suffrage movements

Suffrage movements are organized campaigns to secure voting rights for groups denied them—most notably women.

The term usually refers to the women's suffrage movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that fought for female enfranchisement through protests, petitions, and civil disobedience: The suffrage movement in Britain included both moderate suffragists and militant suffragettes.

The phrase also applies to earlier efforts expanding the vote to men without property and later movements securing voting rights for racial minorities.