Norwegian Association for Women's Rights: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Norwegian feminist political organization (founded 1884)}} |
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{{Infobox organization |
{{Infobox organization |
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|name = Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |
|name = Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |
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|logo = Logo for Norsk Kvinnesaksforening (variant).svg |
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|image = |
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|image = Majorstuveien 39 Jacob Aalls gate 24.JPG |
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|image_border = |
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|caption = NKF's offices in [[Majorstuen]], [[Oslo]] |
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|size = |
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|alt = |
|alt = NKF's offices in Majorstuen, Oslo |
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|founded_date = {{Start date and age|1884|6|28|df=yes}} |
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|caption = |
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|founders = [[Gina Krog]] and [[Hagbart Berner]] |
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|formation = 1884 |
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|methods = [[Law reform]], [[political advocacy]] |
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|headquarters = [[Majorstuen]], [[Oslo]] |
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|focus = [[Gender equality]] |
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|leader_title = President |
|leader_title = President |
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|leader_name = [[ |
|leader_name = [[Anne Hege Grung]] |
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|affiliations = [[International Alliance of Women]] |
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|leader_title2 = Vice President |
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|leader_name2 = [[Margunn Bjørnholt]] |
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|affiliations = [[International Alliance of Women]], [[FOKUS]] |
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|website = {{URL|kvinnesak.no}} |
|website = {{URL|kvinnesak.no}} |
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}} |
}} |
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The '''Norwegian Association for Women's Rights''' ({{langx|no|italic=no|Norsk Kvinnesaksforening}}; '''NKF''') is [[Norway]]'s oldest and preeminent [[women's rights|women's and girls' rights]] organization that works "to promote [[gender equality]] and all women's and girls' [[human rights]] through [[political reform|political]] and [[legal reform]] within the framework of [[liberal democracy]]."<ref name=about-nkf/><ref name=omnkf>{{cite web |title=Norsk Kvinnesaksforening |url=http://www.kvinnelobby.no/medlemsorganisasjoner/norsk-kvinnesaksforening/ |access-date=2023-07-05|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704171549/https://www.kvinnelobby.no/medlemsorganisasjoner/norsk-kvinnesaksforening/|archivedate=2023-07-04}}</ref><ref name="om" /> Founded in 1884, NKF is Norway's second oldest [[political organization]] after the [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal Party]]. NKF stands for an inclusive, [[intersectionality|intersectional]] and [[Progressivism|progressive]] [[liberal feminism|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.<ref name="om">{{cite web |title=Hvem vi er |url=http://kvinnesak.no/om/ |publisher=Norwegian Association for Women's Rights|access-date=2020-10-28}}</ref> |
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NKF was founded on the initiative of [[Gina Krog]] and [[Hagbart Berner]] by 171 prominent women and men of the [[progressivism|progressive]] liberal establishment, including five Norwegian Prime Ministers, and was modeled after the predecessors of the [[League 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 Norwegian [[Liberal feminism|bourgeois-liberal]] women's rights movement and historically associated with the [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal Party]], NKF is today a [[big tent]] coalition with members from the [[centre-left]] to the [[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 [[women's suffrage|right to vote]], the [[right to work]], the adoption of the 1978 Gender Equality Act, and the establishment of the [[Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud|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]]. |
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The '''Norwegian Association for Women's Rights''' ({{lang-no|Norsk Kvinnesaksforening}}, NKF) is a [[Norway|Norwegian]] organization advocating [[women's liberation]] and equality between the sexes, and is Norway's oldest [[feminist]] organization. The current President (since 2006) is [[Torild Skard]], a former Member of Parliament and Chairman of the [[UNICEF]] Executive Board. |
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In line with its roots in 19th century [[First-wave feminism|first-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",<ref>Lønnå (1996) p. 273</ref> and NKF's political tradition is closely linked to the concept of [[state feminism]]. In foreign policy NKF has a [[liberal internationalism|liberal internationalist]] outlook and generally supports Norwegian official foreign policy. Starting with the presidency of [[Eva Kolstad]], from 1956, NKF focused strongly on the [[United Nations]], and NKF members have been appointed to key UN bodies including [[United Nations Commission on the Status of Women|UNCSW]] and the [[CEDAW Committee]]; the [[CEDAW]] convention remains an important focus of NKF. NKF is a member of the [[International Alliance of Women]] (IAW), which has [[general consultative status]] to the [[United Nations Economic and Social Council]] and participatory status with the [[Council of Europe]], and is also generally considered as a sister organization of the [[National Organization for Women]]. NKF's logo is a [[stylized]] [[sunflower]], adopted in 1894, based on the model of the liberal [[Women's suffrage in the United States|American suffrage movement]]. |
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The organization was founded in [[1884]] by teacher [[Gina Krog]] and editor and liberal [[Member of Parliament]] [[Hagbart Berner]]. Fredrikke Marie Qvam and Randi Blehr, both wives of Norwegian [[Prime Minister]]s, also played a major role in the initial phase of the movement. [[Ragna Nielsen]] was chairman for some time (1886-1888 and 1889-1895), until the so-called ''morality debate'' ({{lang-no|Sedelighetsdebatten}}) caused a split in the movement and Anna Bugge became the new leader. Historically, the organization was strongly associated with the [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal Party]]; 22 liberal members of parliament signed a declaration of support for the organization on the occasion of its establishment. |
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==History== |
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The association also initiated the establishment of the [[Norwegian Women's Public Health Association]] ({{lang-no|Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening}}), a [[humanitarian]] organisation, which grew to become Norway's largest women's organisation with around 250,000 members at one point. |
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[[File:Gina Krog by Asta Nørregaard.jpeg|thumb|NKF's founder [[Gina Krog]], a liberal politician and the principal leader of the struggle for women's right to vote in Norway]] |
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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 [[Gina Krog]] and liberal [[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]].<ref>Moksnes (1984) p. 52</ref> The organization's founders included 87 men and 84 women, overwhelmingly prominent liberal public figures.<ref>Moksnes (1984) p. 33ff</ref> |
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Among the important causes that the NAWR has fought for are [[women's suffrage]] (achieved in 1913), the [[right to work]] (in the 1930s), abolishment of the common taxing for spouses (the 1950s), right to [[women's education|equal schooling]] (the 1960s), the establishment of the ''Council for Equality between the Sexes'' ({{lang-no|Likestillingsrådet}}) 1972, later replaced by the Centre for Equality between the Sexes (1977), later by the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud (2006). |
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From its establishment, the organization was strongly associated with the [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal 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 novelist [[Alexander Kielland]]. Three of the first Presidents of the organization, [[Anna Stang]], [[Randi Blehr]], and [[Fredrikke 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 by [[Camilla Collett]] in 1874), [[Nissen's Girls' School]], Kristiania Lærerindeforening, the influential political and cultural magazine ''[[Nyt Tidsskrift]]'', and the liberal newspaper ''[[Dagbladet]]''.<ref>Moksnes 1984 p. 33</ref> 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. |
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The NAWR has co-operated with the National Association for Women's Suffrage ({{lang-no|Landskvinnestemmerettsforeningen}}) and later with the Norwegian National Women's Council. Prominent figures within the association were [[Aasta Hansteen]], [[Randi Blehr]], [[Margarete Bonnevie]] (chair 1936-1946) and [[Eva Kolstad]] (chair 1956-1968), who later became a cabinet minister, leader of the Liberal Party and the world's first Gender Equality Ombud. |
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[[File:Hagbart Berner.jpg|thumb|left|NKF's first President (1884–85) [[Hagbart Berner]], a lawyer, liberal member of parliament and editor of the liberal daily ''[[Dagbladet]]'']] |
