ABSTRACT
The ideals of the female suffrage movement had gained support during the First World War through women’s contribution to the war effort. As a reward, Parliament provided in 1918 a limited form of enfranchisement for women aged at least thirty. The following year the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act gave women the right to serve on a jury or as a magistrate and, in theory, opened almost all professions to women. The gradual movement towards sexual equality was reflected in the field of family law by the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1923. This Act implemented the Gorell Commission’s recommendation of female equality with men in divorce by allowing a wife to petition upon the grounds of her husband’s adultery without the previous necessity of proving an additional aggravating offence. Wives were now placed on par with their husbands. The result was a rise in the proportion of divorce petitions that were filed by wives from 41 per cent in 1921 to 62 per cent in 1924.
