Editing Hunger strike (section)

===British and American suffragettes===
[[File:Poster - Votes for Women - Man Prisoner Fed by Force, March 1911. (22896718036).jpg|thumb|A 1911 headline in ''[[Votes for Women (newspaper)|Votes for Women]]'' about [[William Ball (suffragist)|William Ball]] being force-fed in prison to end his hunger strike|alt=|224x224px]]
[[File:Djuna Barnes Clipping.jpg|thumb|Clipping from ''World Magazine'', September 6, 1914.]]
In the early 20th century [[Women's suffrage|suffragettes]] frequently endured hunger strikes in British prisons. [[Marion Wallace Dunlop|Marion Dunlop]] was the first in 1909. She was released, as the authorities did not want her to become a [[martyr]]. Other suffragettes in prison also undertook hunger strikes. The prison authorities subjected them to force-feeding, which the suffragettes categorized as a form of [[torture]]. [[Emmeline Pankhurst]]'s sister [[Mary Jane Clarke|Mary Clarke]] died shortly after being force-fed in prison, and others including [[Lady Constance Bulwer-Lytton]] are believed to have had serious health problems caused by force feeding, dying of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] not long after.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Simon|title=Psychiatry in Prisons: A Comprehensive Handbook|url=https://archive.org/details/psychiatryprison00wils|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers|isbn=978-1843102236|author2=Ian Cumming|page=[https://archive.org/details/psychiatryprison00wils/page/n156 156]}}</ref> [[William Ball (suffragist)|William Ball]], a working class supporter of women's suffrage, was the subject of a pamphlet ''Torture in an English Prison'' not only due to the effects of force-feeding, but a cruel separation from family contact and mental health deterioration, secret transfer to a lunatic asylum and needed lifelong mental institutional care.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rise up, women! : the remarkable lives of the suffragettes|last=Atkinson|first=Diane|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2018|isbn=9781408844045|location=London|pages=289, 293|oclc=1016848621}}</ref> In December 1912, a Scottish prison put four suffragettes in the '[[political prisoner]]' category rather than 'criminal' second division, but staff at [[HM Prison Aberdeen|Craiginches Prison]], Aberdeen still subjected them to force-feeding when they went on hunger strike.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pedersen |first=Sarah |title=The Aberdeen Women's Suffrage Campaign |url=https://suffrageaberdeen.co.uk/ |access-date=March 18, 2023 |website=suffrageaberdeen.co.uk |publisher=copyright WildFireOne |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318133553/https://suffrageaberdeen.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1913 the [[Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913]] (nicknamed the "Cat and Mouse Act") changed policy. Hunger strikes were tolerated but prisoners were released when they became sick. When they had recovered, the suffragettes were taken back to prison to finish their sentences. About 100 women received [[Hunger Strike Medal|medals]] for hunger striking or enduring force-feeding.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Like their British counterparts, American suffragettes also used this method of political protest. A few years before the passage of the [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], a group of American suffragettes led by [[Alice Paul]] engaged in a hunger strike and endured forced feedings while incarcerated at the [[Occoquan Workhouse]] in Virginia.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}