At the time Woolf was born most women did not have the vote or were able to have many opportunities to work or study, nor did they have access to birth control.
Today these barriers have broken down and women can vote and work in most professions and have few barriers to education and access to birth control. However, women still do experience some of the same abuse women then did. Scholars "have suggested [Woolf's] breakdowns and subsequent recurring depressive periods were also influenced by the sexual abuse to which she and her sister Vanessa were subjected by their half-brothers." Unfortunately many modern women are still experiencing sexual abuse now.