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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."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holst |first1=Cathrine |title=Hva er feminisme |date=2017 |publisher=[[Universitetsforlaget]] |location=Oslo |isbn=9788215029832 |page=42 |url=https://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2020112548607}}</ref> |
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The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights has been affiliated with the [[International Alliance of Women]] since 1904 and is a member of [[FOKUS]], the Norwegian national committee for [[UN Women]]. |
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Among the important causes that the NKF has campaigned for are [[women's suffrage]] (achieved in 1913), the [[right to work]] (in the 1930s), abolishment of the common taxing for spouses (the 1950s), right to [[women's education|equal schooling]] (the 1960s), the establishment of the Gender Equality Council ({{langx|no|Likestillingsrådet}}) in 1972, the [[Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud|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. |
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Key NKF members initiated the establishment of the [[National Association for Women's Suffrage (Norway)|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. |
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The association also initiated the establishment of the [[Norwegian Women's Public Health Association]] ({{langx|no|Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening}}), a [[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.<ref>Lønnå (1996) p. 18</ref> With the increasing reformism of the Labour Party, many Labour politicians joined NKF in the postwar era. Today, NKF is a nonpartisan organization. |
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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.<ref>Lønnå (1996) p. 147</ref> |
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During the presidency of [[Eva 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 the [[United 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 the [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal Party]], and then the world's first [[Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud|Gender Equality Ombud]]. During the 1970s and 1980s, the lawyers [[Karin M. Bruzelius]] and [[Sigrun Hoel]] led the organization. Bruzelius became the first woman to head a government ministry as [[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. |
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In the early 1980s, NKF was responsible for the government-funded information campaign "Women and the election". In the late 1980s, NKF initiated the [[TV-aksjonen]] campaign to raise funds for "Women in the Third World", and NKF co-founded the campaign's successor [[Forum for Women and Development]] in 1995. During the presidency of diplomat and psychologist [[Torild Skard]] (2006–2013), the former Chairman of [[UNICEF]], NKF renewed its focus on the United Nations, and NKF initiated the establishment of the [[Norwegian Women's Lobby]], the umbrella organization of the Norwegian women's movement. Skard was succeeded as President by Professor [[Margunn Bjørnholt]] in 2013, by the Norwegian Parliament's First Vice President [[Marit Nybakk]] in 2016, by Supreme Court Justice [[Karin M. Bruzelius]] in 2018,<ref name="NTB2018">[https://www.abcnyheter.no/nyheter/norge/2018/06/17/195407168/hoyesterettsdommer-ny-leder-i-norsk-kvinnesaksforening Høyesterettsdommer ny leder i Norsk Kvinnesaksforening], [[Norwegian News Agency]]</ref> and by Professor [[Anne Hege Grung]] in 2020. |
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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. |
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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.<ref>Elisabeth Lønnå: ''Stolthet og kvinnekamp: Norsk kvinnesaksforenings historie fra 1913'' (pp. 228–229), Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1996, {{ISBN|8205244952}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kvinnesak i 100 år |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_aftenposten_null_null_19840628_125_290_1?page=47 |work=Aftenposten |date=1984-06-28|page=4}}</ref> |
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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.<ref name=Lønnå250>Lønnå (1996) p. 250</ref> NKF expressed scepticism towards the term "feminism" as late as 1980 because it could foster "unnecessary antagonism towards men",<ref>{{cite news |title=Adresseavisen |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_adresseavisen_null_null_19800308_214_58_1?page=11 |access-date=27 July 2021 |date=8 March 1980}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Norsk Kvinnesaksforening |url=https://twitter.com/kvinnesak/status/1452721492924542987 |access-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029203246/https://twitter.com/kvinnesak/status/1452721492924542987 |archive-date=29 October 2021}}</ref> |
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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 [[Nonpartisanism|non-partisan]] and broadly representative of the democratic political spectrum from the [[centre-left]] to the [[centre-right]]; its members tend to be affiliated with parties like the social-liberal [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal Party]], the social democratic [[Labour Party (Norway)|Labour Party]], the reformist socialist [[Socialist Left Party (Norway)|Socialist Left Party]], the centrist [[Green Party (Norway)|Green Party]], the liberal-conservative [[Conservative Party (Norway)|Conservative Party]], or the [[Centre Party (Norway)|Centre Party]]. NKF seeks the [[Centrism|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".<ref name="om" /> |
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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. |
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==International work and affiliations== |
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The [[United Nations]] has been a major focus of NKF since the presidency of [[Eva Kolstad]] starting in 1956. NKF is a member of the [[International Alliance of Women]] (IAW), having inherited the founding membership of its ''de facto'' subsidiary, the [[National Association for Women's Suffrage (Norway)|National Association for Women's Suffrage]]. IAW was the fourth organization to receive [[general consultative status]] with the [[United 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 the [[Icelandic Women's Rights Association]], the [[Danish Women's Society]], the [[Fredrika Bremer Association]], the [[Deutscher Frauenring]] and the [[All India Women's Conference]]. Several NKF members have served on the IAW international board, notably including NKF presidents [[Margarete Bonnevie]], [[Eva Kolstad]], [[Clara Ottesen]], [[Karin M. Bruzelius]] and [[Margunn Bjørnholt]].<ref>{{cite web |title=International Alliance of Women |url=https://kvinnesak.no/international-alliance-of-women/ |publisher=Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |access-date=30 November 2021}}</ref> 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. |
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==Policies== |
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===Basic vision: Gender equality=== |
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{{quote|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}} |
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[[File:Margarete Bonnevie, President of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights.jpg|thumb|[[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"<ref name=Morgenbladet1946 /><ref name=Dagbladet1946 />]] |
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NKF is traditionally the main [[liberal feminism|bourgois-liberal]] women's rights organization in Norway and applies a [[human rights]] approach to its work for gender equality. Today NKF stands for an inclusive, [[intersectionality|intersectional]] and progressive [[liberal feminism]] and works "to promote [[gender equality]] and women's and girls' human rights through [[political reform|political]] and [[legal reform]] within the framework of [[liberal democracy]]."<ref name="om" /><ref name="about" /> 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/kvinnesak/status/1372598130408034306 |title= Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |access-date=1 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501082524/https://twitter.com/kvinnesak/status/1372598130408034306|archive-date=1 May 2021}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |title=Velger nye veier |url=https://arkiv.klassekampen.no/10081/article/item/null/velger-nye-veier |website=Klassekampen |access-date=1 August 2021}}</ref> NKF focuses on "eliminating attitudes, laws and regulations that are discriminatory towards women and girls and which prevent gender equality".<ref name="om" /><ref name="about">{{cite web |title=About us |url=http://kvinnesak.no/english/ |publisher=Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref> |
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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.<ref name=Morgenbladet1946>{{cite news |title=Morgenbladet |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_morgenbladet_null_null_19460325_128_71_1?page=9 |date=25 March 1946}}</ref><ref name=Dagbladet1946>{{cite news |title=Dagbladet |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_dagbladet_null_null_19460325_77_71_2 |date=25 March 1946}}</ref> NKF views gender equality as a human right<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ottesen |first1=Clara|author-link=Clara Ottesen |title=Likestilling – en menneskerettighet|trans-title=Gender equality – a human right |journal=[[Samtiden]] |date=1972 |pages=223–225}}</ref> and argues that women's rights and human rights for all are fundamentally the same issue.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moksnes |first1=Aslaug |title=Likestilling versus særstilling |journal=Kvinnesaksnytt |volume=58 |issue=1 |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Visste du at ... ? |url=https://twitter.com/kvinnesak/status/1447497486323666944 |publisher=Norsk Kvinnesaksforening |access-date=11 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011100107/https://twitter.com/kvinnesak/status/1447497486323666944 |archive-date=11 October 2021|quote=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}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Lønnå250 /> |
