Norwegian Association for Women's Rights

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
President of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights
)
Norwegian Association for Women's Rights
President
Anne Hege Grung
AffiliationsInternational Alliance of Women
Websitekvinnesak.no

The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (

political organization after the Liberal Party. NKF stands for an inclusive, intersectional and progressive mainstream liberal feminism and has always been open to everyone regardless of gender. Headquartered at Majorstuen, Oslo, NKF consists of a national-level association as well as regional chapters based in the larger cities, and is led by a national executive board. NKF has had a central role in the adoption of all major gender equality legislation and reforms since 1884.[3]

NKF was founded on the initiative of

centre-right. The association has always been Norway's most important mainstream feminist organization and has successfully campaigned for women’s right to education, the right to vote, the right to work, the adoption of the 1978 Gender Equality Act, and the establishment of the Gender Equality Ombud. At the behest of NKF and affiliated organizations, Norway became the world's first independent country to introduce women's suffrage in 1913. NKF founded the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association
.

In line with its roots in 19th century

sunflower, adopted in 1894, based on the model of the liberal American suffrage movement
.

History

NKF's founder Gina Krog, a liberal politician and the principal leader of the struggle for women's right to vote in Norway

The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights was founded in 1884 by 171 prominent Norwegians, led by the liberal politician and women's rights pioneer

Member of Parliament and the first editor-in-chief of Dagbladet Hagbart Berner. It was modeled after the American National Woman Suffrage Association, the predecessor of the League of Women Voters.[5] The organization's founders included 87 men and 84 women, overwhelmingly prominent liberal public figures.[6]

From its establishment, the organization was strongly associated with the

Nissen's Girls' School, Kristiania Lærerindeforening, the influential political and cultural magazine Nyt Tidsskrift, and the liberal newspaper Dagbladet.[7] Membership has always been open to both women and men, and among the board members in the first years were several prominent lawyers such as the conservative prime minister Francis Hagerup and the attorney-general Annæus Johannes Schjødt
. Historian Aslaug Moksnes has noted that NKF is a women's rights organization, not a women's organization; the distinction has always been important to NKF.

NKF's first President (1884–85) Hagbart Berner, a lawyer, liberal member of parliament and editor of the liberal daily Dagbladet

NKF is traditionally the main bourgeois or liberal women's rights organization in Norway. Cathrine Holst noted that "the bourgeois women's rights movement was liberal or liberal feminist. The bourgeois women's rights advocates fought for women’s civil liberties and rights: freedom of speech, freedom of movement, the right to vote, freedom of association, inheritance rights, property rights and freedom of trade – and for women's access to education and working life. In short, women should have the same freedoms and rights as men."[8]

Among the important causes that the NKF has campaigned for are

equal schooling (the 1960s), the establishment of the Gender Equality Council (Norwegian: Likestillingsrådet) in 1972, the Gender Equality Ombud
in 1978, and the adoption of the Gender Equality Act (1979). The government apparatus concerned with gender equality, including both the Gender Equality Council and the Gender Equality Ombud, were largely built by NKF members.

Key NKF members initiated the establishment of the National Association for Women's Suffrage and the Norwegian National Women's Council. NKF inherited the former's founding membership in the International Alliance of Women (IAW) in 1937.

The association also initiated the establishment of the

humanitarian organization, which grew to become Norway's largest women's organization with around 250,000 members at one point. Historically, NKF was the most important association of the Norwegian bourgeois-liberal women's movement (associated chiefly with the Liberal Party), in contrast to the labour women's movement (associated with the Labour Party), and was traditionally dominated by liberal women from the upper and educated middle class, as well as by liberal men.[9]
With the increasing reformism of the Labour Party, many Labour politicians joined NKF in the postwar era. Today, NKF is a nonpartisan organization.

The 1936 bylaws described NKF's main aim as "women's full equality with men in state and society" and NKF's working methods as influencing legislative processes, cooperating with the government and influencing public opinion.[10]

During the presidency of

Permanent Secretary
in 1989 and later became a Supreme Court Justice. Hoel served as the deputy Gender Equality Ombud during Kolstad's tenure and as acting Gender Equality Ombud.

In the early 1980s, NKF was responsible for the government-funded information campaign "Women and the election". In the late 1980s, NKF initiated the

Karin M. Bruzelius in 2018,[11] and by Professor Anne Hege Grung
in 2020.

The organization had its offices in Sehesteds gate 1 in Oslo for many years and now has its offices in Majorstuveien 39 at Majorstuen in central Oslo.

