization'' (Routledge, 2004), p. 77.</ref> Roman women could appear in court and argue cases, though it was customary for them to be represented by a man.<ref>Bauman, Richard A., ''Women and Politics in Ancient Rome'' (Routledge, 1992, 1994), p. 50.</ref> They were simultaneously disparaged as too ignorant and weak-minded to practice law, and as too active and influential in legal matters—resulting in an edict that limited women to conducting cases on their own behalf instead of others'.<ref>Bauman, ''Women and Politics'', pp. 50–51; Juvenal, ''Satire'' 6, on women busy in the courts.</ref> But even after this restriction was put in place, there are numerous examples of women taking informed actions in legal matters, including dictating legal strategy to their male advocates.<ref>Bauman, ''Women and Politics'', pp. 51–52.</ref>

Roman law recognized [[Sexuality in ancient Rome#Rape|rape]] as a crime in which the victim bore no guilt<ref>Staples, Ariadne, ''From Good Goddess to Vestal Virgins: Sex and Category in Roman Religion'' (Routledge, 1998), pp. 81–82; Jane F. Gardner, ''Women in Roman Law and Society'' (Indiana University Press, 1991), pp. 118ff. Roman law also recognized [[Sexuality in ancient Rome#The rape of men|rape committed against males]].</ref> and a capital crime.<ref>[[Amy Richlin|Richlin, Amy]], "Not before Homosexuality: The Materiality of the ''cinaedus'' and the Roman Law against Love between Men", ''Journal of the History of Sexuality'' 3.4 (1993), pp. 562–63.</ref> The rape of a woman was considered an attack on her family and father's honour, and rape victims were shamed for allowing the bad name in her father's honour.<ref name=":04" /> As a matter of law, rape could be committed only against a citizen in good standing. The rape of a slave could be prosecuted only as damage to her owner's property.<ref>Under the ''[[Lex Aquilia]];'' Thomas A. J. McGinn, ''Prostitution, Sexuality and the Law in Ancient Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 314; Gardner, ''Women in Roman Law and Society'', p. 119.</ref>

[[File:Bronze young girl reading CdM Paris.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Bronze statuette of a young woman reading (latter 1st century)]]
The first [[Roman emperor]], [[Augustus]], framed his ascent to sole power as a return to [[Mos maiorum|traditional morality]], and attempted to regulate the conduct of women through [[Leges Iuliae|moral legislation]]. [[Marriage in ancient Rome#Adultery|Adultery]], which had been a private family matter under the Republic, was criminalized,<ref>Beth Severy, ''Augustus and the Family at the Birth of the Empire'' (Routledge, 2002; Taylor & Francis, 2004), p. 4.</ref> and defined broadly as an illicit sex act ''([[stuprum]])'' that occurred between a male citizen and a married woman, or between a married woman and any man other than her husband. Therefore, a married woman could have sex only with her husband, but a married man did not commit adultery when he had sex with a prostitute, [[Sexuality in ancient Rome#Master-slave relations|slave]], or person of marginalized status ''([[infamia|infamis]])''.<ref>Thomas McGinn, "Concubinage and the Lex Iulia on Adultery", ''Transactions of the American Philological Association'' 121 (1991), p. 342; Nussbaum, "The Incomplete Feminism of Musonius Rufus", p. 305, noting that custom "allowed much latitude for personal negotiation and gradual social change"; [[Elaine Fantham]], "''Stuprum'': Public Attitudes and Penalties for Sexual Offences in Republican Rome", in ''Roman Readings: Roman Response to Greek Literature from Plautus to Statius and Quintilian'' (Walter de Gruyter, 2011), p. 124, citing [[Papinian]], ''De adulteriis'' I and [[Modestinus]], ''Liber Regularum'' I. [[Eva Cantarella]], ''Bisexuality in the Ancient World'' (Yale University Press, 1992, 2002, originally published 1988 in Italian), p. 104; Catherine Edwards, ''The Politics of Immorality in Ancient Rome'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 34–35.</ref> Most [[prostitution in ancient Rome|prostitutes in ancient Rome]] were slaves, though some slaves were protected from forced prostitution by a clause in their sales contract.<ref>McGinn, ''Prostitution, Sexuality and the Law'', pp. 288ff.</ref> A free woman who worked as a prostitute or entertainer lost her social standing and became ''[[Sexuality in ancient Rome#Pleasure and infamy|infamis]]'', "disreputable"; by making her body publicly available, she had in effect surrendered her right to be protected from sexual abuse or physical violence.<ref>Gardner, ''Women in Roman Law and Society'', p. 119; McGinn, ''Prostitution, Sexuality and the Law in Ancient Rome'', p. 326.</ref>

[[Stoicism|Stoic philosophies]] influenced the development of Roman law. Stoics of the Imperial era such as [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] and [[Musonius Rufus]] developed theories of [[Sexuality in ancient Rome#Stoic sexual morality|just relationships]]. While not advocating equality in society or under the law, they held that nature gives men and women equal capacity for virtue and equal obligations to act virtuously, and that therefore men and women had an equal need for philosophical education.<ref name="Colish"/> These philosophical trends among the ruling elite are thought to have helped improve the status of women under the Empire.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Ratnapala| first = Suri| title = Jurisprudence| publisher = Cambridge University Press| year = 2009| pages =134–35 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tNwdWlXxZt8C&q=Stoic+law+women| isbn = 978-0-521-61483-2 }}</ref> Rome had no system of state-supported schooling, and education was available only to those who could pay for it. The daughters of [[Ordo senatorius|senators and knights]] seem to have regularly received a primary education (for ages 7 to 12).<ref>[[Marietta Horster]], "Primary Education", in ''The Oxford Handbook of Social Relations in the Roman World'' (Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 90.</ref> Regardless of gender, few people were educated beyond that level. Girls from a modest background might be schooled in order to help with the family business or to acquire literacy skills that enabled them to work as scribes and secretaries.<ref>Beryl Rawson, ''Children and Childhood in Roman Italy'' (Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 80.</ref> The woman who achieved the greatest prominence in the ancient world for her learning was [[Hypatia of Alexandria]], who taught advanced courses to young men and advised the Roman [[prefect of Egypt]] on politics.<ref>Morgan, Teresa, "Education", in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 20.</ref>

[[File:Dextrorum iunctio edited.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|Couple clasping hands in marriage, idealized by Romans as the building block of society and as a partnership of companions who work together to produce and rear children, manage everyday affairs, lead exemplary lives, and enjoy affection<ref>[[Martha C. Nussbaum|Nussbaum, Martha C.]], "The Incomplete Feminism of Musonius Rufus, Platonist, Stoic, and Roman", in ''The Sleep of Reason: Erotic Experience and Sexual Ethics in Ancient Greece and Rome'' (University of Chicago Press, 2002), p. 300; Sabine MacCormack, "Sin, Citizenship, and the Salvation of Souls: The Impact of Christian Priorities on Late-Roman and Post-Roman Society", ''Comparative Studies in Society and History'' 39.4 (1997), p. 651.</ref>]]

==== Byzantine Empire ====
{{Further|Women in the Byzantine Empire}}
Since Byzantine law was essentially based on Roman law, the legal status of women did not change significantly from the practices of the 6th century. But the traditional restriction of women in public life as well as the hostility against independent women still continued.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: 4 Volume Set|last = Smith|first = Bonnie G|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-19-514890-9|location = London, UK|pages = [https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/440 440–42]|url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/440}}</ref> Greater influence of Greek culture contributed to strict attitudes about women's roles being domestic instead of being public.<ref name=":2" /> There was also a growing trend of women who were not prostitutes, slaves or entertainers to be entirely veiled.<ref name=":2" /> Like previous Roman law, women could not be legal witnesses, hold administrations or run banking but they could still inherit properties and own land.<ref name=":2" />