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===Core issues=== |
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NKF works for the [[human rights]] of all girls and women and for a [[gender equality|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 women|violence against girls and women]] (and) the strengthening of the gender perspective in [[foreign policy|foreign]], security, and development policies."<ref name=about-nkf>{{cite web |title=Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |url=http://www.kvinnelobby.no/en/member-organisations/norwegian-association-for-womens-rights/ |access-date=2023-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704234615/http://www.kvinnelobby.no/en/member-organisations/norwegian-association-for-womens-rights/|archive-date=2023-07-04}}</ref> |
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====Political rights, legal equality and representation of women in politics==== |
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Political rights, legal equality and representation of women in politics is the most important traditional core focus of NKF. |
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====Equal education, working life and economic justice==== |
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Equal education, working life and economic justice is the second traditional core focus of NKF. |
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====Foreign policy==== |
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NKF's main focus in foreign policy is the strengthening of women's rights. NKF has a strong focus on the [[United Nations]] system. NKF played a key role in the development of [[Women in development|women-focused development projects]] and initiated the establishment of what became the [[Forum for Women and Development]]. NKF is generally supportive of [[Foreign relations of Norway|Norwegian official foreign policy]], and in line with its liberal feminist political platform and bourgeois origins, the association maintained a pro-[[Western bloc|Western]] stance throughout the [[Cold War]]. NKF has never been pacifist; NKF founded the [[Norwegian Women's Public Health Association]], originally intended as an affiliate of the [[Norwegian Red Cross]] that aimed to support the Norwegian military in a potential conflict with [[Sweden]] during the [[Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden|dissolution 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 as [[Norway–European Union relations|Norwegian membership in the European Union]].<ref name=Lønnå250>Lønnå (1996) p. 250</ref> [[Clara Ottesen]], the NKF President during the membership debate, was herself a member of the executive board of the [[European Movement]] in Norway at the time. NKF refused to support [[Anti-nuclear movement|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.<ref name=Lønnå250 /> |
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====Sexual and reproductive rights==== |
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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.<ref>Lønnå (1996) p. 241</ref> |
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====Ending violence against women==== |
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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."<ref>Alan Soble, Sex from Plato to Paglia, bd. A-L, s. 336, 2006</ref> 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, [[National Organization for Women|NOW]], has also been divided on this issue.<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-national-organization-for-women-is-tearing-itself-apart-over-sex-work A War Over Sex Work is Raging Inside The Nation’s Biggest Feminist Group]</ref> |
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==== Gender and sexual diversity ==== |
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NKF is part of the [[liberal feminism|liberal women's rights movement]] and thus shares the [[liberal feminism#LGBT rights|mainstream feminist position on LGBT+ rights]]. NKF views [[LGBT rights|LGBT+ rights]] as an integral part of feminism and the human rights framework NKF's work is based on, and opposes discrimination based on [[sexual orientation]] or gender identity in all areas, including [[homophobia]] and [[transphobia]].<ref name=Bruzelius2018 /><ref name=about-nkf /> NKF has always viewed itself as inclusive and non-discriminatory. Then-President [[Eva 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 of [[gay rights]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://skeivtarkiv.no/skeivopedia/eva-kolstad|title=Eva Kolstad|access-date=2021-11-17|work=Skeivt arkiv|date=9 June 2020}}</ref> Nevertheless, during the 1970s the association showed little interest in lesbian rights and argued that lesbian issues did not concern NKF.<ref>Lønnå (1996) p. 276–277</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_adresseavisen_null_null_19751231_209_303_1?page=13|last1=Isern |first1=Gerd |title=Mennene er blitt likestillingsbevisste |work=Adresseavisen |date=31 December 1975 |page=15}}</ref> Since the late 20th century NKF has more consistently adopted LGBT+-inclusive policies and a more [[Intersectionality|intersectional]] approach.<ref name=about-nkf /><ref>{{cite web |author=|title=Felleslov for likestilling og diskriminering|date=30 March 2015|url=https://kvinnesak.no/2015/03/felleslov-for-likestilling-og-diskriminering/|publisher=Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> This is in line with developments in human rights law; for example, law professor, [[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.<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Anne Hellum]]|url =https://www.vl.no/meninger/verdidebatt/2022/02/23/hvem-har-rettslig-status-som-kvinne/ |title =Hvem har rettslig status som kvinne? |work =Vårt Land |date =2022-02-23|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223180241/https://www.vl.no/meninger/verdidebatt/2022/02/23/hvem-har-rettslig-status-som-kvinne/|archivedate=2022-02-23}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Bruzelius2018>{{cite web |author=[[Karin M. Bruzelius]]|title=Høring – utredning om det strafferettslige diskrimineringsvernet|date=12 November 2018|url=https://kvinnesak.no/2018/11/horing-utredning-om-det-strafferettslig-diskrimineringsvernet/ |publisher= Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |access-date=12 November 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811014134/http://kvinnesak.no/2018/11/horing-utredning-om-det-strafferettslig-diskrimineringsvernet/ |archivedate=11 August 2020}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |title=Transfeminism and the Women's Movement |date=15 March 2021 |url=https://kvenrettindafelag.is/en/transfeminism-and-the-womens-movement/ |publisher=[[Icelandic Women's Rights Association]] |access-date=26 November 2021}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kvinnesak.no/2020/11/antifeminisme-og-anti-gender-bevegelsen-en-trussel-mot-kvinners-og-seksuelle-minoriteters-rettigheter/ |title=Antifeminisme og anti-gender bevegelsen: en trussel mot kvinners og seksuelle minoriteters rettigheter |last= |first= |date= |website= |publisher=NKF |access-date= |quote=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220803103235/https://kvinnesak.no/2020/11/antifeminisme-og-anti-gender-bevegelsen-en-trussel-mot-kvinners-og-seksuelle-minoriteters-rettigheter/|archive-date=2022-08-03}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trans Inclusion in the Women's Movement |url=https://www.ilga-europe.org/podcast/the-frontline-trans-inclusion-in-the-womens-movement/ |access-date=31 January 2024}}</ref> |
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{{clear}} |
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==Presidents== |
==Presidents== |
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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: |
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{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" |
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{{Col-begin}} |
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|- |
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{{Col-1-of-2}} |
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! No |
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;Presidents |
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! Image |
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*[[Hagbart Berner]] 1884-1885 |
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! Name |
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*[[Hans Georg Jacob Stang (prime minister)|Anna Stang]] 1885-1886 |
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! Tenure |
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*[[Ragna Nielsen]] 1886-1888 |
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! Background |
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*[[Anna Bugge]] 1888-1889 |
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! Party |
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*[[Ragna Nielsen]] 1889-1895 |
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|- |
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*[[Randi Blehr]] 1895-1899 |
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| 1 |
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*[[Ole Anton Qvam|Fredrikke Marie Qvam]] 1899-1903 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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*[[Randi Blehr]] 1903-1922 |
