Kvinneaktivistene

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Kvinneaktivistene (lit. 'Women Activists') is a Norwegian gender-critical/trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) group that opposes transgender rights, and that has been described as transphobic.[1] Members have opined that they consider trans women to be "men" and "pervos"[2] and have complained that they have faced backlash for expressing such views.[3] The group is closely associated with the Norwegian chapter of Women's Declaration International (WDI). It has had a presentation cancelled by an Oslo events venue, Kulturhuset, due to its anti-trans views; Kulturhuset cited the group's bylaws that explicitly exclude transgender women and said the group is transphobic.[1][4][5] It is considered part of the broader anti-gender movement in Norway. In 2024 Benedicte Alnæs, who has been both chair of WDI Norway and a spokesperson for Kvinneaktivistene,[3] reported the leader (until 2024) of the Women's Group Ottar in Oslo to the police for hate speech after the Ottar representative had called her a "Zionist pig" due to her views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[6]

History[edit]

It is a breakaway group from the Women's Group Ottar, itself with roots in the Women's Front. The Women's Front had roots in the Maoist Workers' Communist Party. Historically, the name Kvinneaktivistene was used for a 1991 breakaway group from the Women's Front, that then became the Bergen chapter of the Women's Group Ottar. In the 2000s, transgender people became a significant point of contention within Ottar, who at times have promoted some gender-critical beliefs, but more hardline anti-trans activists were disappointed that Ottar refused to campaign against gender self-identification or make the struggle against transgender people a priority, accusing Ottar of being complicit in what they refer to as "gender ideology."[7] As a result, multiple splinter groups from Ottar and partially from the Women's Front were formed, including overlapping groups Women's Declaration International and Kvinneaktivistene. Kvinneaktivistene adopted the former name of the Bergen branch of Ottar.

Kvinneaktivistene and the Norwegian branch of Women's Declaration International (WDI)—which is regarded as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center[8][9]—share many of the same positions and members, and both have their origins in Ottar and the Women's Front. For example, Kvinneaktivistene member/spokesperson[3] and former WDI Norway chair (2023–2024) Benedicte Alnæs, has written that trans women are "men" and "pervos."[2] On behalf of Kvinneaktivistene, Benedicte Alnæs, Tina Skotnes and Cathrine Ude wrote an article in Klassekampen that complained that they had faced backlash for expressing such views.[3] Skotnes and Ude have also signed the WDI anti-trans manifesto.[10] According to the letter, Kvinneaktivistene exclusively consists of women who have faced what they described as a "witch-hunt" over their views.[3]

In 2023 cultural events venue Kulturhuset cancelled a planned event that Kvinneaktivistene had rented the venue for, with the rationale that Kvinneaktivistene is a transphobic group with bylaws that deliberately exclude transgender women.[1][4][11] § 1 in Kvinneaktivistene's bylaws states that "by women we mean women."[5] The event promoted the detransition narrative, that has been noted as being weaponized by anti-trans groups.[12] Kvinneaktivistene has stated that "we are women, not transphobic."[13]

Kvinneaktivistene has participated in the anti-trans FiLiA conference,[14] which is closely linked to Women's Declaration International (WDI) and which is described as one of "the most important 'gender critical' groups" alongside WDI.[15] On Twitter the group has promoted content from anonymous anti-trans accounts (e.g. "Sappfo") that have been analyzed in academic literature as key actors in the Norwegian anti-gender movement.[16] Referring to some of the women active in WDI and Kvinneaktivistene, the leader of the Women's Front called them "transphobes, racists and sexists" and said that "we strongly condemn them."[7]

The Extremism Commission's report cited sources that pointed to "the connections between radical feminism and Christian conservatism" in relation to anti-trans activism, noting that "these are groups and individuals who use violent and dehumanizing language and are also threatening and extremely active."[17] Feminist scholars have described these anti-gender movements operating in the name of radical feminism in the Norwegian context as part of a "complex threat to democracy."[16] In 2023 the University of Bergen's Centre for Women's and Gender Research hosted its annual debate on international women's day, that focused on the anti-gender movements in Norway, where panelists highlighted how anti-gender actors had managed to get a foothold in the radical feminist milieu in Oslo.[18] Gender studies scholar Janne Bromseth [no] argued that "the anti-gender movement has (...) shifted boundaries in the public debate in Norway in recent years," resulting in "a harsher climate of debate where primarily organized TERFs have been given space to set the agenda for the 'debate on gender' and the alleged threat of 'gender ideology' to the natural order."[19] In 2023, 2611 feminists, including Norway's minister of equality, called for a reckoning with transphobia, stating that "for a long time, trans women who speak out publicly have been subjected to harassment and abuse, often by those who misuse lesbian identity and feminism to justify their transphobia."[20] The leader of the Workers' Youth League, Astrid Hoem, emphasized that the left must take responsibility and confront transphobia within their ranks,[21] while Alberte Bekkhus, the leader of the Red Youth, said "if the women's movement allows transphobes in disguise as feminists, at the expense of trans women, it is working against its own cause."[22] The Norwegian Humanist Association has highlighted the "alarming unifying force of the increasing hatred and radicalization directed at transgender people" and promoted by self-identified radical feminists associated with groups such as WDI and Kvinneaktivistene.[23]

