The Belgian League for the Rights of Women (french: italic=no, Ligue belge du droit des femmes) was a political association founded in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in 1892. Established by Marie Popelin and her lawyer Louis Frank, it was created in response to the refusal to allow Popelin, a law graduate, to practice at the Bar. Based on the French

Ligue française pour le droit des femmes The Ligue Française pour le Droit des Femmes (LFDF, French League for Women's Rights) was a women's rights organisation active in France from 1882. The LFDF was founded by Maria Deraismes, one of the leading feminists in France of the time. Derai ...

, it immediately attracted 300 members. The organization was initially concerned with equal rights rather than

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

but prioritized voting rights in 1912. While she was in Europe in 1892 promoting the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...

(ICW),

May Wright Sewall May Wright Sewall (May 27, 1844 – July 22, 1920) was an American reformer, who was known for her service to the causes of education, women's rights, and world peace. She was born in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Sewall served as cha ...

contacted the members of the League with a view to inviting Belgian participants to the

World's Congress of Representative Women The World's Congress of Representative Women was a week-long convention for the voicing of women's concerns, held within The Woman's Building of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago, May 1893). At 81 meetings, organized by women from each of ...

to be held in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1893. But it was not until 1905 that the League finally led to the establishment of the Conseil national des femmes belges, the Belgian chapter of the ICW. From the start, the League published a journal, also titled ''Ligue belge du droit des femmes''. It continued publication until the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, keeping Belgians informed of developments in feminism at home and abroad. The League experienced internal difficulties in the late 1890s when Isabelle Gatti encouraged a number of members to give political support to the socialists while Popelin continued to pursue an apolitical approach. Gatti and her friends finally left the League in 1899 when she joined the

Belgian Labour Party The Belgian Labour Party ( nl, Belgische Werkliedenpartij, BWP; french: Parti ouvrier belge, POB) was the first major socialist party in Belgium. Founded in 1885, the party was officially disbanded in 1940 and superseded by the Belgian Socialist ...

. In the early 20th century, the League was successful in obtaining the right for shop assistants to sit down in the absence of clients, in limiting requirements for them to work at night, and in preventing actions inciting them into debauchery and prostitution. Suffrage did not become a priority for the League until fairly late. It was only at the ''Congrès Féministe International'' held in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in April 1912 that the League adopted voting rights for women as its top priority. The following year,

Jane Brigode Jane Brigode (born Jane Ouwerx; 30 May 1870 – 3 May 1952) was a Belgian liberal and politician. From 1940 until 1945 she was co-president of the Liberal Party. In 1921, she and Marthe Boël founded the ''Union des femmes libérales de l’arro ...

, the League's secretary called on all women's organizations to coordinate efforts on women's suffrage. Efforts to revive the League after the First World War led to a few conferences in the 1920s but little more. By the 1930s, Belgian women increasingly devoted time and effort to their interest in pacifism.

References

{{Reflist Women's organisations based in Belgium Organizations established in 1892 1892 establishments in Belgium Organisations based in Brussels Women's suffrage in Belgium Voter rights and suffrage organizations