Norwegian Association for Women's Rights facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Norwegian Association for Women's Rights

NKF's offices in Majorstuen, Oslo
Founded	28 June 1884; 140 years ago (1884-06-28)
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

The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (Norwegian: Norsk Kvinnesaksforening; NKF) is Norway's oldest and most important organization for the rights of women and girls. It works to make sure everyone has gender equality and that all women's and girls' human rights are respected. They do this by changing laws and influencing politics in a democratic way.

NKF was started in 1884, making it Norway's second oldest political group. It welcomes everyone, no matter their gender, and believes in a type of liberal feminism that includes different groups and ideas. The main office is in Majorstuen, Oslo, and there are local groups in bigger cities. NKF has been very important in creating all the main laws and changes for gender equality in Norway since 1884.

Gina Krog and Hagbart Berner started NKF with 171 important people, including five future Norwegian Prime Ministers. The group was inspired by similar organizations in the U.S. From the beginning, NKF worked to bring women into politics. It has always been Norway's most important mainstream feminist organization.

NKF has successfully fought for women's right to education, the right to vote, and the right to work. They also helped create the 1978 Gender Equality Act and the Gender Equality Ombud. Thanks to NKF and its partners, Norway was the first independent country to give women the right to vote in 1913. NKF also started the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association.

NKF focuses on changing laws and policies. This is why many lawyers and academics have joined the group. NKF members have played key roles in setting up government groups and laws about gender equality in Norway. In the 1970s, the Norwegian government even adopted NKF's ideas about equality. NKF also supports international cooperation, especially with the United Nations. NKF is part of the International Alliance of Women (IAW), which works with the UN. NKF's logo is a stylized sunflower, chosen in 1894, inspired by the American women's voting rights movement.

History of NKF

NKF's founder Gina Krog, a politician who led the fight for women's right to vote in Norway.

The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights was founded in 1884. It was started by 171 important Norwegians, led by Gina Krog, a politician and women's rights pioneer, and Hagbart Berner, a Member of Parliament. The organization was inspired by the American National Woman Suffrage Association. Among the founders were 87 men and 84 women, many of whom were well-known public figures.

From the start, NKF was closely linked to the Liberal Party. Its founders included five Norwegian Prime Ministers and many leaders of the Liberal Party. The first Presidents of NKF, Anna Stang, Randi Blehr, and Fredrikke Marie Qvam, were all wives of Norwegian Prime Ministers. NKF grew from groups connected to Norway's political leaders and liberal newspapers. Membership has always been open to both women and men.

NKF's first President (1884–85) Hagbart Berner, a lawyer and Member of Parliament.

NKF has traditionally been the main organization for women's rights in Norway that focuses on liberal ideas. They fought for women's basic freedoms and rights, such as freedom of speech, the right to vote, and the right to work. They also worked for women to have access to education and jobs. In short, they wanted women to have the same freedoms and rights as men.

Some of the important things NKF has worked for include:

• Women's suffrage (the right to vote), which was achieved in 1913.
• The right to work in the 1930s.
• Ending unfair taxes for married couples in the 1950s.
• The right to equal schooling in the 1960s.
• Setting up the Gender Equality Council in 1972.
• Creating the Gender Equality Ombud in 1978.
• Passing the Gender Equality Act in 1979.

Many NKF members helped create the government groups and laws related to gender equality in Norway. NKF also helped start the National Association for Women's Suffrage and the Norwegian National Women's Council. NKF became a founding member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) in 1937.

The association also started the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association, which became Norway's largest women's organization. NKF was traditionally the most important group for the liberal women's movement in Norway. While it used to be mostly liberal women from the upper and educated middle class, many Labour Party politicians joined NKF after World War II. Today, NKF is a non-political party organization.

In 1936, NKF's main goal was "women's full equality with men in the state and society." They worked to influence laws, cooperate with the government, and shape public opinion.