As a rule, the influence of the church was exercised in favor of the abolition of the disabilities imposed by the older law upon celibacy and childlessness, of increased facilities for entering a professed religious life, and of due provision for the wife. The church also supported the political power of those who were friendly toward the clergy. The appointment of mothers and grandmothers as tutors was sanctioned by Justinian.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

The restrictions on the marriage of senators and other men of high rank with women of low rank were extended by [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine]], but it was almost entirely removed by [[Justinian I|Justinian]]. Second marriages were discouraged, especially by making it legal to impose a condition that a widow's right to property should cease on remarriage, and the Leonine Constitutions at the end of the 9th century made third marriages punishable.{{Cn|date=October 2024}} The same constitutions made the benediction of a priest a necessary part of the ceremony of marriage.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Women |volume= 23 | pages = 782–788; see page 783 |quote= The chief differences between canon and Roman law were in the law of marriage... The benediction of a priest was made a necessary part of the ceremony}}</ref>

==== China ====
{{Main|Women in ancient and imperial China|Women in China}}
[[File:Bound feet (X-ray).jpg|thumb|right|[[Foot binding]], a practice commonly inflicted on [[Women in China|Chinese women]] between the 10th century and the early 20th century. The image shows an X-ray of two bound feet.]]
Women throughout historical and ancient China were considered inferior and had subordinate legal status based on [[Confucianism|Confucian law]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: 4 Volume Set|last = Smith|first = Bonnie G|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-19-514890-9|location = London, UK|pages = [https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/426 426–27]|url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/426}}</ref> In Imperial China, the "[[Three Obediences and Four Virtues|Three Obediences]]" promoted daughters to obey their fathers, wives to obey their husbands, and widows to obey their sons. Women could not inherit businesses or wealth<ref name=":5" /> and men had to adopt a son for such financial purposes.<ref name=":5" /> Late imperial law also featured seven different types of divorces. A wife could be ousted if she failed to birth a son, committed adultery, disobeyed her parents-in-law, spoke excessively, stole, was given to bouts of jealousy, or suffered from an incurable or loathsome disease or disorder.<ref name=":5" /> But there were also limits for the husband – for example, he could not divorce if she observed her parents-in-law's mourning sites, if she had no family to return to, or if the husband's family used to be poor and since then had become richer.<ref name=":5" />

Confucian thinking relegated women in China to subordinate roles and [[foot binding]] left them homemakers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=FlorCruz |first=Jaime A. |date=2012-06-15 |title=Chinese women push for a place in space |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/world/asia/china-women-space/index.html |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> About 45% of Chinese women had bound feet in the 19th century. For the upper classes, it was almost 100%. In 1912, the Chinese government ordered the cessation of foot-binding. Foot-binding involved the alteration of the bone structure so that the feet were only about four inches long. The bound feet caused difficulty in movement, thus greatly limiting the activities of women.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

Due to the social custom that men and women should not be near each other, the women of China were reluctant to be treated by male doctors of Western Medicine. This resulted in a tremendous need for female doctors of Western Medicine in China. Thus, female medical missionary Mary H. Fulton<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04TOSAAACAAJ |title=Inasmuch |author=Mary H. Fulton|editor=The United Study of Forring |publisher=BiblioBazaar |year=2010 |isbn=978-1140341796 }}</ref> was sent by the Foreign Missions Board of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to found the first medical college for women in China. Known as the Hackett Medical College for Women (夏葛女子醫學院),<ref>{{cite web |author=PANG Suk Man |url=http://lib-nt2.hkbu.edu.hk/cil-image/theses/abstracts/b15564174a.pdf |title=The Hackett Medical College for Women in China (1899–1936) |publisher=Hong Kong Baptist University |date=February 1998 |access-date=10 October 2015 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016090221/http://lib-nt2.hkbu.edu.hk/cil-image/theses/abstracts/b15564174a.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cqvip.com/qk/83891A/200203/6479902.html |title=中国近代第一所女子医学院－－夏葛医学院-【维普网】-仓储式在线作品出版平台-www.cqvip.com |publisher=Cqvip.com |access-date=9 December 2013}}</ref> the college was aimed at the spreading of Christianity and modern medicine and the elevation of Chinese women's social status.<ref name="RebeccaChan">Rebecca Chan Chung, Deborah Chung and Cecilia Ng Wong, "Piloted to Serve", 2012.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=纪念钟陈可慰 100 周年 (1920–2020)|url=http://www.cnac.org/rebeccachan_piloted_to_serve_01.pdf|access-date=2020-10-09}}</ref>

During the [[Republic of China (1912–49)]] and earlier Chinese governments, women were legally bought and sold into slavery under the guise of domestic servants. These women were known as [[Mui Tsai]]. The lives of Mui Tsai were recorded by American feminist [[Agnes Smedley]] in her book ''Portraits of Chinese Women in Revolution''.<ref>Parts of this book are available online here [https://archive.org/details/portraitsofchine00smed <!-- quote=Portraits of Chinese Women in Revolution. -->], at Google Books.</ref>

However, in 1949 the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] was overthrown by communist guerillas led by [[Mao Zedong]], and the [[People's Republic of China]] was founded in the same year. In May 1950 the People's Republic of China enacted the [[New Marriage Law]] to tackle the sale of women into slavery. This outlawed marriage by proxy and made marriage legal so long as both partners consent. The New Marriage Law raised the legal age of marriage to 20 for men and 18 for women. This was an essential part of countryside land reform as women could no longer legally be sold to landlords. The official slogan was "Men and women are equal; everyone is worth his (or her) salt".<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=The Developing Economies|volume=48|number=2|date=June 2010|page=B5|first=Noboro|last=Niida|title=Land Reform and New Marriage Law in China|url=http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Periodicals/De/pdf/64_01_01.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403010912/http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Periodicals/De/pdf/64_01_01.pdf|archive-date=3 April 2012}}</ref>

=== Post-classical history ===

[[File:Dahomey amazon1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Dahomey Amazons]] were a [[Fon people|Fon]] all-female military regiment of the [[Kingdom of Dahomey]].]]

==== Religious scriptures ====

===== Bible =====
{{Main|Women in the Bible}}
Both before and during biblical times, the roles of women in society were severely restricted.<ref>{{cite web|last=Robinson|first=B.A.|title=The status of women in the Bible and in early Christianity|publisher=Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance|year=2010|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/fem_bibl.htm|access-date=11 September 2010}}</ref> Nonetheless, in the Bible, women are depicted as having the right to represent themselves in court,<ref name="Hiers2012">{{cite book|last1=Hiers|first1=Richard H.|title=Women's Rights and the Bible: Implications for Christian Ethics and Social Policy|date=2012|publisher=Pickwick Publications|location=Eugene, Oregon|isbn=978-1-61097-627-5|url=https://archive.org/details/womensrightsbibl0000hier|url-access=registration|quote=women's rights in the Bible.|access-date=15 October 2017}}</ref>{{rp|56–62}} the ability to make contracts,<ref name="Hiers2012"/>{{rp|63–67}} and the rights to purchase, own, sell, and inherit property.<ref name="Hiers2012"/>{{rp|63–80}} The Bible guarantees women the right to sex with their husbands<ref name=CawBiblic>{{cite web |last1=Frank L. Caw, Jr. |title=Biblical Divorce And Re-Marriage |url=http://www.frankcaw.com/divorce-print.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030812232627/http://www.frankcaw.com/divorce-print.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 August 2003 |access-date=19 October 2015 }}</ref><ref name=Caw2005>{{cite book |last1=Frank L. Caw, Jr. |title=The Ultimate Deception |date=10 February 2005 |publisher=1st Book Library |isbn=978-0-7596-4037-5 |url=http://www.frankcaw.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980110011803/http://frankcaw.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 January 1998 |access-date=19 October 2015 }}</ref> and orders husbands to feed and clothe their wives.<ref name=CawBiblic/><ref name=Caw2005/> Breach of these Old Testament rights by a polygamous man gave the woman grounds for divorce.<ref name=CawBiblic/><ref name=Caw2005/>

