Suffragists are people who actively support the extension of suffrage (voting rights) to women and other groups in society. The term most commonly refers to the British women who struggled during the early 1900's for the right to enjoy the same suffrage as men. The women were sometimes known as suffragettes. Their leader, Emmeline Pankhurst, formed the Women's Social and Political Union in 1903. See Pankhurst, Emmeline Goulden.