NKF differed markedly from the second-wave feminist movement in its liberal and moderate political outlook, formal style of organization, emphasis on cooperation with the government and focus on legal and policy issues, and also in its membership dominated by lawyers and academics, prioritization of professional lobbying methods and lack of interest in grassroots activism. Elisabeth Lønnå describes NKF by 1970 as "an almost dignified organization" that had its "origins in the Liberal Party and had a liberal platform, centered on the main idea of equality for all citizens and based on the idea of fundamental human rights". Lønnå notes that NKF had long traditions, a clearly defined form of organization, an established network, well formulated policies and principles, and that it spent most of its resources on lobbying government bodies in a professional way. According to Lønnå it was the "only feminist organization that was primarily based on the idea of gender equality". In contrast to the many new feminist organizations that sprung up in the 1970s but quickly lost most of their membership, NKF was strengthened in the 1980s.[12] The government's gender equality apparatus viewed NKF as its main civil society partner and recognised the association's historical role in spearheading the struggle for equality.[13]

NKF has traditionally referred to its political platform as kvinnesak, a term that in this context means women's rights and that has always been associated with the liberal women's rights movement in Norway. However, supreme court justice and two-time NKF President 

Karin M. Bruzelius has noted that NKF has always used the term women's rights synonymously with the struggle for gender equality, the association's overarching aim since the 19th century.[14] NKF expressed scepticism towards the term "feminism" as late as 1980 because it could foster "unnecessary antagonism towards men",[15] but accepted the term some years later as it became the mainstream general term for the women's rights struggle in the western world. Today the tradition that NKF represents is generally known as liberal feminism in English. NKF works to represent the interests of all those who identify as women and girls.[16]

Although it grew out of 19th century progressive liberalism, NKF, like modern liberal feminism itself, is not limited to liberalism in a modern party-political sense, and NKF is

centre-right; its members tend to be affiliated with parties like the social-liberal Liberal Party, the social democratic Labour Party, the reformist socialist Socialist Left Party, the centrist Green Party, the liberal-conservative Conservative Party, or the Centre Party. NKF seeks the centre ground and to speak for the majority of all those who identify as women and girls, and NKF has always sought broad political support among women and men for reforms aimed at improving women's rights, believing its nonpartisan approach is the most effective way to advocate for women's rights and obtain practical results. Norwegian supreme court justice and two-time NKF President Karin Maria Bruzelius has described NKF's liberal feminism as "a realistic, sober, practical feminism".[3]

While NKF was modeled after a predecessor of the League of Women Voters in the U.S., it is also generally seen as the Norwegian counterpart of the National Organization for Women in the U.S.

International work and affiliations

The

Karin M. Bruzelius and Margunn Bjørnholt.[17] NKF was a founding member of the Joint Organization of Nordic Women's Rights Associations
in 1916, and still cooperates with the other Nordic national women's rights associations through IAW.

Policies

Basic vision: Gender equality

Since 1884, [NKF] has understood the struggle for women’s rights as fundamentally the same issue as the struggle for gender equality in society. [NKF] has always been open to all people regardless of gender. [NKF] fights for gender equality and for all those who identify as women and girls.

— NKF
Margarete Bonnevie (NKF President 1936–1946) said that NKF will work for solutions that are in the best interest of all women and society, "be the captain who keeps a steady course" in the struggle for equality and "set out the main policy objectives and seek to get the government, parliament and local government bodies to implement the reforms that are required"[18][19]

NKF is traditionally the main

legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy."[3][20] NKF describes itself as "an inclusive and non-partisan feminist organization made up of women and men who champion the rights of all girls and women."[21] NKF's main focus is women's political, legal, and human rights, and Harriet Bjerrum Nielsen notes that NKF has "always been liberal and involved in a broad range of issues."[22] NKF focuses on "eliminating attitudes, laws and regulations that are discriminatory towards women and girls and which prevent gender equality".[3][20]

NKF President Margarete Bonnevie said that NKF will work for solutions that are in the best interest of all women and society, "be the captain who keeps a steady course" in the struggle for equality and "set out the main policy objectives and seek to get the government, parliament and local government bodies to implement the reforms that are required;" accordingly NKF views itself as the leader of the women's movement and struggle for equality in Norway.[18][19] NKF views gender equality as a human right[23] and argues that women's rights and human rights for all are fundamentally the same issue.[24][25] NKF has always understood the struggle for women's rights to be identical with the struggle for gender equality, the association's overarching aim since the 19th century.[14]

Core issues

NKF works for the human rights of all girls and women and for a gender equal society. NKF's core issues include "women’s political rights, legal equality, women’s representation in politics, and gender equality in education, employment, and economic justice" and "violence against girls and women (and) the strengthening of the gender perspective in foreign, security, and development policies."[1]

Political rights, legal equality and representation of women in politics

Political rights, legal equality and representation of women in politics is the most important traditional core focus of NKF.

