On this day in 1954, Doria Shafik protested women’s exclusion from Egypt’s constitutional committee

Photo: Doria Shafik, 1928 – 1935 / Al-Ahram Weekly

On this day in 1954, Egyptian feminist Doria Shafik started an eight-day hunger strike at the press syndicate to protest the formation of a constitutional committee without any women. She ended her strike after receiving a written statement from President Naguib expressing his commitment to a constitution that respected women’s rights. As a result, women gained the right to vote in the 1956 constitution, and participated in the national elections for the first time a year later.

Read more about women’s achievements throughout history here