ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the legal history of women. It provides examples of women criticising their treatment by society and the law since medieval times. The chapter discusses that feminists were nevertheless important in criticising women's position in society and promoting women's abilities and aspirations. It explains that liberalism encouraged both men and women to seek universal suffrage, that is the right to vote for all adults, not just those who owned property. The chapter examines that the doctrine of coverture gave men legal rights while depriving women of theirs; at the same time, the law did little to protect women from abuses by their husbands. It describes that the campaigns were largely based upon liberal ideas of equality before the law. The chapter discusses that the double standard reduced the effectiveness of laws such as the Guardianship of Infants Act 1886, which allowed the courts to take into account whose behaviour had led to the divorce.