===== Qur'an =====
{{See also|Early reforms under Islam|Women in Islam|Islamic feminism|Sex segregation and Islam|Concubinage in Islam}}
The [[Qur'an]] prescribes limited rights for women in [[marriage in Islam|marriage]], [[divorce in Islam|divorce]], and [[Islamic inheritance jurisprudence|inheritance]]. By providing that the wife, not her family, would receive a dowry from the husband, which she could administer as her personal property, the Qur'an made women a legal party to the [[Islamic marriage contract|marriage contract]].<ref>[[John L. Esposito|Esposito, John L.]], with DeLong-Bas, Natana J. (2001). ''Women in Muslim Family Law'', 2nd revised Ed. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MOmaDq8HKCgC&q=islam+early+reforms+women%27s+rights+Esposito Available here via GoogleBooks preview]. Syracuse University Press. {{ISBN|0-8156-2908-7}} p. 4.</ref>

While in customary law, inheritance was often limited to male descendants, the Qur'an included rules on inheritance with certain fixed shares being distributed to designated heirs, first to the nearest female relatives and then the nearest male relatives.<ref>Esposito (with DeLong-Bas) 2001, pp. 4–5.</ref> According to [[Annemarie Schimmel]] "compared to the pre-Islamic position of [Arab] women, [[Fiqh|Islamic legislation]] meant an enormous progress; the woman has the right, at least according to the [[Letter and spirit of the law|letter of the law]], to administer the wealth she has brought into the family or has earned by her own work."<ref>{{Cite book| last = Schimmel| first = Annemarie| title = Islam | publisher = SUNY Press| year = 1992| page = 65| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m7oKd-H1BzYC| isbn = 978-0-7914-1327-2}}</ref>

For [[Arab women]], Islam included the prohibition of [[female infanticide]] and recognizing women's full personhood.<ref name="OxfordDicT">Esposito (2004), p. 339.</ref> Women generally gained greater rights than women in [[pre-Islamic Arabia]]<ref name="Espos">[[John Esposito]], ''Islam: The Straight Path'' p. 79.</ref><ref name="majid">[[Majid Khadduri]], ''Marriage in Islamic Law: The Modernist Viewpoints'', American Journal of [[Comparative law]], Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 213–18.</ref> and [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]].<ref>Encyclopedia of religion, second edition, Lindsay Jones, p. 6224, {{ISBN|978-0-02-865742-4}}.</ref> Women were not accorded such legal status in other cultures until centuries later.<ref>Lindsay Jones, p. 6224.</ref> According to Professor [[William Montgomery Watt]], when seen in such a historical context, [[Muhammad]] "can be seen as a figure who testified on behalf of women's rights."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/articles/2000_watt.htm |first1=Bashir |last1=Maan |first2=Alastair |last2=McIntosh |title=Interview with Prof William Montgomery Watt |publisher=Alastair McIntosh's Home Page |date=27 May 2005 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref>

==== Western Europe ====
[[File:Medieval women hunting.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Women performing tasks during the Middle Ages]]

Women's rights were protected already by the early Medieval Christian Church: one of the first formal legal provisions for the right of wives was promulgated by [[Council of Agde|council of Adge]] in 506, which in Canon XVI stipulated that if a young married man wished to be ordained, he required the consent of his wife.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIjEVrB3b4kC&pg=PA185|title=Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511–768|last=Halfond|first=Gregory I.|date=2010|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004179769|language=en}}</ref>

The English Church and culture in the Middle Ages regarded women as weak, irrational, vulnerable to temptation, and constantly needing to be kept in check.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title = Women in England in the middle ages|last = Ward|first = Jennifer|publisher = A & C Black|year = 2006|isbn = 978-1852853464|location = New York|pages = 3–4}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2017}} This was reflected on the Christian culture in England through the story of [[Adam and Eve]] where Eve fell to Satan's temptations and led Adam to eat the apple. This belief was based on St. Paul,{{Cn|date=October 2024}} that the pain of childbirth was a punishment for this deed that led mankind to be banished from the Garden of Eden.<ref name=":6" /> Women's inferiority also appears in much medieval writing; for example, the 1200 AD theologian [[Jacques de Vitry]] (who was rather sympathetic to women over others) emphasized female obedience towards their men and described women as slippery, weak, untrustworthy, devious, deceitful and stubborn.<ref name=":6" /> The church also promoted the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Virgin Mary]] as a role model for women to emulate by being innocent in her sexuality, being married to a husband and eventually becoming a mother. That was the core purpose set out both culturally and religiously across Medieval Europe.<ref name=":6" /> Rape was also seen in medieval England{{Cn|date=October 2024}} as a crime against the father or husband and a violation of their protection and guardianship of the women whom they look after in the household.<ref name=":6" /> Women's identities in the Middle Ages were also referred through their relations with men they associated with, such as "his daughter" or "so and so's wife".<ref name=":6" /> Despite all this, the Church still emphasized the importance of love and mutual counselling within marriage and prohibited any form of divorce so the wife would have someone to look after her.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Women activities in middle ages.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|Royal women's activities in the Middle Ages]]
In overall Europe during the Middle Ages, women were inferior to men in legal status.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title = Women's Roles in the Middle Ages|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4SL2X3uHEAC|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group|date = 1 January 2007|isbn = 9780313336355|first = Sandy|last = Bardsley}}</ref> Throughout medieval Europe, women were pressured to not attend courts and leave all legal business affairs to their husbands. In the legal system, women were regarded as the property of men so any threat or injury to them was the duty of their male guardians.<ref name=":7" />

In Irish law, women were forbidden to act as witnesses in courts.<ref name=":7" /> In Welsh law, women's testimony could be accepted towards other women but not against men, but Welsh laws, specifically [[Cyfraith Hywel|The Laws of Hywel Dda]], also reflected accountability for men to pay child maintenance for children born out of wedlock, which empowered women to claim rightful payment.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Women, Linen and Gender in the Cyfraith Hywel Dda – Laidlaw Scholarships|url=https://laidlawscholarships.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2019/06/26/women-linen-and-gender-in-the-cyfraith-hywel-dda/|access-date=2020-10-09|website=laidlawscholarships.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922190110/https://laidlawscholarships.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2019/06/26/women-linen-and-gender-in-the-cyfraith-hywel-dda/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In France, women's testimony had to corroborate with other accounts or it would not be accepted.<ref name=":7" /> Although women were expected to not attend courts,{{Cn|date=October 2024}} this however was not always true. Sometimes, regardless of expectations, women did participate and attend court cases and court meetings. But women could not act as justices in courts, be attorneys or members of a jury, or accuse another person of a felony unless it was the murder of her husband.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Women in Medieval Western European Culture|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=k09yF2Ub-pYC&q=women+in+middle+ages+law&pg=PA113|publisher = Routledge|date = 12 November 2012|isbn = 9781136522031|first = Linda E.|last = Mitchell}}</ref> For the most part, the best thing a woman could do in medieval courts was to observe the legal proceedings taking place.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