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|Image = Hagbard_Berner.jpg |
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*[[Aadel Lampe]] 1922-1926 |
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|bSize = 70 |
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*[[Fredrikke Mørck]] 1926-1930 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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*[[Anna Hvoslef]] 1930-1935 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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*[[Kitty Bugge]] 1935-1936 |
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|oTop = 2 |
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*[[Margarete Bonnevie]] 1936-1946 |
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|oLeft = 4 |
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*[[Dakky Kiær]] 1946-1952 |
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}} |
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*[[Ingerid Gjøstein Resi]] 1952-1955 |
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| [[Hagbart Berner]] |
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*[[Marit Aarum]] 1955-1956 |
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| 1884–1885 |
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*[[Signe Swensson]] (acting) 1956 |
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| Lawyer and Member of Parliament |
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*[[Eva Kolstad]] 1956-1968 |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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*[[Clara Ottesen]] 1968-1972 |
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|- |
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*[[Kari Skjønsberg]] 1972-1978 |
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| 2 |
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*[[Karin Maria Bruzelius|Karin M. Bruzelius]] 1978-1984 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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*[[Sigrun Hoel]] 1984-1988 |
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|Image = Anna Stang.jpg |
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*[[Irene Bauer]] 1988-1990 |
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|bSize = 60 |
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*[[Siri Hangeland]] 1990-1992 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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*[[Bjørg Krane Bostad]] 1992-1994 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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*[[Kjellaug Pettersen]] 1994-1998 |
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|oTop = 9 |
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*[[Siri Hangeland]] 1998-2004 |
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|oLeft = |
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*[[Berit Kvæven]] 2004-2006 |
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}} |
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*[[Torild Skard]] 2006- |
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| [[Anna Stang]] |
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| 1885–1886 |
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| Teacher, usually titled ''Statsministerinde'' ("Madam Prime Minister") |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 3 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = RagnaNielsen.jpg |
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|bSize = 90 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 20 |
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|oLeft = 12 |
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}} |
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| [[Ragna Nielsen]] |
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| 1886–1888 |
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| Teacher, headmistress and liberal politician, also President of [[Riksmålsforbundet]] |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 4 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Anna Bugge.jpg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 2 |
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|oLeft = 0 |
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}} |
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| [[Anna Bugge]] |
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| 1888–1889 |
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| Lawyer and diplomat |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 5 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = RagnaNielsen.jpg |
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|bSize = 90 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 20 |
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|oLeft = 12 |
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}} |
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| [[Ragna Nielsen]] |
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| 1889–1895 |
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| Teacher, headmistress and liberal politician, also President of [[Riksmålsforbundet]] |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 6 |
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| [[File:Portrett av Randi Marie Blehr, 1899 (cropped).jpg|60px]] |
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| [[Randi Blehr]] |
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| 1895–1899 |
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| Humanitarian leader, usually titled ''Statsministerinde'' ("Madam Prime Minister") |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 7 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Fredrikke Marie Qvam.jpg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 2 |
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|oLeft = |
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}} |
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| [[Fredrikke Marie Qvam]] |
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| 1899–1903 |
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| Humanitarian leader, usually titled ''Statsministerinde'' ("Madam Prime Minister"), also President of the [[Norwegian Women's Public Health Association]] |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 8 |
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| [[File:Portrett av Randi Marie Blehr, 1899 (cropped).jpg|60px]] |
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| [[Randi Blehr]] |
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| 1903–1922 |
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| Humanitarian leader, usually titled ''Statsministerinde'' ("Madam Prime Minister") |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 9 |
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| |
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| [[Aadel Lampe]] |
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| 1922–1926 |
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| Teacher and liberal politician, deputy member of parliament |
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| [[Free-minded Liberal Party|Free-Minded Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 10 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Fredrikke Mørck (cropped).jpg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = |
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|oLeft = |
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}} |
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| [[Fredrikke Mørck]] |
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| 1926–1930 |
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| Teacher and editor |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 11 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Anna Hvoslef (cropped).jpg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = |
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|oLeft = |
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}} |
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| [[Anna Hvoslef]] |
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| 1930–1935 |
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| ''[[Aftenposten]]'' journalist |
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| [[Conservative Party (Norway)|Conservative]] |
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|- |
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| 12 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Kitty Bugge.jpg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 5 |
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|oLeft = |
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}} |
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| [[Kitty Bugge]] |
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| 1935–1936 |
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| Union leader |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 13 |
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| [[File:Margarete Bonnevie, President of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights.jpg|60px]] |
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| [[Margarete Bonnevie]] |
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| 1936–1946 |
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| Writer and liberal politician |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 14 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Dakky Kiær.jpg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 2 |
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|oLeft = |
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}} |
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| [[Dakky Kiær]] |
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| 1946–1952 |
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| Headmistress and liberal politician |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 15 |
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| [[File:Ingerid Gjøstein Resi.jpg|60px]] |
