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Short histories of 65 feminist movements, India and South Asia first. Each has a timeline, links to read more elsewhere, and books from our shelf where we have them. These are starting points, not the last word: tell us what is missing through the complaints box or a discussion thread.
7 movementsWar, peace and memory ×In the past ×
1946 to 1951
Women joined the peasant rebellion against landlords and the Nizam's rule as fighters, couriers and organisers. Their testimonies, gathered decades later by Stree Shakti Sanghatana in 'We Were Making History' (1989),…
2000 to 2016
After ten civilians were shot dead at a bus stop in Malom, Manipur, in November 2000, Irom Sharmila began a hunger strike demanding the repeal of AFSPA. Force-fed through a nasal tube in custody for sixteen years, she…
Late 1970s to 1993
From the late 1970s, grassroots women's work committees organised in villages and camps of the West Bank and Gaza. During the first intifada (1987 to 1993) they ran neighbourhood committees, home schooling, food…
War, peace and memoryEducation
Timeline and booksRead more on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)
2003
Christian and Muslim women led by Leymah Gbowee sat in protest in white at a Monrovia fish market, then blockaded the peace talks in Accra, pressing the warring sides to sign the 2003 agreement that ended Liberia's…
1929
Igbo and Ibibio women in south-eastern Nigeria rose against British colonial rule and its appointed warrant chiefs, fearing they were about to be taxed. Using the tradition of 'sitting on a man', thousands besieged…
Timeline and booksRead more on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)
2018 to 2019
Women made up a large share of the protesters who brought down Omar al-Bashir. A photograph of Alaa Salah on a car, leading chants in a white tobe, became the emblem of the 'Kandakas', named after the queens of ancient…
Law and rightsBodies and choiceWar, peace and memory
TimelineThe 'Kandake' photograph, on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)
1981 to 2000
Women set up camp outside a Royal Air Force base in Berkshire to protest against American cruise missiles. In December 1982 about 30,000 women joined hands around the base's perimeter fence. The missiles left in 1991;…