Swedish law protected women from the authority of their husbands by transferring the authority to their male relatives.<ref name="Beattie">{{Cite book|title = Married Women and the Law in Premodern Northwest Europe|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=36uGH4HNUWoC|publisher = Boydell Press|date = 1 January 2013|isbn = 9781843838333|first1 = Cordelia|last1 = Beattie|first2 = Matthew Frank|last2 = Stevens}}</ref> A wife's property and land also could not be taken by the husband without her family's consent but neither could the wife.<ref name="Beattie"/> This meant a woman could not transfer her property to her husband without her family or kinsman's consent either. In Swedish law, a woman would also only get half that of her brother in inheritance.<ref name="Beattie"/> Despite these legal issues, Sweden was largely ahead and much superior in its treatment towards women than most European countries.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

Medieval marriages among the elites were arranged in a way that would meet the interests of the family as a whole.<ref name=":7" /> Theoretically a woman needed to consent before a marriage took place and the Church encouraged this consent to be expressed in present tense and not future.<ref name=":7" /> Marriage could also take place anywhere and the minimum age for girls was 12, while it was 14 for boys.<ref name=":7" />

==== Northern Europe ====

The rate of [[Weregild|Wergild]] suggested that women in these societies were valued mostly for their breeding purposes. The Wergild of woman was double that of a man with the same status in the [[Alemannic German|Aleman]] and [[Bavaria]]n legal codes.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|title = Women in Dark Age and Early Medieval Europe|last = Jewell|first = Helen M|publisher = Palgrave Macmillan|year = 2007|isbn = 978-0333912591|location = New York|pages = 37–39}}</ref> The Wergild of a woman meanwhile was triple that of a man with the same status in [[Salian Franks|Salic]] and Repuarian legal codes for women of child-bearing age, which constituted from 12 to 40 years old.<ref name=":8" /> One of the most Germanic codes from the [[Lombards|Lombard]] tradition legislated that women be under the control of a male ''mundoald'', which constituted her father, husband, older son or eventually the king as a last resort if she had no male relatives.<ref name=":8" /> A woman needed her mundold's permission to manage property but still could own her own lands and goods. Certain areas with [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] inheritance laws until the 7th century were favorable to women while all other laws were not.<ref name=":8" /> Before the Christianization of Europe, there was little space for women's consent for marriage and marriage through purchase (or ''Kaufehe'') was actually the civil norm, as opposed to the alternative marriage through capture (or ''Raubehe'').<ref name=":8" /> However Christianity was slow to reach other Baltic and Scandinavian areas with it only reaching King [[Harald Bluetooth]] of Denmark in the year 950 AD.<ref name=":8" /> Those living under [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] and [[Iceland]]ic laws used marriages to forge alliances or create peace, usually without the women's say or consent.<ref name=":8" /> However divorce rights were permitted to women who suffered physical abuse but protections from harm were not given to those termed "wretched" women such as beggars, servants and slave women. Having sex with them through force or without consent usually had no legal consequence or punishment.<ref name=":8" />

During the [[Viking Age]], women had a relatively free status in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, illustrated in the Icelandic [[Grágás]] and the Norwegian [[Frostating]] laws and [[Gulating]] laws.<ref name="ReferenceA">Borgström Eva {{in lang|sv}}: Makalösa kvinnor: könsöverskridare i myt och verklighet (Marvelous women : gender benders in myth and reality) Alfabeta/Anamma, Stockholm 2002. {{ISBN|91-501-0191-9}} (inb.). Libris 8707902.</ref>
The paternal aunt, paternal niece and paternal granddaughter, referred to as ''odalkvinna'', all had the right to inherit property from a deceased man.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In the absence of male relatives, an unmarried woman with no son could, furthermore, inherit not only property, but also the position as head of the family from a deceased father or brother. A woman with such status was referred to as ''[[ringkvinna]]'', and she exercised all the rights afforded to the head of a family clan, such as the right to demand and receive fines for the slaughter of a family member, unless she married, by which her rights were transferred to her husband.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

After the age of 20, an unmarried woman, referred to as ''maer'' and ''mey'', reached legal majority, had the right to decide her place of residence, and was regarded as her own person before the law.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
An exception to her independence was the right to choose a marriage partner, as marriages were normally arranged by the clan.<ref>Borgström Eva{{in lang|sv}}: Makalösa kvinnor: könsöverskridare i myt och verklighet (Marvelous women : gender benders in myth and reality) Alfabeta/Anamma, Stockholm 2002. {{ISBN|91-501-0191-9}} (inb.). Libris 8707902.</ref> Widows enjoyed the same independent status as unmarried women.
Women had religious authority and were active as priestesses (''gydja'') and oracles (''sejdkvinna'');<ref name="ReferenceB">Ingelman-Sundberg, Catharina, ''Forntida kvinnor: jägare, vikingahustru, prästinna'' [Ancient women: hunters, viking wife, priestess], Prisma, Stockholm, 2004</ref> within art as poets (''skalder'')<ref name="ReferenceB"/> and [[rune master]]s; and as merchants and medicine women.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> They may also have been active within military office: the stories about [[shieldmaiden]]s are unconfirmed, but some archaeological finds such as the [[Birka female Viking warrior]] may indicate that at least some women in military authority existed. A married woman could divorce her husband and remarry.<ref name="ReferenceC">Ohlander, Ann-Sofie & Strömberg, Ulla-Britt, Tusen svenska kvinnoår: svensk kvinnohistoria från vikingatid till nutid, 3. (A Thousand Swedish Women's Years: Swedish Women's History from the Viking Age until now), [omarb. och utök.] uppl., Norstedts akademiska förlag, Stockholm, 2008</ref>

It was also socially acceptable for a free woman to cohabit with a man and have children with him without marrying him, even if that man was married; a woman in such a position was called ''frilla''.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> There was no distinction made between children born inside or outside of marriage: both had the right to inherit property after their parents, and there were no "legitimate" or "illegitimate" children.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
These liberties gradually disappeared after the introduction of Christianity, and from the late 13th century, they are no longer mentioned.<ref name="Anamma 2002">Borgström Eva {{in lang|sv}}: ''Makalösa kvinnor: könsöverskridare i myt och verklighet'' (''Marvelous women : genderbenders in myth and reality'') Alfabeta/Anamma, Stockholm 2002. {{ISBN|91-501-0191-9}} (inb.). Libris 8707902.</ref> During the Christian Middle Ages, the [[Medieval Scandinavian law]] applied different laws depending on the local county law, signifying that the status of women could vary depending on which county she was living in.