In 2024 Kvinneaktivistene activist Benedicte Alnæs reported the leader (until 2024) of the Women's Group Ottar in Oslo to the police for hate speech after the Ottar representative had called her a "Zionist pig" in a dispute over their views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[6][24]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Mener arrangøren er transfobisk" [Organizer accused of being transphobic]. Subjekt. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b Alnæs, Benedicte. "Mann er mann, pervo er pervo" [Man is man, pervo is pervo]. Matriarken. WDI/Kvinneaktivistene. Archived from the original on 2023-03-22.
  3. ^ a b c d e Benedicte Alnæs, Tina Skotnes and Cathrine Ude, on behalf of Kvinneaktivistene (2022-08-23). "Hva har vel kvinner å si om ytringsfrihet". Klassekampen. p. 23.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b "Kulturhuset stopper arrangement" [Kulturhuset cancels event]. VG. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Vedtekter". Kvinneaktivistene. Archived from the original on 2022-03-16. Retrieved 16 May 2024. § 1 (...) Med kvinner mener vi kvinner [§1 (...) By women we mean women]
  6. ^ a b "Feminist med jødisk bakgrunn kalt «sionistsvin» på 8. marsmøte" [Feminist with a Jewish background called 'Zionist pig' at 8 March meeting]. Dagen. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  7. ^ a b Kalvig, Anne (2023). Kjønnstru. Randaberg: Medvit. ISBN 9788230361368.
  8. ^ "Timeline: Building a Pseudoscience Network". Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience. Southern Poverty Law Center. 2023.
  9. ^ "Group dynamics and division of labor within the anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network". Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience. Southern Poverty Law Center. 2023. Table 5.2: Networked Groups by Typology [...] Narrative Manipulation: [...] Women's Declaration International
  10. ^ "Norske underskrifter". Women's Declaration International. Archived from the original on 2021-07-25. Retrieved 16 May 2024. Tina Skotnes [...] Cathrine Ude
  11. ^ "Skulle holde foredrag om anger etter kjønnsskifte". Dagen. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  12. ^ Falk, Misha (August 4, 2022). "Health Liberation Now! is challenging the way anti-trans groups weaponize detransition narratives". Xtra. Archived from the original on August 4, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  13. ^ "Vi er kvinner, men ikke transfobiske: Talspersoner for transbevegelsen viser nulltoleranse". BT. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Vi er på Filia 2023 i Glasgow!". Kvinneaktivistene. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  15. ^ Beck, Dorothee; Habed, Adriano José; Henninger, Annette. Blurring Boundaries – 'Anti-Gender' Ideology Meets Feminist and LGBTIQ+ Discourses. Verlag Barbara Budrich. p. 29. ISBN 9783847418573.
  16. ^ a b Engebretsen, Elisabeth L. (2022). "Scientizing Gender? An Examination of Anti-Gender Campaigns on Social Media, Norway". In Eslen-Ziya, H.; Giorgi, A. (eds.). Populism and Science in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 185–206. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-97535-7_9. ISBN 978-3-030-97534-0.
  17. ^ "NOU 2024: 3: Felles innsats mot ekstremisme". Government of Norway. 2024.
  18. ^ "Korleis påverkar den globale anti-gender-rørsla forsking og aktivisme i Noreg?". University of Bergen Centre for Women's and Gender Research. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  19. ^ Bromseth, Janne (2022-07-07). "'Nu följer ilskan mot medias ansvarslöshet'". Ottar. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12.
  20. ^ "2611 feminister mot transfobi". Blikk. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  21. ^ "AUF-leder: Venstresiden må ta oppgjør med transhat". VG. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Transdebatten: –⁠ Transfobi hindrer kvinnekampen". VG. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  23. ^ ""Trans-trusselen": – Det er ikke de utsatte minoritetsgruppene som skal ta kampen". Norwegian Humanist Association. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  24. ^ "Slik har politiet konkludert i «sionistsvin»-saken" [This is how the police concluded in the 'Zionist pig' affair]. Dagen. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
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