.svg) | |
 NKF's offices inMajorstuen,Oslo | |
| Founded | 28 June 1884; 141 years ago (1884-06-28) |
|---|---|
| Founders | Gina Krog andHagbart Berner |
| Focus | Gender equality |
| Headquarters | Majorstuen,Oslo |
| Methods | Law reform,political advocacy |
President | Anne Hege Grung |
| Affiliations | International Alliance of Women |
| Website | kvinnesak |
TheNorwegian Association for Women's Rights (Norwegian:Norsk Kvinnesaksforening;NKF) isNorway's oldest and preeminentwomen's and girls' rights organization that works "to promotegender equality and all women's and girls'human rights throughpolitical andlegal reform within the framework ofliberal democracy."[1][2][3] Founded in 1884, NKF is Norway's second oldestpolitical organization after theLiberal Party. NKF stands for an inclusive,intersectional andprogressivemainstream liberal feminism and has always been open to everyone regardless of gender. Headquartered atMajorstuen, 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 ofGina Krog andHagbart Berner by 171 prominent women and men of theprogressive liberal establishment, including five Norwegian Prime Ministers, and was modeled after the predecessors of theLeague of Women Voters in the U.S. From the early years the association worked to bring women into the political mainstream. Traditionally the most important association of the Norwegianbourgeois-liberal women's rights movement and historically associated with theLiberal Party, NKF is today abig tent coalition with members from thecentre-left to thecentre-right. The association has always been Norway's most important mainstream feminist organization and has successfully campaigned for women'sright to education, theright to vote, theright to work, the adoption of the 1978 Gender Equality Act, and the establishment of theGender 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 theNorwegian Women's Public Health Association.
In line with its roots in 19th centuryfirst-wave liberal feminism, political and legal reform remains its primary focus, and it has always concentrated on lobbying government bodies in a professional way. As a result of its focus on legal reform, the association has always attracted many lawyers and other academics. NKF members had key roles in developing the government apparatus and legislation related to gender equality in Norway; during the 1970s, the "Norwegian government adopted NKF's [equality] ideology as its own",[4] and NKF's political tradition is closely linked to the concept ofstate feminism. In foreign policy NKF has aliberal internationalist outlook and generally supports Norwegian official foreign policy. Starting with the presidency ofEva Kolstad, from 1956, NKF focused strongly on theUnited Nations, and NKF members have been appointed to key UN bodies includingUNCSW and theCEDAW Committee; theCEDAW convention remains an important focus of NKF. NKF is a member of theInternational Alliance of Women (IAW), which hasgeneral consultative status to theUnited Nations Economic and Social Council and participatory status with theCouncil of Europe, and is also generally considered as a sister organization of theNational Organization for Women. NKF's logo is astylizedsunflower, adopted in 1894, based on the model of the liberalAmerican suffrage movement.
The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights was founded in 1884 by 171 prominent Norwegians, led by the liberal politician and women's rights pioneerGina Krog and liberalMember of Parliament and the first editor-in-chief ofDagbladetHagbart Berner. It was modeled after the AmericanNational Woman Suffrage Association, the predecessor of theLeague 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 theLiberal Party; its 171 founders included five Norwegian Prime Ministers, several leaders of the Liberal Party, and many liberal Members of Parliament, as well as the editors of the large liberal newspapers and public figures such as novelistAlexander Kielland. Three of the first Presidents of the organization,Anna Stang,Randi Blehr, andFredrikke Marie Qvam, were all wives of Norwegian Prime Ministers. NKF grew out of overlapping milieus connected to the political elite and liberal media in Norway, particularly the women's rights association Skuld that had been founded the previous year by the first women to pursue higher education in Norway, but also Læseforening for Kvinder (founded byCamilla Collett in 1874),Nissen's Girls' School, Kristiania Lærerindeforening, the influential political and cultural magazineNyt Tidsskrift, and the liberal newspaperDagbladet.[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 ministerFrancis Hagerup and the attorney-generalAnnæus Johannes Schjødt. Historian Aslaug Moksnes has noted that NKF is a women'srights organization, not a women's organization; the distinction has always been important to NKF.
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 arewomen's suffrage (achieved in 1913), theright to work (in the 1930s), abolishment of the common taxing for spouses (the 1950s), right toequal schooling (the 1960s), the establishment of the Gender Equality Council (Norwegian:Likestillingsrådet) in 1972, theGender 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 theNational Association for Women's Suffrage and theNorwegian National Women's Council. NKF inherited the former's founding membership in theInternational Alliance of Women (IAW) in 1937.
