Norwegian Association for Women's Rights
| Formation | 1884 |
|---|---|
| Type | NGO |
President | Torild Skard |
Vice President | Margunn Bjørnholt |
| Affiliations | International Alliance of Women, FOKUS |
| Website | kvinnesak |
The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (Template:Lang-no, NKF) is a 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.
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 Ministers, 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 (Template:Lang-no) caused a split in the movement and Anna Bugge became the new leader. Historically, the organization was strongly associated with the Liberal Party; 22 liberal members of parliament signed a declaration of support for the organization on the occasion of its establishment.
The association also initiated the establishment of the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association (Template:Lang-no), a humanitarian organisation, which grew to become Norway's largest women's organisation with around 250,000 members at one point.
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 equal schooling (the 1960s), the establishment of the Council for Equality between the Sexes (Template:Lang-no) 1972, later replaced by the Centre for Equality between the Sexes (1977), later by the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud (2006).
The NAWR has co-operated with the National Association for Women's Suffrage (Template:Lang-no) 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.
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.
Presidents
Gina Krog Prize
Since 2009, the association has awarded the Gina Krog Prize, named after its co-founder and first Vice President 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)
Honorary members
- Camilla Collett 1884
- Aasta Hansteen 1904
- Aadel Lampe 1926
- Dorothea Schjoldager
- Fredrikke Mørck 1934
- Katti Anker Møller 1939
- Margarete Bonnevie
- Eva Kolstad
- Ebba Haslund 1995
Literature
- Aslaug Moksnes. Likestilling eller særstilling? Norsk kvinnesaksforening 1884-1913, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1984, 296 pages, ISBN 82-05-15356-6
- Elisabeth Lønna: Stolthet og kvinnekamp: Norsk kvinnesaksforenings historie fra 1913, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1996, 341 pages, ISBN 8205244952