During Eva Kolstad's time as president (1956–1968), NKF became very involved in international work through the United Nations. Kolstad later became a government minister and Norway's first Gender Equality Ombud. In the 1970s and 1980s, lawyers Karin M. Bruzelius and Sigrun Hoel led the organization. Bruzelius later became a Supreme Court Justice.

In the early 1980s, NKF ran a government-funded campaign called "Women and the election." In the late 1980s, NKF started a TV campaign to raise money for "Women in the Third World." NKF also helped create the Forum for Women and Development in 1995. More recently, under the leadership of Torild Skard (2006–2013), NKF focused again on the United Nations. NKF also helped create the Norwegian Women's Lobby, which is a main group for women's organizations in Norway.

NKF's offices are now in Majorstuveien 39 in central Oslo.

NKF is known for its calm and organized approach. It focuses on working with the government and on legal issues. Many of its members are lawyers and academics. NKF prefers professional lobbying over grassroots activism. By 1970, NKF was seen as a respected organization with clear goals and a strong network. It spent most of its efforts on working with government bodies in a professional way. NKF was strengthened in the 1980s, while many new feminist groups struggled. The government saw NKF as its main partner in promoting gender equality.

NKF has always used the term kvinnesak, which means women's rights, to describe its work. This term has always been linked to the liberal women's rights movement in Norway. NKF sees women's rights and the fight for gender equality as the same thing. While NKF was careful about using the word "feminism" in 1980, it accepted the term later as it became more common. Today, NKF's approach is known as liberal feminism. NKF works for the interests of all those who identify as women and girls.

NKF is not tied to any single political party. Its members come from different political backgrounds, from the centre-left to the centre-right. NKF tries to find common ground and speak for most women and girls. It believes that working across political lines is the best way to achieve practical results for women's rights.

International Work and Partnerships

The United Nations has been a big focus for NKF since Eva Kolstad became president in 1956. NKF is a member of the International Alliance of Women (IAW). IAW was one of the first organizations to work closely with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1947. In its international work, NKF works with similar groups in the IAW family, like the Icelandic Women's Rights Association and the Danish Women's Society. Several NKF members have served on the IAW international board. NKF was also a founding member of the Joint Organization of Nordic Women's Rights Associations in 1916.

What NKF Believes In

Working for Gender Equality

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

—NKF

Margarete Bonnevie (NKF President 1936–1946) said NKF aims to "set out the main policy objectives and seek to get the government, parliament and local government bodies to implement the reforms that are required."

NKF is a main organization for liberal women's rights in Norway. It uses a human rights approach in its work for gender equality. Today, NKF supports an inclusive and progressive liberal feminism. It works "to promote gender equality and women's and girls' human rights by changing laws and policies within a democratic system." NKF calls itself "an inclusive and non-partisan feminist organization made up of women and men who champion the rights of all girls and women."

NKF mainly focuses on women's political, legal, and human rights. It works to remove attitudes, laws, and rules that are unfair to women and girls and that prevent gender equality.

Margarete Bonnevie, a former NKF President, said that NKF works for solutions that are best for all women and society. She said NKF should "be the captain who keeps a steady course" in the fight for equality. NKF sees itself as a leader in the women's movement and the fight for equality in Norway. NKF believes that gender equality is a human right and that women's rights are the same as human rights for everyone.

Main Goals

NKF works for the human rights of all girls and women and for a gender equal society. NKF's main goals include:

• Women’s political rights.
• Equal rights in law.
• More women in politics.
• Gender equality in education, jobs, and economic justice.
• Stopping violence against girls and women.
• Making sure women's perspectives are included in foreign, security, and development plans.

Political Rights and Representation

Making sure women have political rights, equal legal rights, and are represented in politics is NKF's most important traditional focus.

Equal Education and Work

Equal education, working life, and economic fairness are NKF's second main traditional focus.