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| [[Ingerid Gjøstein Resi]] |
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| 1952–1955 |
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| Linguist and liberal politician |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 16 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Marit Aarum.jpg |
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|bSize = 90 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 2 |
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|oLeft = 7 |
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}} |
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| [[Marit Aarum]] |
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| 1955–1956 |
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| Economist, civil servant and liberal politician |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 17 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Signe Swensson.jpg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 2 |
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|oLeft = |
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}} |
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| [[Signe Swensson]] |
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| 1956 |
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| Physician and Member of Parliament |
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| [[Conservative Party (Norway)|Conservative]] |
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|- |
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| 18 |
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| [[File:Eva Kolstad.jpg|60px]] |
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| [[Eva Kolstad]] |
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| 1956–1968 |
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| Cabinet minister, Liberal Party leader, Norway's first [[Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud|Gender Equality Ombud]] |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 19 |
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| |
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| [[Clara Ottesen]] |
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| 1968–1972 |
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| Economist, civil servant, aid worker, UN expert |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 20 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Kari Skjønsberg.jpg |
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|bSize = 80 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 5 |
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|oLeft = 10 |
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}} |
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| [[Kari Skjønsberg]] |
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| 1972–1978 |
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| Associate professor of literature and Labour Party politician |
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| [[Labour Party (Norway)|Labour]] |
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|- |
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| 21 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = KM Bruzelius.jpg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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}} |
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| [[Karin M. Bruzelius]] |
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| 1978–1984 |
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| Supreme Court Justice |
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| |
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|- |
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| 22 |
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| |
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| [[Sigrun Hoel]] |
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| 1984–1988 |
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| Lawyer and [[Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud|Gender Equality Ombud]] |
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| |
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|- |
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| 23 |
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| |
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| [[Irene Bauer]] |
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| 1988–1990 |
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| Labour Party politician, civil servant (Director in the Ministry of the Environment) |
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| [[Labour Party (Norway)|Labour]] |
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|- |
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| 24 |
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| |
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| [[Siri Hangeland]] |
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| 1990–1992 |
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| Lecturer |
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| [[Socialist Left Party (Norway)|SV]] |
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|- |
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| 25 |
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| |
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| [[Bjørg Krane Bostad]] |
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| 1992–1994 |
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| Civil servant |
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| |
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|- |
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| 26 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Kjellaug Pettersen.jpg |
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|bSize = 85 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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|oTop = 5 |
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|oLeft = 12 |
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}} |
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| [[Kjellaug Pettersen]] |
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| 1994–1998 |
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| Civil servant ([[Special adviser (Norway)|Special Adviser]] with the Ministry of Education) |
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| |
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|- |
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| 27 |
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| |
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| [[Siri Hangeland]] |
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| 1998–2004 |
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| Lecturer |
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| [[Socialist Left Party (Norway)|SV]] |
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|- |
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| 28 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Berit Kvæven.jpg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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|cWidth = 60 |
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|cHeight = 65 |
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}} |
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| [[Berit Kvæven]] |
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| 2004–2006 |
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| 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 (Norway)|Tekna]] |
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| [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal]] |
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|- |
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| 29 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Torild Skard (cropped).jpeg |
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|bSize = 90 |
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|oTop = 5 |
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|oLeft = 16 |
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}} |
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| [[Torild Skard]] |
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| 2006–2013 |
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| 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]] |
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| [[Socialist Left Party (Norway)|SV]] |
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|- |
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| 30 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Margunn Bjørnholt (cropped2).jpeg |
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|bSize = 60 |
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}} |
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| [[Margunn Bjørnholt]] |
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| 2013–2016 |
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| Professor of Sociology |
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| [[Green Party (Norway)|Greens]] |
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|- |
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| 31 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|Image = Nordiska radets session i Helsingfors (5).jpg |
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|oTop = 6 |
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| [[Marit Nybakk]] |
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| 2016–2018 |
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| First Vice President of the Norwegian Parliament, Norway's longest-serving woman member of parliament of all time, former President of the [[Nordic Council]] |
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| [[Labour Party (Norway)|Labour]] |
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|- |
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| 32 |
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| {{CSS image crop |