=== Modern history ===

==== Europe ====

===== 16th and 17th century Europe =====

[[File:Malleus maleficarum, Köln 1520, Titelseite.jpg|thumb|Title page of the seventh [[Cologne]] edition of the ''[[Malleus Maleficarum]]'', 1520 (from the [[University of Sydney Library]]), a book endorsing the [[Witch trials in the early modern period|extermination of witches]]]]
[[File:Witches Being Hanged.jpg|thumb|An image of suspected witches being hanged in England, published in 1655]]
The 16th and 17th centuries saw numerous [[witch trial]]s, which resulted in thousands of people across Europe being executed, of whom 75–95% were women (depending on time and place).<ref name="Mitchell">{{Cite book|title = Killing Women – Gender, Sorcery, and Violence in Late Medieval Germany|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oUfhZceOsrgC|publisher = GRIN Verlag|date = 1 November 2010|isbn = 9783640741830|first = James|last = Mitchell}}</ref> The executions mostly took place in German-speaking lands, and during the 15th century the terminology "witchcraft" was definitely viewed as something feminine as opposed to prior years.<ref name="Mitchell"/> Famous witchcraft manuals such as the ''[[Malleus Maleficarum]]'' and ''[[Summis desiderantes affectibus|Summis Desiderantes]]'' depicted witches as diabolical conspirators who worshipped Satan and were primarily women. Culture and art at the time depicted these witches as seductive and evil, further fuelling moral panic in fusion with rhetoric from the Church.<ref name="Mitchell"/>

The origin of the female "witch" myth traces back to Roman mythical night creatures known as Strix, who were thought to appear and disappear mysteriously in the night.<ref name="Mitchell"/> They were also believed by many to be of transformed women by their own supernatural powers.<ref name="Mitchell"/> This Roman myth itself is believed to originate from the Jewish Sabbath which described non-supernatural women who would suspiciously leave and return home swiftly during the night.<ref name="Mitchell"/> Authors of the ''Malleus Maleficarum'' strongly established the link between witchcraft and women by proclaiming a greater likelihood for women to be addicted to "evil".<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|title = Women in Late Medieval and Reformation Europe|last = Jewell|first = Helen M.|publisher = Palgrave Macmillan|year = 2007|isbn = 978-0333912577|location = New York|pages = 123–24}}</ref> The authors and inquisitors [[Heinrich Kramer]] and Jacob Sprengerh justified these beliefs by claiming women had greater credulity, impressionability, feeble minds, feeble bodies, impulsivity and carnal natures which were flaws susceptible to "evil" behavior and witchcraft.<ref name=":9" /> These sorts of beliefs at the time could send female hermits or beggars to trials just for offering remedies or herbal medicine.<ref name=":9" /> This set of developed myths eventually lead to the 16–17th century witch trials which found thousands of women burned at the stake.<ref name="Mitchell"/>

By 1500, Europe was divided into two types of secular law.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: 4 Volume Set|last = Smith|first = Bonnie G|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-19-514890-9|location = London, UK|pages = [https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/428 428–29]|url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/428}}</ref> One was customary law, which was predominant in northern France, England and Scandinavia, and the other was Roman-based written law, which was predominant in southern France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.<ref name=":4" />

Customary laws favoured men more than women.<ref name=":4" /> For example, inheritance among the elites in Italy, England, Scandinavia and France was passed on to the eldest male heir. In all of the regions, the laws also gave men substantial powers over the lives, property and bodies of their wives.<ref name=":4" /> However, there were some improvements for women as opposed to ancient custom; for example, they could inherit in the absence of their brothers, do certain trades without their husbands, and widows could receive dower.<ref name=":4" />

In areas governed by Roman-based written laws, women were under male guardianship in matters involving property and law,{{Undue weight inline|date=October 2024}} with fathers overseeing daughters, husbands overseeing wives and uncles or male relatives overseeing widows.<ref name=":4" />

Throughout Europe, women's legal status centered around their marital status while marriage itself was the biggest factor in restricting women's autonomy.<ref name=":4" /> Custom, statute and practice not only reduced women's rights and freedoms but prevented single or widowed women from holding public office on the justification that they might one day marry.<ref name=":4" />

According to [[English Common Law]], which developed from the 12th century onward, all property which a wife held at the time of marriage became a possession of her husband. Eventually, English courts forbade a husband's transferring property without the consent of his wife, but he still retained the right to manage it and to receive the money which it produced. French married women suffered from restrictions on their legal capacity which were removed only in 1965.<ref name="Badr-1984">{{cite journal |last1=Badr |first1=Gamal M. |last2=Mayer |first2=Ann Elizabeth |title=Islamic Criminal Justice |journal=The American Journal of Comparative Law |date=1984 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=167–169 |doi=10.2307/840274 |jstor=840274 }}</ref> In the 16th century, the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] in Europe allowed more women to add their voices, including the English writers [[Jane Anger]], [[Emilia Lanier|Aemilia Lanyer]], and the prophetess [[Anna Trapnell]]. English and American [[Quakers]] believed that men and women were equal. Many Quaker women were preachers.<ref>W. J. Rorabaugh, Donald T. Critchlow, Paula C. Baker (2004). "''[https://books.google.com/books?id=VL_6X5zWOokC&pg=PA75 America's promise: a concise history of the United States]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}''". Rowman & Littlefield. p. 75. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-1189-7}}.</ref> Despite relatively greater freedom for [[Anglo-Saxon women]], until the mid-19th century, writers largely assumed that a [[Patriarchy|patriarchal order]] was a natural order that had always existed.<ref name="Maine">Maine, Henry Sumner. Ancient Law 1861.</ref> This perception was not seriously challenged until the 18th century when [[Jesuit]] missionaries found [[matrilineality]] in native North American peoples.<ref>[[Joseph-François Lafitau|Lafitau, Joseph François]], cited by Campbell, Joseph in, Myth, religion, and mother-right: selected writings of JJ Bachofen. Manheim, R (trans.) Princeton, N.J. 1967 introduction xxxiii</ref>

The philosopher [[John Locke]] opposed marital inequality and the mistreatment of women during this time.<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|title = Gender and Good Governance in John Locke|url = http://www.ajsih.org/index.php/ajsih/article/view/56|journal = American Journal of Social Issues and Humanities|date = 19 July 2012|issn = 2276-6928|volume = 2|issue = 4|first1 = Ikechukwu|last1 = Anthony|first2 = O. S. A.|last2 = Kanu}}</ref> He was well known for advocating for marital equality among the sexes in his work during the 17th century. According to a study published in the ''American Journal of Social Issues & Humanities,'' the condition for women during Locke's time were as quote:<ref name=":11" />

* English women had fewer grounds for divorce than men until 1923<ref name=":11" />
* Husbands controlled most of their wives' personal property until the [[Married Women's Property Act 1870]] and [[Married Women's Property Act 1882]]<ref name=":11" />
* Children were the husband's property<ref name=":11" />
* Rape was legally impossible within a marriage<ref name=":11" />
* Wives lacked crucial features of legal personhood, since the husband was taken as the representative of the family (thereby eliminating the need for women's suffrage). These legal features of marriage suggest that the idea of a marriage between equals appeared unlikely to most Victorians.<ref name=":11" /> (Quoted from ''Gender and Good Governance in John Locke, American Journal of Social Issues & Humanities Vol 2''<ref name=":11" />)

A paternal society can find prefer to make women's rights a man's duty, for instance under English common law husbands had to maintain their wives. This duty was abolished in 2010.<ref name="UKEqualityAct">{{cite web |title=Equality Act 2010 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15 |publisher=UK Government Legislation |access-date=22 October 2017 }}</ref><ref name="OldLawsOfEngland">{{cite web |last1=Sir William Blackstone |title=Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769) |url=https://lonang.com/library/reference/blackstone-commentaries-law-england/bla-115 |publisher=Lonang Institute |access-date=22 October 2017 }}</ref>