Equal education, working life and economic justice

Equal education, working life and economic justice is the second traditional core focus of NKF.

Foreign policy

NKF's main focus in foreign policy is the strengthening of women's rights. NKF has a strong focus on the

European Movement in Norway at the time. NKF refused to support anti-nuclear campaigns in Norway from the 1970s, as it would be at odds with official Norwegian (and NATO) security policy during the Cold War, and argued that the issue was unrelated to women's rights.[14]

Sexual and reproductive rights

NKF supports safe and legal abortion, birth control, and reproductive health education for all. NKF initiated the establishment of the NGO Sex og politikk that promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights domestically and internationally. In line with the liberal feminist focus on the "public world"—such as laws, political institutions and working life—NKF originally paid little attention to issues of sexuality, and this gradually changed during the 1960s and 1970s when the issue of abortion became important to the association.[26]

Ending violence against women

NKF has worked to end violence against women since the 19th century. Since the 1980s the topic has become increasingly important for NKF. NKF has mostly focused on legal regulation of violence, and works closely with lawyers and scholars in the field of women's law. NKF worked to abolish the practice of government-sanctioned prostitution in the 19th century, but the association has focused less on this topic than radical organizations in the modern era. Traditionally liberal/mainstream feminists are critical of prostitution, although they may differ on the most appropriate means to help people exit prostitution and combat human trafficking. Alan Soble notes that "contemporary liberal feminists object to prostitution (...) primarily because much of it involves coercion and choices that are not autonomous."[27] In the 21st century NKF supported the ban on buying sexual services in Norway. In line with its pragmatic perspective and emphasis on human rights, NKF has also been willing to listen to different perspectives in this complex area, with a main focus on combating human trafficking and exploitation. NKF and the women's rights movement pay attention to researchers in the field, acknowledge that the question of criminalization is complex, and emphasize that it must be discussed in a nuanced and academic manner, including from a human rights perspective. Among NKF's sister organizations within IAW there are differing opinions on whether criminalization is an appropriate means to help people exit prostitution and combat human trafficking. NKF's U.S. counterpart, NOW, has also been divided on this issue.[28]

Gender and sexual diversity

NKF is part of the

CEDAW expert and NKF member Anne Hellum has noted that the CEDAW committee views "women" as a complex and multidimensional category that includes lesbians and trans women, and that both groups are protected by the convention.[34] For example, NKF supported legal protections against discrimination and hate speech on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in the Penal Code in 2018.[29] NKF's LGBT+-inclusive views are aligned with its parent organization, the International Alliance of Women (IAW) and with its sister organizations in the IAW family. During the 2021 session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) NKF's parent organization, IAW, co-hosted a CSW forum together with NKF's Icelandic sister organization, the Icelandic Women's Rights Association, on how the women's movement could counter "anti-trans voices [that] are becoming ever louder and [that] are threatening feminist solidarity across borders."[35] NKF's largest chapter, its Oslo branch, noted that "the anti-gender movement is now working systematically in a number of countries and in several international forums to reverse and undermine the rights of both women and sexual minorities" and that the association "stands in solidarity with international women's rights and LGBT+ organizations in the fight against these setbacks."[36] In 2023 former IAW President Marion Böker participated in the podcast "Trans Inclusion in the Women's Movement", highlighting how the mainstream women's rights movement is trans-inclusive and how the exclusionary narrative that dominates much of the media is being driven by and playing into the hands of anti-democratic forces.[37]

Presidents

NKF's president is the highest national-level official and chairs the national board (landsstyret) and the executive board (sentralstyret). NKF's presidents have been:

No Image Name Tenure Background Party
1
Hagbard_Berner.jpg
 Hagbart Berner 1884–1885 Lawyer and Member of Parliament Liberal
2
Anna Stang.jpg
 Anna Stang 1885–1886 Teacher, usually titled Statsministerinde ("Madam Prime Minister") Liberal
3
RagnaNielsen.jpg
 Ragna Nielsen 1886–1888 Teacher, headmistress and liberal politician, also President of
Riksmålsforbundet
 Liberal
4
Anna Bugge.jpg
 Anna Bugge 1888–1889 Lawyer and diplomat Liberal
5
RagnaNielsen.jpg
 Ragna Nielsen 1889–1895 Teacher, headmistress and liberal politician, also President of
Riksmålsforbundet
 Liberal
6 Randi Blehr 1895–1899 Humanitarian leader, usually titled Statsministerinde ("Madam Prime Minister") Liberal
7
Fredrikke Marie Qvam.jpg
 Fredrikke Marie Qvam 1899–1903 Humanitarian leader, usually titled Statsministerinde ("Madam Prime Minister"), also President of the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association Liberal
8 Randi Blehr 1903–1922 Humanitarian leader, usually titled Statsministerinde ("Madam Prime Minister") Liberal
9 Aadel Lampe 1922–1926 Teacher and liberal politician, deputy member of parliament Free-Minded Liberal
10
Fredrikke Mørck (cropped).jpg
 Fredrikke Mørck 1926–1930 Teacher and editor Liberal
11
Anna Hvoslef (cropped).jpg
 Anna Hvoslef 1930–1935 Aftenposten journalist Conservative
12
Kitty Bugge.jpg
 Kitty Bugge 1935–1936 Union leader Liberal
13 Margarete Bonnevie 1936–1946 Writer and liberal politician Liberal
14
Dakky Kiær.jpg
 Dakky Kiær 1946–1952 Headmistress and liberal politician Liberal
15 Ingerid Gjøstein Resi 1952–1955 Linguist and liberal politician Liberal
16
Marit Aarum.jpg
 Marit Aarum 1955–1956 Economist, civil servant and liberal politician Liberal
17
Signe Swensson.jpg
 Signe Swensson 1956 Physician and Member of Parliament Conservative
18 Eva Kolstad 1956–1968 Cabinet minister, Liberal Party leader, Norway's first Gender Equality Ombud Liberal
19 Clara Ottesen 1968–1972 Economist, civil servant, aid worker, UN expert Liberal
20
Kari Skjønsberg.jpg
 Kari Skjønsberg 1972–1978 Associate professor of literature and Labour Party politician Labour
21
KM Bruzelius.jpg
Karin M. Bruzelius
 1978–1984 Supreme Court Justice
22 Sigrun Hoel 1984–1988 Lawyer and Gender Equality Ombud
23 Irene Bauer 1988–1990 Labour Party politician, civil servant (Director in the Ministry of the Environment) Labour
24 Siri Hangeland 1990–1992 Lecturer SV
25 Bjørg Krane Bostad 1992–1994 Civil servant
26
Kjellaug Pettersen.jpg
 Kjellaug Pettersen 1994–1998 Civil servant (Special Adviser with the Ministry of Education)
27 Siri Hangeland 1998–2004 Lecturer SV
28
Berit Kvæven.jpg
 Berit Kvæven 2004–2006 Chief engineer at the Norwegian Climate and Pollution Agency, former Vice President of the Liberal Party, Political Adviser to the Minister of Consumer Affairs and Administration (Eva Kolstad), former President of Tekna Liberal
29
Torild Skard (cropped).jpeg
 Torild Skard 2006–2013 Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, former Member of Parliament, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of UNICEF SV
30
Margunn Bjørnholt (cropped2).jpeg
 Margunn Bjørnholt 2013–2016 Professor of Sociology Greens
31
Nordiska radets session i Helsingfors (5).jpg
 Marit Nybakk 2016–2018 First Vice President of the Norwegian Parliament, Norway's longest-serving woman member of parliament of all time, former President of the Nordic Council Labour
32
KM Bruzelius.jpg
Karin M. Bruzelius
 2018–2020 Supreme Court Justice
33 Anne Hege Grung 2020– Professor of Theology

Symbols

Masthead of Nylænde (version used 1901–1907)

NKF's logo is a

sunflower. It was adopted in 1894, based on the model of the liberal American suffrage movement led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony from the 1860s; by the late 19th century, the sunflower had become the main international symbol of women's suffrage. The logo was also used as the logo of NKF's journal Nylænde, edited by Gina Krog. NKF states that the sunflower represents the association's "roots in the first wave of feminism and our systematic work since 1884 to promote gender equality through constructive political reforms within the framework of liberal democracy".[38]

Journals

NKF's journal Nylænde 1 March 1887 with an article by Camilla Collett

NKF published the journal Nylænde (New Land) from 1887 to 1927, edited by Gina Krog until her death in 1916 and then by Fredrikke Mørck. Nylænde was the first women's rights journal in Norway and was regarded as one of the most influential political journals of the country in its time. It played a major role in the early women's rights movement and the struggle for women's suffrage.[39] It was also a leading journal of literary criticism; Marius Wulfsberg has stated that "it was Gina Krog and her [Nylænde] reviewers who really made Ibsen famous."[40]

From 1950 to 2016 NKF published the journal

Karin M. Bruzelius, Torild Skard and Margunn Bjørnholt.[41]

Awards

NKF's highest honour is its honorary membership, which was first awarded to Camilla Collett in 1884. Since 2009, NKF also awards the Gina Krog Prize, named after its founder.

