The date 19 September 2018 marks 125 years to the day since women in New Zealand were granted the right to vote.
This landmark day came down to the unwavering efforts of social activist and suffragette leader Kate Sheppard – who with her growing army of supporters campaigned tirelessly to give Kiwi women a voice.
Her efforts to change the electoral law suffered numerous defeats, but she did not give up. Kate Sheppard embarked on a mission to collect the signatures of women across the land in a petition and then presented that 32,000-signature petition to Parliament. It was this act which finally got the law change across the line.
Sheppard’s vision saw New Zealand become the first self-governing country in the world to give women the same rights as men in choosing who represented them in parliament.
Her influence was monumental, but while many of us are familiar with the story and recognise Kate Sheppard as the face on our $10 note, how many of us have heard her speak or been roused by her writings?
In a special NZ On Air-funded project, a small team of creatives has collated Kate Sheppard’s speeches and writings and created a video that brings her words to life. You can watch the video here.
Her words are spoken by eight prominent Kiwi women – Former Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, politician Louisa Wall, accessibility innovator Minnie Baragwanath, businessperson Theresa Gattung, entrepreneur Alexia Hilbertidou, refugee advocate Faumata Bah, actor Miriama McDowell and musician Ladi 6.
Sheppard encouraged New Zealanders to see and treat women as equals, to pay women the same as men, allow women a voice in the making of the laws, to recognise a woman as a person rather than as ‘a thing’.
“Women, take the matter up,” she urged.
You cannot listen to her words without feeling moved. What an exceptional and progressive woman Kate Sheppard was.
The video above gives you a taste of how the video was put together.