The association also initiated the establishment of theNorwegian Women's Public Health Association (Norwegian:Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening), ahumanitarian 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 ofEva Kolstad (1956–1968), NKF became strongly involved in international cooperation through the United Nations and contributed significantly to early UN gender equality policies, and Kolstad was elected as a member and vice chair of theUnited Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 1968, the year she stepped down as NKF President, after being nominated as the joint candidate of the Nordic governments. Kolstad later became a cabinet minister in Norway, the leader of theLiberal Party, and then the world's firstGender Equality Ombud. During the 1970s and 1980s, the lawyersKarin M. Bruzelius andSigrun Hoel led the organization. Bruzelius became the first woman to head a government ministry asPermanent 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 theTV-aksjonen campaign to raise funds for "Women in the Third World", and NKF co-founded the campaign's successorForum for Women and Development in 1995. During the presidency of diplomat and psychologistTorild Skard (2006–2013), the former Chairman ofUNICEF, NKF renewed its focus on the United Nations, and NKF initiated the establishment of theNorwegian Women's Lobby, the umbrella organization of the Norwegian women's movement. Skard was succeeded as president by ProfessorMargunn Bjørnholt in 2013, by the Norwegian Parliament's First Vice PresidentMarit Nybakk in 2016, by Supreme Court JusticeKarin M. Bruzelius in 2018,[11] and by ProfessorAnne 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 atMajorstuen 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 askvinnesak, 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 forgender 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 asliberal 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 isnon-partisan and broadly representative of the democratic political spectrum from thecentre-left to thecentre-right; its members tend to be affiliated with parties like the social-liberalLiberal Party, the social democraticLabour Party, the reformist socialistSocialist Left Party, the centristGreen Party, the liberal-conservativeConservative Party, or theCentre Party. NKF seeks thecentre 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 PresidentKarin Maria Bruzelius has described NKF's liberal feminism as "a realistic, sober, practical feminism".[3]
While NKF was modeled after a predecessor of theLeague of Women Voters in the U.S., it is also generally seen as the Norwegian counterpart of theNational Organization for Women in the U.S.
TheUnited Nations has been a major focus of NKF since the presidency ofEva Kolstad starting in 1956. NKF is a member of theInternational Alliance of Women (IAW), having inherited the founding membership of itsde facto subsidiary, theNational Association for Women's Suffrage. IAW was the fourth organization to receivegeneral consultative status with theUnited Nations Economic and Social Council in 1947. In its international work, particularly at the UN level, NKF cooperates with its sister organizations in the IAW family such as theIcelandic Women's Rights Association, theDanish Women's Society, theFredrika Bremer Association, theDeutscher Frauenring and theAll India Women's Conference. Several NKF members have served on the IAW international board, notably including NKF presidentsMargarete Bonnevie,Eva Kolstad,Clara Ottesen,Karin M. Bruzelius andMargunn Bjørnholt.[17] NKF was a founding member of theJoint Organization of Nordic Women's Rights Associations in 1916, and still cooperates with the other Nordic national women's rights associations through IAW.
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
NKF is traditionally the mainbourgois-liberal women's rights organization in Norway and applies ahuman rights approach to its work for gender equality. Today NKF stands for an inclusive,intersectional and progressiveliberal feminism and works "to promotegender equality and women's and girls' human rights throughpolitical andlegal reform within the framework ofliberal 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, andhuman rights, andHarriet 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 PresidentMargarete 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 forgender equality, the association's overarching aim since the 19th century.[14]
NKF works for thehuman rights of all girls and women and for agender equal society. NKF's core issues include "women's political rights, legal equality, women's representation in politics, and gender equality in education, employment, andeconomic justice" and "violence against girls and women (and) the strengthening of the gender perspective inforeign, security, and development policies."[1]
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 is the second traditional core focus of NKF.
NKF's main focus in foreign policy is the strengthening of women's rights. NKF has a strong focus on theUnited Nations system. NKF played a key role in the development ofwomen-focused development projects and initiated the establishment of what became theForum for Women and Development. NKF is generally supportive ofNorwegian official foreign policy, and in line with its liberal feminist political platform and bourgeois origins, the association maintained a pro-Western stance throughout theCold War. NKF has never been pacifist; NKF founded theNorwegian Women's Public Health Association, originally intended as an affiliate of theNorwegian Red Cross that aimed to support the Norwegian military in a potential conflict withSweden during thedissolution of the countries' union in 1905. NKF's non-partisan position meant that NKF consciously adopted a neutral stance on many issues not related to gender equality, especially issues that divided opinion among the political centre in Norway, such asNorwegian membership in the European Union.[14]Clara Ottesen, the NKF President during the membership debate, was herself a member of the executive board of theEuropean Movement in Norway at the time. NKF refused to supportanti-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]