Honorary members

Gina Krog Prize

Since 2009, the association has awarded the Gina Krog Prize, named after its founder Gina Krog.

The prize has been awarded to

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Norwegian Association for Women's Rights". Archived from the original on 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  2. ^ "Norsk Kvinnesaksforening". Archived from the original on 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Hvem vi er". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  4. ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 273
  5. ^ Moksnes (1984) p. 52
  6. ^ Moksnes (1984) p. 33ff
  7. ^ Moksnes 1984 p. 33
  8. ISBN 9788215029832
    .
  9. ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 18
  10. ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 147
  11. ^ Høyesterettsdommer ny leder i Norsk Kvinnesaksforening, Norwegian News Agency
  12. ISBN 8205244952
  13. ^ "Kvinnesak i 100 år". Aftenposten. 1984-06-28. p. 4.
  14. ^ a b c d Lønnå (1996) p. 250
  15. ^ "Adresseavisen". 8 March 1980. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Norsk Kvinnesaksforening". Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  17. ^ "International Alliance of Women". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  18. ^ a b "Morgenbladet". 25 March 1946.
  19. ^ a b "Dagbladet". 25 March 1946.
  20. ^ a b "About us". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  21. ^ "Norwegian Association for Women's Rights". Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  22. ^ "Velger nye veier". Klassekampen. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  23. ^ Ottesen, Clara (1972). "Likestilling – en menneskerettighet" [Gender equality – a human right]. Samtiden: 223–225.
  24. ^ Moksnes, Aslaug. "Likestilling versus særstilling". Kvinnesaksnytt. 58 (1): 3.
  25. ^ "Visste du at ... ?". Norsk Kvinnesaksforening. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021. Kvinnesak er kampen for et likestilt samfunn. For Norsk Kvinnesaksforening har det alltid vært et grunnleggende poeng at jenters og kvinners rettigheter og menneskerettigheter for alle er to sider av samme sak
  26. ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 241
  27. ^ Alan Soble, Sex from Plato to Paglia, bd. A-L, s. 336, 2006
  28. ^ A War Over Sex Work is Raging Inside The Nation’s Biggest Feminist Group
  29. ^
    Karin M. Bruzelius (12 November 2018). "Høring – utredning om det strafferettslige diskrimineringsvernet". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. Archived from the original
    on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  30. ^ "Eva Kolstad". Skeivt arkiv. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  31. ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 276–277
  32. ^ Isern, Gerd (31 December 1975). "Mennene er blitt likestillingsbevisste". Adresseavisen. p. 15.
  33. ^ "Felleslov for likestilling og diskriminering". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  34. ^ Anne Hellum (2022-02-23). "Hvem har rettslig status som kvinne?". Vårt Land. Archived from the original on 2022-02-23.
  35. ^ "Transfeminism and the Women's Movement". Icelandic Women's Rights Association. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  36. ^ "Antifeminisme og anti-gender bevegelsen: en trussel mot kvinners og seksuelle minoriteters rettigheter". NKF. Archived from the original on 2022-08-03.
  37. ^ "Trans Inclusion in the Women's Movement". Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  38. ^ Solsikken symboliserer våre røtter i den første bølgen av feminisme. Norwegian Association for Women's Rights
  39. Store norske leksikon
     (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  40. ^ "Gina Krog og Nylænde". National Library of Norway. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  41. ^ "Kvinnesaksnytt". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  42. ^ Dagbladet 31 May 1896; cf. Nylænde 1897 p. 183 and 1900 p. 146
  43. ^ Nylænde 1907 p. 137
  44. ^ a b Nylænde 1909 p. 373
  45. ^ Nylænde 1914 p. 26
  46. ^ a b c d e Nylænde 1914 p. 233
  47. ^ Nylænde 1919 p. 374
  48. ^ Nylænde 1921 p. 4
  49. ^ Nylænde 1922 p. 369–372
  50. ^ Nylænde 1923 p. 373
  51. ^ a b Nylænde 1925 p. 8
  52. ^ Nylænde 1925 s. 8
  53. ^ Nylænde 1926 p. 83
  54. ^ "Gro Harlem Brundtland utnevnt til æresmedlem av Norsk Kvinnesaksforening". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  55. ^ "Helga Hernes æresmedlem i NKF". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.

Literature

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norwegian_Association_for_Women%27s_Rights&oldid=1216083159#Presidents"