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|bSize = 60 |
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| [[Karin M. Bruzelius]] |
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| 2018–2020 |
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| Supreme Court Justice |
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| |
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|- |
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| 33 |
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| |
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| [[Anne Hege Grung]] |
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| 2020– |
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| Professor of Theology |
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| |
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|} |
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==Symbols== |
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{{Col-2-of-2}} |
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[[File:Nylænde, vignett, 1901.svg|thumb|[[Nameplate (publishing)|Masthead]] of ''[[Nylænde]]'' (version used 1901–1907)]] |
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;Vice Presidents |
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NKF's logo is a [[stylized]] [[sunflower]]. It was adopted in 1894, based on the model of the liberal [[Women's suffrage in the United States|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]]".<ref>[http://kvinnesak.no/om/solsikken/ Solsikken symboliserer våre røtter i den første bølgen av feminisme]. Norwegian Association for Women's Rights</ref> |
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*[[Gina Krog]] 1884-1888 |
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*[[Ole Anton Qvam|Fredrikke Marie Qvam]] 1895-1899 |
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*[[Aadel Lampe]] 1899-1903 |
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*[[Cecilie Thoresen Krog]] 1903-1911 |
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*[[Aadel Lampe]] 1912-1917, 1919, 1921 |
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*[[Anna Hvoslef]] 1935 |
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*[[Mimi Sverdrup Lunden]] 1936 |
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*[[Dakky Kiær]] |
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*[[Marit Aarum]] 1952-1955 |
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*[[Lilly Bølviken]] 1955-66 |
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*[[Dagny Sveaas]] 1964 |
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*[[Marit Berge]] |
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*[[Kari Skjønsberg]] |
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*[[Aslaug Moksnes]] 1968-1972 |
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*[[Astrid Brekken]] 1973 |
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*[[Karin Maria Bruzelius|Karin M. Bruzelius]] 1974-1978 |
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*[[Anne Kari Lande Hasle]] 1978-1982 |
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*[[Sigrun Hoel]] 1982-1984 |
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*[[Berit Kvæven]] -2004 |
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*[[Siri Hangeland]] 2004-2008 |
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*[[Elisabet Rogg]] 2008-2010 |
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*[[Janicke Karin Solheim]] 2010-2012 |
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*[[Margunn Bjørnholt]] 2012- |
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==Journals== |
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{{Col-end}} |
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[[File:Nylænde.jpg|thumb|NKF's journal ''[[Nylænde]]'' 1 March 1887 with an article by [[Camilla Collett]]]] |
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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]].<ref name=snl-nyl>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2007|title=Nylænde |encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]]|editor=Henriksen, Petter|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/Nyl%C3%A6nde|language=Norwegian|access-date=24 September 2009}}</ref> 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 [[Henrik Ibsen|Ibsen]] famous."<ref>{{cite web |title=Gina Krog og Nylænde |url=https://www.nb.no/historier-fra-samlingen/gina-krog-og-nylaende/ |publisher=[[National Library of Norway]] |access-date=22 November 2021}}</ref> |
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==Gina Krog Prize== |
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Since 2009, the association has awarded the Gina Krog Prize, named after its co-founder and first Vice President [[Gina Krog]]. |
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From 1950 to 2016 NKF published the journal ''[[Kvinnesaksnytt]]'' (Women's Rights News) that included news and analysis of Norwegian and international women's rights issues. The editors of ''Kvinnesaksnytt'' included [[Ingerid Gjøstein Resi]], [[Marit Aarum]], [[Eva Kolstad]], [[Kari Skjønsberg]], [[Karin M. Bruzelius]], [[Torild Skard]] and [[Margunn Bjørnholt]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Kvinnesaksnytt |url=https://kvinnesak.no/kvinnesaksnytt/ |publisher=Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |access-date=22 November 2021}}</ref> |
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The prize has been awarded to |
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*Historians [[Ida Blom]], [[Gro Hagemann]], [[Elisabeth Lønnå]], [[Aslaug Moksnes]] and [[Elisabeth Aasen]] (2009) |
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*Filmmaker [[Anja Breien]] (2010) |
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==Awards== |
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==Honorary members== |
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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. |
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===Honorary members=== |
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{{div col|colwidth=20em}} |
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*[[Camilla Collett]] 1884 |
*[[Camilla Collett]] 1884 |
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*{{ill|August Thorvald Deinboll|no}} 1896<ref>''Dagbladet'' 31 May 1896; cf. ''[[Nylænde]]'' 1897 p. 183 and 1900 p. 146</ref> |
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*[[Aasta Hansteen]] 1904 |
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*[[Aasta Hansteen]] 1906<ref>''[[Nylænde]]'' 1907 p. 137</ref> |
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*[[Aadel Lampe]] 1926 |
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*[[Gina Krog]] 1909<ref name="auto1">''[[Nylænde]]'' 1909 p. 373</ref> |
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*[[Hagbart Berner]] 1909<ref name="auto1"/> |
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*{{ill|Amalie Hansen (women's rights leader)|lt=Amalie Hansen|no|Amalie Hansen}} 1913<ref>''[[Nylænde]]'' 1914 p. 26</ref> |
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*[[Ragna Nielsen]] 1914<ref name="auto2">''[[Nylænde]]'' 1914 p. 233</ref> |
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*[[Fredrikke Marie Qvam]] 1914<ref name="auto2"/> |
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*{{ill|Thora Storm|no}} 1914<ref name="auto2"/> |
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*[[Anna Rogstad]] 1914<ref name="auto2"/> |
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*[[Francis Hagerup]] 1914<ref name="auto2"/> |
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*Alette Ottesen 1919<ref>''[[Nylænde]]'' 1919 p. 374</ref> |
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*[[Harriet Backer]] 1920<ref>''[[Nylænde]]'' 1921 p. 4</ref> |
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*[[Anna Bugge]] 1922<ref>''[[Nylænde]]'' 1922 p. 369–372</ref> |
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*[[Randi Blehr]] 1923<ref>''[[Nylænde]]'' 1923 p. 373</ref> |
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*[[Otto Blehr]] 1924<ref name="auto">''[[Nylænde]]'' 1925 p. 8</ref> |
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*[[Edvard Isak Hambro Bull]] 1924<ref name="auto"/> |
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*[[Dorothea Schjoldager]] 1924<ref>''[[Nylænde]]'' 1925 s. 8</ref> |
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*[[Aadel Lampe]] 1926<ref>''[[Nylænde]]'' 1926 p. 83</ref> |
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*[[Betzy Kjelsberg]] 1931 |
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*[[Fredrikke Mørck]] 1934 |
*[[Fredrikke Mørck]] 1934 |
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*[[Katti Anker Møller]] 1939 |
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*[[Margarete Bonnevie]] |
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*[[Margarete Bonnevie]] 1946 |
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*[[Dakky Kiær]] 1954 |
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*[[Signe Swensson]] 1954 |
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*[[Eva Kolstad]] |
*[[Eva Kolstad]] |
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*[[Ebba Haslund]] 1995 |
*[[Ebba Haslund]] 1995 |
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*[[Berit Ås]] 2009 |
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*{{ill|Aslaug Moksnes|no}} 2013 |
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*[[Torild Skard]] 2014 |
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*[[Gro Harlem Brundtland]] (2016)<ref>{{cite web |url= http://kvinnesak.no/gro-harlem-brundtland-utnevnt-til-aeresmedlem-av-norsk-kvinnesaksforening |title= Gro Harlem Brundtland utnevnt til æresmedlem av Norsk Kvinnesaksforening |date=21 May 2016 |publisher= Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |access-date= 21 May 2016 }}</ref> |