===== 18th and 19th century Europe =====
{{Further|Women in the Victorian era}}
[[File:Johann Heinrich Füssli 049.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|alt=Three women sitting around a small table, one sewing, one drinking a cup of what is possibly tea. All three are drawn to look almost horrific. The third woman looks as if she has two heads, but it may be that there are four women. The women's heads do not look like they are comfortable on their bodies. The colors are dark red, black, brown, and almond.|''The Debutante'' (1807) by [[Henry Fuseli]]; The woman, victim of male social conventions, is tied to the wall, made to sew and guarded by governesses. The picture reflects [[Mary Wollstonecraft]]'s views in ''[[A Vindication of the Rights of Woman]]'', published in 1792.<ref>Tomory, Peter. ''The Life and Art of Henry Fuseli.'' New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972; p. 217. {{LCCN|72077546}}.</ref>]]
Starting in the late 18th century, and throughout the 19th century, rights, as a concept and claim, gained increasing political, social, and philosophical importance in Europe. Movements emerged which demanded [[freedom of religion]], the abolition of [[slavery]], rights for women, rights for those who did not own property, and [[universal suffrage]].<ref>{{Cite book| last = Sweet| first = William| title = Philosophical theory and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights| publisher = University of Ottawa Press| year = 2003| page = 4| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_V_KuJGcJSAC&q=%22natural+law%22+women+%22human+nature%22| isbn =978-0-7766-0558-6 }}</ref> In the late 18th century the question of women's rights became central to political debates in both France and Britain. At the time some of the greatest thinkers of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], who defended democratic principles of [[Egalitarianism|equality]] and challenged notions that a privileged few should rule over the vast majority of the population, believed that these principles should be applied only to their own gender and their own race. The philosopher [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], for example, thought that it was the order of nature for women to obey men.<ref>{{cite book| last = Lauren| first = Paul Gordon| title = The evolution of international human rights: visions seen| publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press| year = 2003| pages = 29–30| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gHRhWgbWyzMC&q=Declaration+of+the+Rights+of+Man+and+of+the+Citizen| isbn =978-0-8122-1854-1 }}</ref>

In 1754, [[Dorothea Erxleben]] became the first German woman receiving a [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]] ([[University of Halle]])<ref name="Offen, K. 2000 p. 43">Offen, K. (2000): ''European Feminisms, 1700-1950: A Political History'' (Stanford University Press), p. 43.</ref>
[[File:Mary Wollstonecraft by John Opie (c. 1797).jpg|thumb|right|[[Mary Wollstonecraft]] by [[John Opie]] (c. 1797)]]
[[File:Minna Canth.jpg|thumb|right|[[Minna Canth]] (1844–1897), a Finnish author and [[social activist]], was one of the most significant European feminists and advocates of women's rights.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://finland.fi/arts-culture/finnish-author-minna-canth-could-and-she-did/|title=Finnish author Minna Canth could, and she did|date=17 March 2017|website=thisisFINLAND}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://finland.fi/arts-culture/finlands-first-feminist-why-minna-canths-writing-is-still-important/|title=Finland's first feminist: Why Minna Canth's writing is still important|date=15 March 2019|website=thisisFINLAND}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newsnowfinland.fi/arts-culture/day-of-equality-celebrates-minna-canths-legacy|title=Day of Equality celebrates Minna Canth's legacy &#124; News Now Finland|first=News Now|last=Staff|date=19 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.bl.uk/european/2017/05/a-feisty-finnish-feminist-minna-canth-.html|title=A feisty Finnish feminist: Minna Canth – European studies blog|website=blogs.bl.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://allthingsnordic.eu/gender-equality-how-minna-canth-changed-finlands-route/ |title=Gender equality: how Minna Canth changed Finland's route |date=9 December 2019 |access-date=26 June 2020 |archive-date=29 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629070037/https://allthingsnordic.eu/gender-equality-how-minna-canth-changed-finlands-route/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:DDFC.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|left|First page of the [[Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen]]]]
In 1791 the French playwright and political [[Activism|activist]] [[Olympe de Gouges]] published the [[Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen]],<ref name=MS1112>Macdonald and Scherf, "Introduction", pp. 11–12.</ref> modelled on the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] of 1789. The Declaration is ironic in formulation and exposes the failure of the [[French Revolution]], which had been devoted to equality. It states that: "This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society". The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen follows the seventeen articles of the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] point for point and has been described by Camille Naish as "almost a parody... of the original document". The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaims that "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility." The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen replied: "Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility". De Gouges expands the sixth article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which declared the rights of citizens to take part in the formation of law, to:
[[File:Women suffrage cartoon.png|upright=1.1|thumb|Australian women's rights were lampooned in this 1887 ''Melbourne Punch'' cartoon: A hypothetical female member foists her baby's care on the House Speaker.]]
<blockquote>
All citizens including women are equally admissible to all public dignities, offices and employments, according to their capacity, and with no other distinction than that of their virtues and talents.
</blockquote>
De Gouges also draws attention to the fact that under French law women were fully punishable, yet denied equal rights.<ref>{{cite book |title=Death comes to the maiden: Sex and Execution, 1431–1933 |last=Naish |first=Camille |year=1991 |publisher=Routledge |isbn= 978-0-415-05585-7 |page=137 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OHYOAAAAQAAJ&q=Declaration+of+the+Rights+of+Woman+and+the+Female+Citizen }}</ref>

[[Mary Wollstonecraft]], a British writer and philosopher, published ''[[A Vindication of the Rights of Woman]]'' in 1792, arguing that it was the education and upbringing of women that created limited expectations.<ref>Brody, Miriam. Mary Wollstonecraft: Sexuality and women's rights (1759–1797), in Spender, Dale (ed.) Feminist theorists: Three centuries of key women thinkers, Pantheon 1983, pp. 40–59 {{ISBN|0-394-53438-7}}.</ref><ref name=Walters>Walters, Margaret, ''Feminism: A very short introduction'' (Oxford, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-19-280510-2}}.</ref> Wollstonecraft attacked gender oppression, pressing for equal educational opportunities, and demanded "justice!" and "rights to humanity" for all.<ref>{{cite book| last = Lauren| title = The evolution of international human rights: visions seen| publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press| year = 2003| page = 32| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gHRhWgbWyzMC&q=Declaration+of+the+Rights+of+Man+and+of+the+Citizen| isbn = 978-0-8122-1854-1}}</ref> Wollstonecraft, along with her British contemporaries [[Damaris Cudworth]] and [[Catharine Macaulay]], started to use the language of rights in relation to women, arguing that women should have greater opportunity because like men, they were moral and rational beings.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Sweet| first = William| title = Philosophical theory and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights| publisher = University of Ottawa Press| year = 2003| page = 10| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_V_KuJGcJSAC&q=%22natural+law%22+women+%22human+nature%22| isbn =978-0-7766-0558-6 }}</ref>
[[Mary Robinson (poet)|Mary Robinson]] wrote in a similar vein in "A Letter to the Women of England, on the Injustice of Mental Subordination.", 1799.

[[File:Mill's logic 1867.jpg|upright=1.15|left|thumb|A ''Punch'' cartoon from 1867 mocking [[John Stuart Mill]]'s attempt to replace the term 'man' with 'person', i.e. give women the right to vote. Caption: Mill's Logic: Or, Franchise for Females. "Pray clear the way, there, for these – a – persons."<ref name="Brave new world – Women's rights">{{cite web| title = Brave new world – Women's rights | publisher = National Archives| url = http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/women.htm| access-date =15 January 2011 }}</ref>]]
In his 1869 essay "[[The Subjection of Women]]" the English philosopher and political theorist [[John Stuart Mill]] described the situation for women in Britain as follows:
<blockquote>
We are continually told that civilization and Christianity have restored to the woman her just rights. Meanwhile, the wife is the actual bondservant of her husband; no less so, as far as the legal obligation goes, than slaves commonly so called.</blockquote>