Foreign Policy Focus

In foreign policy, NKF mainly focuses on strengthening women's rights. NKF pays close attention to the United Nations system. NKF helped start projects that focused on women in development and created what became the Forum for Women and Development. NKF generally supports Norway's official foreign policy. NKF has always been non-pacifist. For example, NKF founded the Norwegian Women's Public Health Association to support the Norwegian military in 1905. NKF's non-political party position means it often stays neutral on issues not related to gender equality.

Leaders of NKF

The president of NKF is the highest national leader. They lead the national board and the executive board. Here are some of NKF's presidents:

No	Image	Name	Years in Office	Background	Political Party
1		Hagbart Berner	1884–1885	Lawyer and Member of Parliament	Liberal
2		Anna Stang	1885–1886	Teacher, wife of a Prime Minister	Liberal
3		Ragna Nielsen	1886–1888	Teacher and headmistress	Liberal
4		Anna Bugge	1888–1889	Lawyer and diplomat	Liberal
5		Ragna Nielsen	1889–1895	Teacher and headmistress	Liberal
6		Randi Blehr	1895–1899	Humanitarian leader, wife of a Prime Minister	Liberal
7		Fredrikke Marie Qvam	1899–1903	Humanitarian leader, wife of a Prime Minister	Liberal
8		Randi Blehr	1903–1922	Humanitarian leader, wife of a Prime Minister	Liberal
9		Aadel Lampe	1922–1926	Teacher and politician	Free-Minded Liberal
10		Fredrikke Mørck	1926–1930	Teacher and editor	Liberal
11		Anna Hvoslef	1930–1935	Journalist	Conservative
12		Kitty Bugge	1935–1936	Union leader	Liberal
13		Margarete Bonnevie	1936–1946	Writer and politician	Liberal
14		Dakky Kiær	1946–1952	Headmistress and politician	Liberal
15		Ingerid Gjøstein Resi	1952–1955	Linguist and politician	Liberal
16		Marit Aarum	1955–1956	Economist and civil servant	Liberal
17		Signe Swensson	1956	Doctor and Member of Parliament	Conservative
18		Eva Kolstad	1956–1968	Cabinet minister, Liberal Party leader, first Gender Equality Ombud	Liberal
19		Clara Ottesen	1968–1972	Economist and civil servant	Liberal
20		Kari Skjønsberg	1972–1978	Literature professor 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 and civil servant	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)
27		Siri Hangeland	1998–2004	Lecturer	SV
28		Berit Kvæven	2004–2006	Chief engineer, former Vice President of the Liberal Party	Liberal
29		Torild Skard	2006–2013	Senior Researcher, former Member of Parliament, former 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	Labour
32		Karin M. Bruzelius	2018–2020	Supreme Court Justice
33		Anne Hege Grung	2020–	Professor of Theology

Symbols of NKF

The logo of Nylænde (used 1901–1907), NKF's journal.

NKF's logo is a stylized sunflower. It was chosen in 1894, inspired by the American women's voting rights movement. By the late 1800s, the sunflower had become a global symbol for women's right to vote. The logo was also used for NKF's journal, Nylænde, which was edited by Gina Krog. NKF says the sunflower shows its "roots in the first wave of feminism and our systematic work since 1884 to promote gender equality through positive political changes within a democratic system."

Awards and Honors

NKF's highest honor is its honorary membership. The first person to receive this was Camilla Collett in 1884. Since 2009, NKF also gives out the Gina Krog Prize, named after its founder.

Honorary Members

Gina Krog Prize Winners

Since 2009, the Gina Krog Prize has been given out. It is named after NKF's founder, Gina Krog. The prize has been awarded to:

• Historians Ida Blom, Gro Hagemann, Elisabeth Lønnå, Aslaug Moksnes [no] 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)

Images for kids

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  NKF's offices in Majorstuen, Oslo

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  NKF's logo

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  NKF's founder Gina Krog

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  NKF's first President Hagbart Berner

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  Margarete Bonnevie, NKF President 1936–1946

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  Masthead of Nylænde (version used 1901–1907)

See also

In Spanish: Asociación Noruega por los Derechos de las Mujeres para niños