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*[[Helga Hernes]] (2018)<ref>{{cite web |url= http://kvinnesak.no/2018/06/helga-hernes-aeresmedlem-i-nkf/ |title= Helga Hernes æresmedlem i NKF |date=12 June 2018 |publisher= Norwegian Association for Women's Rights |access-date= 12 June 2018 }}</ref> |
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{{div col end}} |
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===Gina Krog Prize=== |
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Since 2009, the association has awarded the Gina Krog Prize, named after its founder [[Gina Krog]]. The prize has been awarded to |
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*Historians [[Ida Blom]], [[Gro Hagemann]], [[Elisabeth Lønnå]], {{ill|Aslaug Moksnes|no}} and [[Elisabeth Aasen]] (2009) |
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*Filmmaker [[Anja Breien]] (2010) |
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*[[Tove Smaadahl]] (2012) |
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*[[Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl]] (2014) |
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*[[Amal Aden]] (2016) |
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*Nancy Herz, Sofia Nesrine Srour and Amina Bile (2018) |
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*[[Anne Hellum]] (2020) |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Literature== |
==Literature== |
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*Aslaug Moksnes. ''Likestilling eller særstilling? Norsk kvinnesaksforening |
*Aslaug Moksnes (1984). ''[http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008060304067 Likestilling eller særstilling? Norsk kvinnesaksforening 1884–1913]'', [[Gyldendal Norsk Forlag]], 296 pages, ISBN 82-05-15356-6 |
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*Elisabeth |
*Elisabeth Lønnå (1996). ''[http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008073000077 Stolthet og kvinnekamp: Norsk kvinnesaksforenings historie fra 1913]'', [[Gyldendal Norsk Forlag]], 341 pages, ISBN 8205244952 |
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*''[http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008042204066 Norsk kvinnesaksforening gjennom 65 år: 1884–1949]'', 1950 |
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*[[Dakky Kiær]] (1978). ''[http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2014040408304 Norsk kvinnesaksforening i 1930-årene: med tilbakeblikk på tidligere virke og streiflys frem til 1977]'' |
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*Alette Ottesen (1909). ''Beretning om Norsk kvindesagsforenings 25 aarige virksomhet: 28de juni 1884–28de juni 1909'', Norsk Kvindesagsforening, 1909, 16 pages. |
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*''[http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2015072308179 Norske kvinder: en oversigt over deres stilling og livsvilkaar i hundredeaaret 1814–1914]'' (1914), pp. 75–81 |
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*[[Anna Caspari Agerholt]] (1937). ''[http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008041500046 Den norske kvinnebevegelses historie]''. Oslo: [[Gyldendal Norsk Forlag]]. |
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*Norum, Jorun Margrethe Stangnæs (1971). ''[http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018042348088 Kvinner i organisasjoner på 1800-tallet: fra 'Skuld' til 'Norsk Kvindesagsforening']''. Oslo. |
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*''[http://kvinnesak.no/nylaende/ Nylænde]'' (periodical, 1887–1927) |
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*''[https://kvinnesak.no/kvinnesaksnytt/ Kvinnesaksnytt]'' (periodical, 1950–2016) |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*{{official website}} |
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* [http://www.kvinnesak.no Homepage] |
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{{Liberal feminism}} |
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{{portalbar|Norway}} |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Norwegian Association for Women's Rights| ]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Liberal feminist organizations]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:First-wave feminism]] |
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[[Category:Women's rights]] |
[[Category:Women's rights organizations]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Feminist organisations in Norway]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Organizations established in 1884]] |
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[[Category:1884 establishments in Norway]] |
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[[no:Norsk Kvinnesaksforening]] |
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[[Category:Voter rights and suffrage organizations]] |
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[[Category:Women's suffrage in Norway]] |
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[[Category:Women in Oslo]] |
Latest revision as of 14:42, 12 November 2024
Founded | 28 June 1884 |
---|---|
Founders | Gina Krog and Hagbart Berner |
Focus | Gender equality |
Headquarters | Majorstuen, Oslo |
Methods | Law reform, political advocacy |
President | Anne Hege Grung |
Affiliations | International Alliance of Women |
Website | kvinnesak |
The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (Norwegian: Norsk Kvinnesaksforening; NKF) is Norway's oldest and preeminent women's and girls' rights organization that works "to promote gender equality and all women's and girls' human rights through political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy."[1][2][3] Founded in 1884, NKF is Norway's second oldest 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 Gina Krog and Hagbart Berner by 171 prominent women and men of the progressive liberal establishment, including five Norwegian Prime Ministers, and was modeled after the predecessors of the League 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 Norwegian bourgeois-liberal women's rights movement and historically associated with the Liberal Party, NKF is today a big tent coalition with members from the centre-left to the 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 first-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 of state feminism. In foreign policy NKF has a liberal internationalist outlook and generally supports Norwegian official foreign policy. Starting with the presidency of Eva Kolstad, from 1956, NKF focused strongly on the United Nations, and NKF members have been appointed to key UN bodies including UNCSW and the CEDAW Committee; the CEDAW convention remains an important focus of NKF. NKF is a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW), which has general consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and participatory status with the Council of Europe, and is also generally considered as a sister organization of the National Organization for Women. NKF's logo is a stylized sunflower, adopted in 1894, based on the model of the liberal American suffrage movement.
History
[edit]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 Gina Krog and liberal 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 Liberal 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 novelist Alexander Kielland. Three of the first Presidents of the organization, Anna Stang, Randi Blehr, and Fredrikke 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 by Camilla Collett in 1874), 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 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 women's suffrage (achieved in 1913), the right to work (in the 1930s), abolishment of the common taxing for spouses (the 1950s), right to 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 Norwegian Women's Public Health Association (Norwegian: Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening), a 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 Eva 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 the United 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 the Liberal Party, and then the world's first Gender Equality Ombud. During the 1970s and 1980s, the lawyers Karin M. Bruzelius and Sigrun Hoel led the organization. Bruzelius became the first woman to head a government ministry as 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 TV-aksjonen campaign to raise funds for "Women in the Third World", and NKF co-founded the campaign's successor Forum for Women and Development in 1995. During the presidency of diplomat and psychologist Torild Skard (2006–2013), the former Chairman of UNICEF, NKF renewed its focus on the United Nations, and NKF initiated the establishment of the Norwegian Women's Lobby, the umbrella organization of the Norwegian women's movement. Skard was succeeded as President by Professor Margunn Bjørnholt in 2013, by the Norwegian Parliament's First Vice President Marit Nybakk in 2016, by Supreme Court Justice 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 non-partisan and broadly representative of the democratic political spectrum from the centre-left to the 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
[edit]The United Nations has been a major focus of NKF since the presidency of Eva Kolstad starting in 1956. NKF is a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW), having inherited the founding membership of its de facto subsidiary, the National Association for Women's Suffrage. IAW was the fourth organization to receive general consultative status with the United 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 the Icelandic Women's Rights Association, the Danish Women's Society, the Fredrika Bremer Association, the Deutscher Frauenring and the All India Women's Conference. Several NKF members have served on the IAW international board, notably including NKF presidents Margarete Bonnevie, Eva Kolstad, Clara Ottesen, 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
[edit]Basic vision: Gender equality