Then a member of parliament, Mill argued that women deserve the [[right to vote]], though his proposal to replace the term "man" with "person" in the second [[Reform Bill of&nbsp;1867]] was greeted with laughter in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and defeated by 76&nbsp;to&nbsp;196 votes. His arguments won little support amongst contemporaries<ref name="Brave new world – Women's rights"/> but his attempt to amend the reform bill generated greater attention for the issue of women's suffrage in Britain.<ref name=suffrage/> Initially only one of several women's rights campaigns, suffrage became the primary cause of the British women's movement at the beginning of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |title=The women's suffrage movement in Britain, 1866–1928 |last=Van Wingerden |first=Sophia A. |year=1999 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn= 978-0-312-21853-9 |pages=1–2 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0oLxK_NHI6kC }}</ref> At the time, the ability to vote was restricted to wealthy [[Property law|property owners]] within British jurisdictions. This arrangement implicitly excluded women as [[property law]] and [[marriage law]] gave men ownership rights at marriage or inheritance until the 19th century. Although male suffrage broadened during the century, women were explicitly prohibited from voting nationally and locally in the 1830s by the [[Reform Act 1832]] and the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]].<ref name=X>Phillips, Melanie, ''The Ascent of Woman: A History of the Suffragette Movement'' (Abacus, 2004)</ref> [[Millicent Fawcett]] and [[Emmeline Pankhurst]] led the public campaign on women's suffrage and in 1918 a bill was passed allowing women over the age of 30 to vote.<ref name="X" />

By the 1860s, the economic sexual politics of middle-class women in Britain and its neighboring Western European countries was guided by factors such as the evolution of 19th century [[Consumerism|consumer]] culture. While women, particularly those in the middle class, obtained modest control of daily household expenses and had the ability to leave the house, attend social events, and shop for personal and household items, Europe's socioeconomic climate pervaded the ideology that women were not in complete control over their urges to spend (assuming) their husband or father's wages. As a result, many advertisements for socially 'feminine' goods revolved around upward social progression, [[exoticism]]s from the [[Orient]], and added efficiency for household roles women were deemed responsible for.<ref name="Lysack, Krista 2008">Lysack, Krista. Come buy, come buy: shopping and the culture of consumption in Victorian women's writing. n.p.: Athens : Ohio University Press, c2008., 2008.</ref><ref>Rappaport, Erika Diane. Shopping for pleasure: women in the making of London's West End. n.p.: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, c2000., 2000.</ref>

===== Russia =====

By law and custom, Muscovite Russia was a patriarchal society that subordinated women to men, and the young to their elders. [[Peter the Great]] relaxed the second custom, but not the subordination of women.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: 4 Volume Set|last = Smith|first = Bonnie G|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-19-514890-9|location = London, UK|pages = [https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/443 443–44]|url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/443}}</ref> A decree of 1722 explicitly forbade any forced marriages by requiring both bride and groom to consent, while parental permission still remained a requirement. But during Peter's reign, only the man could get rid of his wife by putting her in a nunnery.<ref name=":3" />

In terms of laws, there were double standards for women. Adulterous wives were sentenced to forced labor, while men who murdered their wives were merely flogged.<ref name=":3" /> After the death of Peter the Great, laws and customs pertaining to men's marital authority over their wives increased.<ref name=":3" /> In 1782, civil law reinforced women's responsibility to obey their husbands.<ref name=":3" /> By 1832, the Digest of laws changed this obligation into "unlimited obedience".<ref name=":3" />

In the 18th century, the Russian orthodox church further got its authority over marriage and banned priests from granting divorce, even for severely abused wives.<ref name=":3" /> By 1818, the Russian senate had also forbade the separation of married couples.<ref name=":3" />

During [[World War I]], caring for children was increasingly difficult for women, many of whom could not support themselves, and whose husbands had died or were fighting in the war. Many women had to give up their children to children's homes infamous for abuse and neglect. These children's homes were unofficially dubbed as "angel factories". After the [[October Revolution]], the Bolsheviks shut down an infamous angel factory known as the 'Nikolaev Institute' situated near the Moika Canal. The Bolsheviks then replaced the Nikolaev Institute with a modern maternity home called the 'Palace for Mothers and Babies'. This maternity home was used by the [[Bolsheviks]] as a model for future maternity hospitals. The countess who ran the old Institute was moved to a side wing, however she spread rumours that the Bolsheviks had removed sacred pictures, and that the nurses were promiscuous with sailors. The maternity hospital was burnt down hours before it was scheduled to open, and the countess was suspected of being responsible.<ref>{{cite book |last=Porter |first=Cathy |date=1987 |title=Women in Revolutionary Russia |location=Great Britain|publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=39 |isbn=0-521-31969-2}}</ref>

Russian women had restrictions in owning property until the mid 18th century.<ref name=":3" /> Women's rights had improved after the rise of the [[Soviet Union]] under the Bolsheviks.<ref name=":3" />

Under the Bolsheviks, Russia became the first country in human history to provide free abortions to women in state-run hospitals.<ref name="Porter 1987 43">{{cite book |last= Porter |first= Cathy |date= 1987 |title= Women in Revolutionary Russia |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9Wu1AAAAIAAJ |location= Cambridge |publisher= Cambridge University Press |page= 43 |isbn= 0-521-31969-2 }}</ref>

==== North America ====

===== Canada =====

[[File:The Valiant Five Statue.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Statue in [[downtown Calgary]] of the [[The Famous Five (Canada)|Famous Five]]. An identical statue exists on [[Parliament Hill]], [[Ottawa]].]]
[[Women's rights in Canada|Women's rights activism in Canada]] during the 19th and early 20th centuries focused on increasing women's role in public life, with goals including women's suffrage, increased property rights, increased access to education, and recognition of women as "persons" under the law.<ref name="Prentice1988">{{cite book | title=Canadian Women: A History | isbn=0774731125 | publisher=Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich | author=Prentice, Alison | year=1988 | display-authors=etal | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/canadianwomenhis0006unse }}</ref> [[The Famous Five (Canada)|The Famous Five]] were five Canadian women – [[Emily Murphy]], [[Irene Parlby|Irene Marryat Parlby]], [[Nellie McClung|Nellie Mooney McClung]], [[Louise McKinney|Louise Crummy McKinney]] and [[Henrietta Muir Edwards]] – who, in 1927, asked the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] to answer the question, "Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the [[Constitution Act, 1867|British North America Act, 1867]], include female persons?" in the case ''[[Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General)]].''<ref name=Brennan>{{cite book| first=Brian| last=Brennan| title=Alberta Originals: Stories of Albertans Who Made a Difference| year=2001| publisher=Fifth House| page=[https://archive.org/details/albertaoriginals0000bren/page/14 14]| isbn=978-1-894004-76-3| url=https://archive.org/details/albertaoriginals0000bren/page/14}}</ref> After Canada's Supreme Court summarized its unanimous decision that women are not such "persons", the judgment was appealed and overturned in 1929 by the British [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council|Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy Council]], at that time the [[court of last resort]] for Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/1929/1929_86.html|title=Henrietta Muir Edwards and others (Appeal No. 121 of 1928) v The Attorney General of Canada (Canada) [1929] UKPC 86 (18 October 1929)|work=bailii.org|access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref>

===== United States =====
{{Further|Timeline of women's legal rights in the United States (other than voting)}}
The [[Women's Christian Temperance Union]] (WCTU) was established in 1873 and championed women's rights, including advocating for prostitutes and for [[women's suffrage]].<ref name="MarionOliver2014">{{cite book |last1=Marion |first1=Nancy E. |last2=Oliver |first2=Willard M. |title=Drugs in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law |date=2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781610695961 |page=963 |language=en}}</ref> Women had access to legal handbooks specific for women such as "Every woman her own lawyer: a private guide in all matters of law" (1858) by George Bishop, which informed women of how to deal with property, marriage, divorce, violence, children, abandonment, economic issues, assets, etc.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bishop |first1=George |title=Every Woman Her Own Lawyer : A Private Guide in all matters of Law, of essential interest to women |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32437122561133&seq=7 |website=HathiTrust - Ohio State University |publisher=Dick and Fitzgerald Publishers |language=en |date=1858}}</ref>