NKF supports safe and legal abortion, birth control, and reproductive health education for all. NKF initiated the establishment of the NGOSex 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]
NKF has worked to endviolence 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]
NKF is part of theliberal women's rights movement and thus shares themainstream feminist position on LGBT+ rights. NKF viewsLGBT+ rights as an integral part of feminism and the human rights framework NKF's work is based on, and opposes discrimination based onsexual orientation or gender identity in all areas, includinghomophobia andtransphobia.[29][1] NKF has always viewed itself as inclusive and non-discriminatory. Then-PresidentEva Kolstad wrote in 1959 that the struggle for women's rights is "a struggle for the free human" and in the 1960s Kolstad was an early advocate ofgay rights.[30] Nevertheless, during the 1970s the association showed little interest in lesbian rights and argued that lesbian issues did not concern NKF.[31][32] Since the late 20th century NKF has more consistently adopted LGBT+-inclusive policies and a moreintersectional approach.[1][33] This is in line with developments in human rights law; for example, law professor,CEDAW expert and NKF memberAnne 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 andhate 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, theInternational Alliance of Women (IAW) and with its sister organizations in the IAW family. During the 2021 session of theUnited 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, theIcelandic 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 "theanti-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]
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 |  | Hagbart Berner | 1884–1885 | Lawyer and Member of Parliament | Liberal |
| 2 |  | Anna Stang | 1885–1886 | Teacher, usually titledStatsministerinde ("Madam Prime Minister") | Liberal |
| 3 |  | Ragna Nielsen | 1886–1888 | Teacher, headmistress and liberal politician, also President ofRiksmålsforbundet | Liberal |
| 4 |  | Anna Bugge | 1888–1889 | Lawyer and diplomat | Liberal |
| 5 | | Ragna Nielsen | 1889–1895 | Teacher, headmistress and liberal politician, also President ofRiksmålsforbundet | Liberal |
| 6 | .jpg) | Randi Blehr | 1895–1899 | Humanitarian leader, usually titledStatsministerinde ("Madam Prime Minister") | Liberal |
| 7 |  | Fredrikke Marie Qvam | 1899–1903 | Humanitarian leader, usually titledStatsministerinde ("Madam Prime Minister"), also President of theNorwegian Women's Public Health Association | Liberal |
| 8 | | Randi Blehr | 1903–1922 | Humanitarian leader, usually titledStatsministerinde ("Madam Prime Minister") | Liberal |
| 9 | Aadel Lampe | 1922–1926 | Teacher and liberal politician, deputy member of parliament | Free-Minded Liberal | |
| 10 | .jpg) | Fredrikke Mørck | 1926–1930 | Teacher and editor | Liberal |
| 11 | .jpg) | Anna Hvoslef | 1930–1935 | Aftenposten journalist | Conservative |
| 12 |  | Kitty Bugge | 1935–1936 | Union leader | Liberal |
| 13 | | Margarete Bonnevie | 1936–1946 | Writer and liberal politician | Liberal |
| 14 |  | Dakky Kiær | 1946–1952 | Headmistress and liberal politician | Liberal |
| 15 |  | Ingerid Gjøstein Resi | 1952–1955 | Linguist and liberal politician | Liberal |
| 16 |  | Marit Aarum | 1955–1956 | Economist, civil servant and liberal politician | Liberal |
| 17 |  | Signe Swensson | 1956 | Physician and Member of Parliament | Conservative |
| 18 |  | Eva Kolstad | 1956–1968 | Cabinet minister, Liberal Party leader, Norway's firstGender Equality Ombud | Liberal |
| 19 | Clara Ottesen | 1968–1972 | Economist, civil servant, aid worker, UN expert | Liberal | |
| 20 |  | Kari Skjønsberg | 1972–1978 | Associate professor of literature and Labour Party politician | Labour |
| 21 |  | Karin M. Bruzelius | 1978–1984 | Supreme Court Justice | |
| 22 | Sigrun Hoel | 1984–1988 | Lawyer andGender 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 | 1994–1998 | Civil servant (Special Adviser with the Ministry of Education) | |
| 27 | Siri Hangeland | 1998–2004 | Lecturer | SV | |
| 28 |  | Berit Kvæven | 2004–2006 | Chief engineer at theNorwegian 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 ofTekna | Liberal |
| 29 | .jpeg) | Torild Skard | 2006–2013 | Senior Researcher at theNorwegian Institute of International Affairs, former Member of Parliament, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairman ofUNICEF | SV |
| 30 | .jpeg) | Margunn Bjørnholt | 2013–2016 | Professor of Sociology | Greens |
| 31 | .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 theNordic Council | Labour |
| 32 | | Karin M. Bruzelius | 2018–2020 | Supreme Court Justice | |
| 33 | Anne Hege Grung | 2020– | Professor of Theology |
NKF's logo is astylizedsunflower. It was adopted in 1894, based on the model of the liberalAmerican suffrage movement led byElizabeth Cady Stanton andSusan 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 journalNylænde, edited byGina 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 ofliberal democracy".[38]
NKF published the journalNylænde (New Land) from 1887 to 1927, edited byGina Krog until her death in 1916 and then byFredrikke 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 forwomen'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 madeIbsen famous."[40]
From 1950 to 2016 NKF published the journalKvinnesaksnytt (Women's Rights News) that included news and analysis of Norwegian and international women's rights issues. The editors ofKvinnesaksnytt includedIngerid Gjøstein Resi,Marit Aarum,Eva Kolstad,Kari Skjønsberg,Karin M. Bruzelius,Torild Skard andMargunn Bjørnholt.[41]
NKF's highest honour is its honorary membership, which was first awarded toCamilla Collett in 1884. Since 2009, NKF also awards the Gina Krog Prize, named after its founder.
Since 2009, the association has awarded the Gina Krog Prize, named after its founderGina Krog. The prize has been awarded to
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
