The beginning of the non-cooperation movement was marked with the withdrawal of the native members from the councils and the boycott of law courts and schools, established by the British colonizers . Congress embraced this program of non-cooperation at a special session conducted on August 20,1920.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi inspired the Indian womanhood with the mantra of "Swadeshi" and religion of Satyagraha i.e. non-violent resistance . Sarojini Naidu, the outstanding female leader, guided politically inclined female minds to the formation of a political body.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Stree Sangha (RSS), an independent women`s organization, asked its members to merge with the District Congress Committee. Urmila Devi, the widowed sister of the eminent lawyer and Congress nationalist, C.R.Das emerged to be a potential mass puller. She invited woman`s participation in mainstream politics. By November, 1,000 women in the Presidency of Bombay were protesting against the Prince of Wales` visit to India.

In Bengal, C. R. Das advocated the selling of khaddar (homespun cloth). The female members of his family, his wife, Basanti Devi, his sister, Urmila Devi, and his niece, Miss Suniti Devi, came down to the streets exhibit their resentment. History reports, the activities of the women from the Das family
"They resumed picketing cloth shops and selling khaddar joined by numerous lady volunteers, especially Sikh ladies." The three respectable women underwent arrest on December 8, 1921.The news of their arrest set the city on huge protest. A tumultuous crowd of "Marwaris, Muslims, Bhattias, Sikhs, coolies, mill-hands and school boys" It was surprising to find that on that very day, 170 protesters were arrested.

Gandhi, the venerated Bapu or Father of the nation welcomed this phenomenal arrival of women into politics. His article, published in Young India, communicated his wish to make the entire breed of Indian women proceed along the lines of the progressive Bengali women.

6,000 women crowded at the All-Indian Ladies Conference in Ahmedabad, presided over by Bi Amma, the mother of Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali , leaders of the All-India Khilafat Committee. Bi Amma persuasively insisted women to serve as Congress activists and, help the arrested male volunteers through picketing and flag raising.

Madras had her women catered to the ideology of Gandhi. In East Godavari District, Smt. Duwuri Subbamam, tried her best to create a group of the socially marginal devasevikas (god-devoted female servants).

Again, Durgabai, a twelve year old enthusiast, utilized, the opportunity of Gandhi`s trip to the Kakinada in East Godavari District, during April of 1921. She motivated the Devdasis to collect a fund of Rs 5,000 for Gandhi`s enterprise. Gandhi met this band of budding women nationalists and had his speeches interpreted to them, through the interpreter, Durgabai. Women donated even jewelry to the nationalist cause.

The so-called social outcasts, the public woman, i.e. prostitutes lent their support to the nationalist campaign. Manada Devi Mukhopadhyay describes in Sikshita Patitat Atmarcharit ("Autobiography of an Educated Fallen Woman," 1929), endeavour of the Bengali prostitutes to raise money for Congress in 1922 and in 1924. They also joined C. R. Das` satyagraha movement. These women gathered the courage to fight against the vicious corruption of the Mahant of Tarakeshwar Temple .

Saraladevi Chaudhurani, Muthulakshmi Reddy, Amrit Kaur, voiced the feminist`s demands for franchise. Gandhi`s glorification of the Indian heritage of womanhood, added a lot of impetus to the females contact with patriotic spirit. He exhibited to the Indian women, the golden examples of ideal womanhood, illustrated by the idealized figures of Sita, Draupadi, and Damayanti. Sita, remained committed to Ram, her husband`s will till the last breath in her, in the epic , Ramayana. Damayanti, was able to identify her husband , Nala, in any disguise. And, Draupadi, endured the extremes of suffering, on the behalf of her husbands, the Pandavas, in Mahabharata.

Gandhi, traversed through the entire country, convincing women about the potentials inherent in them. Women`s rise to prominence over the tide of nationalism became the order of the day, during the non-cooperation movement. Swarup Rani, Motilal`s wife, and Neheru`s mother, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Mrs. Vijay lakshmi Pandit , began to establish their sway since, the Non-cooperation Movement.