==== Asia ====

===== Japan =====
{{Main|Women in Japan}}
[[File:"Round the world." - Letters from Japan, China, India, and Egypt (1872) (14586355839).jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Mother and child, 1872]]
The extent to which women could participate in [[Japanese society]] has varied over time and social classes. In the 8th century, Japan had women emperors, and in the 12th century ([[Heian period]]) women in Japan occupied a relatively high status, although still subordinated to men.
From the late [[Edo period]], the status of women declined. In the 17th century, the "[[Onna Daigaku]]", or "Learning for Women", by [[Confucianism|Confucianist]] author [[Kaibara Ekken]], spelled out expectations for Japanese women, lowering significantly their status.<ref name=Ekken>{{cite book|last1=Ekken|first1=Kaibara|title=Onna Daigaku A Treasure Box of Women's Learning.|date=2010|publisher=Gardners Books|isbn=978-0955979675|url=https://archive.org/stream/womenwisdomofjap00kaib/womenwisdomofjap00kaib_djvu.txt}}</ref>
During the [[Meiji period]], industrialization and urbanization reduced the authority of fathers and husbands, but at the same time the Meiji Civil Code of 1898 denied women legal rights and subjugated them to the will of household heads.<ref name="Womeninworldhistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/WR-04.html|title=Meiji Reforms – Kishida Toshiko, (1863–1901) – Japan – Primary Source|website=womeninworldhistory.com}}</ref>

From the mid-20th century the status of women improved greatly. Although Japan is often considered a very conservative country, it was in fact earlier than many European countries in giving women legal rights in the 20th century, as the 1947 [[Constitution of Japan]] provided a legal framework favorable to the advancement of women's equality in Japan. Japan for instance enacted women's suffrage in 1946, earlier than several European countries such as [[Switzerland]] (1971 at federal level; 1990 on local issues in the canton of [[Appenzell Innerrhoden]]), [[Portugal]] (1976 on equal terms with men, with restrictions since 1931), [[San Marino]] in 1959, [[Monaco]] in 1962, [[Andorra]] in 1970, and [[Liechtenstein]] in 1984.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/timeline/votes_to_women.shtml|title=Radio 4 Woman's Hour – Timeline:When women got the vote|publisher=BBC|access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite book |title=Voter Turnout in Western Europe Since 1945: A Regional Report |author1=Rafael López Pintor |author2=Maria Gratschew |author3=Tim Bittiger |publisher=International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance |year=2004 |isbn=978-9185391004 }}</ref>

===== Central Asia =====

[[Central Asia]]n cultures largely remain patriarchal, however, since the fall of the former Soviet Union, the secular societies of the region have become more progressive to women's roles outside the traditional construct of being wholly subservient to men.<ref name="Zirin">{{cite book|last1=Zirin|first1=Mary|title=Women and Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1317451969|page=2120|edition=Vol 1}}</ref> In Mongolia, more women than men complete school and are higher earners as result.<ref name="earners">{{cite web|title=Beyond the Glass Ceiling: Expanding Female Leadership in Mongolian Politics and Businesses|url=http://www.mn.undp.org/content/mongolia/en/home/presscenter/articles/2016/10/31/beyond-the-glass-ceiling-expanding-female-leadership-in-mongolian-politics-and-businesses.html|website=UNDP|access-date=2 November 2017|archive-date=21 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421074543/https://www.mn.undp.org/content/mongolia/en/home/presscenter/articles/2016/10/31/beyond-the-glass-ceiling-expanding-female-leadership-in-mongolian-politics-and-businesses.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The UN Development Programme notes "significant progress" in gender equality in Kazakhstan but discrimination persists.<ref name="Conkievich">{{cite web|title=Statement on International women's day by UN Resident Coordinator in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Norimasa Shimomura and Representative of UN Women in Central Asia Mrs. Elaine Conkievich|url=http://www.kz.undp.org/content/kazakhstan/en/home/presscenter/speeches/2016/03/07/statement-on-international-women-s-day-by-un-resident-coordinator-in-the-republic-of-kazakhstan-mr-norimasa-shimomura-and-representative-of-un-women-in-central-asia-mrs-elaine-conkievich.html|website=UNDP|publisher=UN Development Programme|access-date=2 November 2017|archive-date=26 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726165732/https://www.kz.undp.org/content/kazakhstan/en/home/presscenter/speeches/2016/03/07/statement-on-international-women-s-day-by-un-resident-coordinator-in-the-republic-of-kazakhstan-mr-norimasa-shimomura-and-representative-of-un-women-in-central-asia-mrs-elaine-conkievich.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Marriage by abduction]] remains a serious problem in this region; the practice of bride kidnapping is prevalent in [[Kyrgyzstan]],<ref>Human Rights Watch, ''Reconciled to Violence''</ref> [[Kazakhstan]],<ref>Werner, Cynthia, "[http://www.cynthiawerner.com/uploads/2/2/0/6/22066332/2004_werner_-_women_marriage_nation-state.pdf Women, marriage, and the nation-state: the rise of nonconsensual bride kidnapping in post-Soviet Kazakhstan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306155726/http://cynthiawerner.com/uploads/2/2/0/6/22066332/2004_werner_-_women_marriage_nation-state.pdf |date=6 March 2016 }}", in ''The Transformation of Central Asia''. Pauline Jones Luong, ed.  Ithaca, New York: [[Cornell University Press]], 2004, pp. 59–89</ref> [[Turkmenistan]],<ref>United Nations Population Fund, [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20070817041522/http://www.unfpa.org/16days/documents/pl_bridenapping_factsheet.doc "Bride Kidnapping Fact Sheet"]</ref> and [[Karakalpakstan]], an autonomous region of [[Uzbekistan]].<ref>[http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd&#91;157&#93;=x-157-64561 "Uzbekistan: No love lost in Karakalpak bride thefts"], wluml.org. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114065216/http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd |date=14 January 2009 }}</ref>

==== Oceania ====

===== Australia =====

[[File:Catherine Helen Spence.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.65|Australia's first female political candidate, [[South Australia]]n suffragette [[Catherine Helen Spence]] (1825–1910)]]
The history of [[women's rights in Australia]] is a contradictory one: while Australia led the world in women's suffrage rights in the 19th century, it has been very slow in recognizing women's professional rights – it was not until 1966 that its [[marriage bar]] was removed.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/lrrSecure/Sites/Web/pre_liberation/other/restrictions_pop.htm | title=Pre -'liberation' – Restrictions | access-date=9 July 2017 | archive-date=23 August 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823111530/http://lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/lrrSecure/Sites/Web/pre_liberation/other/restrictions_pop.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> On the other hand, reforms which allowed women both to vote and stand for office in [[South Australia]] in the late 19th century were a cornerstone for women's political rights in other parts of the world. In this regard, Australia differs from other cultures, in that women's suffrage in Australia was one of the earliest objectives of the feminist movement there (beginning with South Australia and Western Australia) unlike other cultures, such as Eastern European cultures, where at the turn of the 20th century the feminist movement focused on [[labour rights]], access to professions and education, rather than political rights. To this day, Australia has a quite low percentage of women in business executive roles compared to other countries with equivalent corporate structures.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://theconversation.com/australian-firms-trail-world-for-women-in-top-roles-11008 | title=Australian firms trail world for women in top roles|website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]|first=Sunanda |last=Creagh| date=27 November 2012}}</ref>