[edit]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 main bourgois-liberal women's rights organization in Norway and applies a human rights approach to its work for gender equality. Today NKF stands for an inclusive, intersectional and progressive liberal feminism and works "to promote gender equality and women's and girls' human rights through political and 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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]Equal education, working life and economic justice is the second traditional core focus of NKF.
Foreign policy
[edit]NKF's main focus in foreign policy is the strengthening of women's rights. NKF has a strong focus on the United Nations system. NKF played a key role in the development of women-focused development projects and initiated the establishment of what became the Forum for Women and Development. NKF is generally supportive of Norwegian official foreign policy, and in line with its liberal feminist political platform and bourgeois origins, the association maintained a pro-Western stance throughout the Cold War. NKF has never been pacifist; NKF founded the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association, originally intended as an affiliate of the Norwegian Red Cross that aimed to support the Norwegian military in a potential conflict with Sweden during the dissolution 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 as Norwegian membership in the European Union.[14] Clara Ottesen, the NKF President during the membership debate, was herself a member of the executive board of 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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]NKF is part of the liberal women's rights movement and thus shares the mainstream feminist position on LGBT+ rights. NKF views LGBT+ rights as an integral part of feminism and the human rights framework NKF's work is based on, and opposes discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all areas, including homophobia and transphobia.[29][1] NKF has always viewed itself as inclusive and non-discriminatory. Then-President Eva 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 of gay 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 more intersectional approach.[1][33] This is in line with developments in human rights law; for example, law professor, 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
[edit]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 titled Statsministerinde ("Madam Prime Minister") | Liberal | |
3 | Ragna Nielsen | 1886–1888 | Teacher, headmistress and liberal politician, also President of Riksmålsforbundet | Liberal | |
4 | Anna Bugge | 1888–1889 | Lawyer and diplomat | Liberal | |
5 | 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 | 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 | 1926–1930 | Teacher and editor | Liberal | |
11 | 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 first Gender 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 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 | 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 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 | 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 | 2013–2016 | Professor of Sociology | Greens | |
31 | 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 | Karin M. Bruzelius | 2018–2020 | Supreme Court Justice | ||
33 | Anne Hege Grung | 2020– | Professor of Theology |
Symbols
[edit]NKF's logo is a stylized 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
[edit]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 Kvinnesaksnytt (Women's Rights News) that included news and analysis of Norwegian and international women's rights issues. The editors of Kvinnesaksnytt included Ingerid Gjøstein Resi, Marit Aarum, Eva Kolstad, Kari Skjønsberg, Karin M. Bruzelius, Torild Skard and Margunn Bjørnholt.[41]
Awards
[edit]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
[edit]- Camilla Collett 1884
- August Thorvald Deinboll 1896[42]
- Aasta Hansteen 1906[43]
- Gina Krog 1909[44]
- Hagbart Berner 1909[44]
- Amalie Hansen 1913[45]
- Ragna Nielsen 1914[46]
- Fredrikke Marie Qvam 1914[46]
- Thora Storm 1914[46]
- Anna Rogstad 1914[46]
- Francis Hagerup 1914[46]
- Alette Ottesen 1919[47]
- Harriet Backer 1920[48]
- Anna Bugge 1922[49]
- Randi Blehr 1923[50]
- Otto Blehr 1924[51]
- Edvard Isak Hambro Bull 1924[51]
- Dorothea Schjoldager 1924[52]
- Aadel Lampe 1926[53]
- Betzy Kjelsberg 1931
- Fredrikke Mørck 1934
- Katti Anker Møller 1939
- Margarete Bonnevie 1946
- Dakky Kiær 1954
- Signe Swensson 1954
- Eva Kolstad
- Ebba Haslund 1995
- Berit Ås 2009
- Aslaug Moksnes 2013
- Torild Skard 2014
- Gro Harlem Brundtland (2016)[54]
- Helga Hernes (2018)[55]
Gina Krog Prize
[edit]Since 2009, the association has awarded the Gina Krog Prize, named after its founder Gina Krog. The prize has been awarded to
- Historians Ida Blom, Gro Hagemann, Elisabeth Lønnå, Aslaug Moksnes and Elisabeth Aasen (2009)
- Filmmaker Anja Breien (2010)
- Tove Smaadahl (2012)
- Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl (2014)
- Amal Aden (2016)
- Nancy Herz, Sofia Nesrine Srour and Amina Bile (2018)
- Anne Hellum (2020)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Norwegian Association for Women's Rights". Archived from the original on 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
- ^ "Norsk Kvinnesaksforening". Archived from the original on 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
- ^ a b c d e "Hvem vi er". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
- ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 273
- ^ Moksnes (1984) p. 52
- ^ Moksnes (1984) p. 33ff
- ^ Moksnes 1984 p. 33
- ^ Holst, Cathrine (2017). Hva er feminisme. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. p. 42. ISBN 9788215029832.
- ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 18
- ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 147
- ^ Høyesterettsdommer ny leder i Norsk Kvinnesaksforening, Norwegian News Agency
- ^ Elisabeth Lønnå: Stolthet og kvinnekamp: Norsk kvinnesaksforenings historie fra 1913 (pp. 228–229), Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1996, ISBN 8205244952
- ^ "Kvinnesak i 100 år". Aftenposten. 1984-06-28. p. 4.
- ^ a b c d Lønnå (1996) p. 250
- ^ "Adresseavisen". 8 March 1980. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Norsk Kvinnesaksforening". Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "International Alliance of Women". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Morgenbladet". 25 March 1946.
- ^ a b "Dagbladet". 25 March 1946.
- ^ a b "About us". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
- ^ "Norwegian Association for Women's Rights". Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- ^ "Velger nye veier". Klassekampen. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ Ottesen, Clara (1972). "Likestilling – en menneskerettighet" [Gender equality – a human right]. Samtiden: 223–225.
- ^ Moksnes, Aslaug. "Likestilling versus særstilling". Kvinnesaksnytt. 58 (1): 3.
- ^ "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
- ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 241
- ^ Alan Soble, Sex from Plato to Paglia, bd. A-L, s. 336, 2006
- ^ A War Over Sex Work is Raging Inside The Nation’s Biggest Feminist Group
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Eva Kolstad". Skeivt arkiv. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
- ^ Lønnå (1996) p. 276–277
- ^ Isern, Gerd (31 December 1975). "Mennene er blitt likestillingsbevisste". Adresseavisen. p. 15.
- ^ "Felleslov for likestilling og diskriminering". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Anne Hellum (2022-02-23). "Hvem har rettslig status som kvinne?". Vårt Land. Archived from the original on 2022-02-23.
- ^ "Transfeminism and the Women's Movement". Icelandic Women's Rights Association. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
- ^ "Antifeminisme og anti-gender bevegelsen: en trussel mot kvinners og seksuelle minoriteters rettigheter". NKF. Archived from the original on 2022-08-03.
- ^ "Trans Inclusion in the Women's Movement". Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ Solsikken symboliserer våre røtter i den første bølgen av feminisme. Norwegian Association for Women's Rights
- ^ Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Nylænde". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
- ^ "Gina Krog og Nylænde". National Library of Norway. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- ^ "Kvinnesaksnytt". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- ^ Dagbladet 31 May 1896; cf. Nylænde 1897 p. 183 and 1900 p. 146
- ^ Nylænde 1907 p. 137
- ^ a b Nylænde 1909 p. 373
- ^ Nylænde 1914 p. 26
- ^ a b c d e Nylænde 1914 p. 233
- ^ Nylænde 1919 p. 374
- ^ Nylænde 1921 p. 4
- ^ Nylænde 1922 p. 369–372
- ^ Nylænde 1923 p. 373
- ^ a b Nylænde 1925 p. 8
- ^ Nylænde 1925 s. 8
- ^ Nylænde 1926 p. 83
- ^ "Gro Harlem Brundtland utnevnt til æresmedlem av Norsk Kvinnesaksforening". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- ^ "Helga Hernes æresmedlem i NKF". Norwegian Association for Women's Rights. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
Literature
[edit]- Aslaug Moksnes (1984). Likestilling eller særstilling? Norsk kvinnesaksforening 1884–1913, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 296 pages, ISBN 82-05-15356-6
- Elisabeth Lønnå (1996). Stolthet og kvinnekamp: Norsk kvinnesaksforenings historie fra 1913, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 341 pages, ISBN 8205244952
- Norsk kvinnesaksforening gjennom 65 år: 1884–1949, 1950
- Dakky Kiær (1978). Norsk kvinnesaksforening i 1930-årene: med tilbakeblikk på tidligere virke og streiflys frem til 1977
- Alette Ottesen (1909). Beretning om Norsk kvindesagsforenings 25 aarige virksomhet: 28de juni 1884–28de juni 1909, Norsk Kvindesagsforening, 1909, 16 pages.
- Norske kvinder: en oversigt over deres stilling og livsvilkaar i hundredeaaret 1814–1914 (1914), pp. 75–81
- Anna Caspari Agerholt (1937). Den norske kvinnebevegelses historie. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.
- Norum, Jorun Margrethe Stangnæs (1971). Kvinner i organisasjoner på 1800-tallet: fra 'Skuld' til 'Norsk Kvindesagsforening'. Oslo.
- Nylænde (periodical, 1887–1927)
- Kvinnesaksnytt (periodical, 1950–2016)