Hello, I'm an expert in historical studies with a focus on social movements. I can provide you with information on the suffragettes and their hunger strikes.

The suffragettes, who were part of the broader women's suffrage movement, are known for their militant tactics in the early 20th century to achieve voting rights for women in the United Kingdom. Hunger strikes were among the non-violent resistance methods they used.

The first notable instance of suffragettes going on a hunger strike was in 1913 when Marion Wallace Dunlop, a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), refused food while in Holloway Prison for her participation in a window-smashing demonstration. This act is often cited as the first hunger strike in support of women's suffrage.

However, the most famous and organized hunger strikes by suffragettes occurred in 1912-1914, particularly during the Cat and Mouse Act period. This was a government response to the suffragette hunger strikes, where imprisoned suffragettes were forcibly fed and then released once they were healthy, only to re-arrest them when they were strong enough to continue their protests.

The Cat and Mouse Act was officially known as the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Act 1913, and it was used to deal with the suffragette hunger strikes by allowing the authorities to temporarily release prisoners who were deemed to be so ill that they could not safely remain in prison.

So, to summarize, while individual suffragettes may have engaged in hunger strikes before, the organized and systematic use of hunger strikes as a form of protest by the suffragettes took place during the years leading up to and including 1913, with the most intense period being in 1912-1914.

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The first suffragette to go on hunger strike, Marion Wallace Dunlop, was released after three days, in July 1909, and, following her example, other imprisoned suffragettes also went on hunger strike.read more >>