Swedish Women’s Lobby vs. transgender people
The Swedish Women’s Lobby [Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer] is an anti-transgender organization based in Sweden. It is part of the global “gender critical” movement.
Background
Swedish Women’s Lobby (SWL) was established in 1997 as an umbrella organization to unite the Swedish women’s movement and strengthen advocacy for women’s rights at national, European, and international levels.
In 2007, SWL became the official Swedish coordination body for the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), the largest umbrella organization of women’s associations in the European Union.
Throughout the 2010s, SWL increased its visibility and policy impact. In 2014, it played a key role in promoting Sweden’s self-declared “feminist foreign policy” [feministisk utrikespolitik], aligning with the government’s commitment to integrating sex-based equality into international relations. Around this period, the Lobby also intensified its work on issues such as prostitution policy, economic inequality, and violence against women, often referencing Sweden’s longstanding “Nordic Model” approach. Following a change in government in 2022, Sweden formally abandoned the term “feminist foreign policy.”
In 2018, SWL launched initiatives addressing the digital dimension of gender-based violence. By the early 2020s, SWL had further expanded its focus to include emerging issues such as AI-driven exploitation, pornography policy debates, and the global backlash against women’s rights.
From 2022 onward, SWL became increasingly active in transnational advocacy, co-signing international letters and campaigns addressing violence against women, including digital exploitation and human trafficking.
Anti-trans activism
Since the late 2010s, amid evolving debates in Sweden and across Europe about sex, gender identity, and women’s rights, SWL has been increasingly associated with gender critical” positions.
Around 2018 to 2020, as discussions on legal gender recognition and proposed reforms to Sweden’s Gender Recognition Act intensified, the organization began voicing concerns about the potential impact of self-identification policies on sex-based rights. SWL promoted maintaining legal and statistical categories based on biological sex, particularly in areas such as data collection, single-sex services, and protections against male violence.
By the early 2020s, SWL began formally organizing with international networks expressing similar concerns. Through its role in the European Women’s Lobby, it contributed to broader European-level discussions about “safeguarding” sex-based rights frameworks. In 2022 to 2024, SWL’s positions became more strident under President Susannah Sjöberg. SWL published reports, policy submissions, and co-signed statements addressing issues such as sex-segregated competitive sports, access to single-sex spaces, and the implications of gender identity in law and policy.
In 2025, under President Hanna Carlsson Kota, SWL was instumental in creating Women’s Platform for Action International (WoPAI), with overlapping people in both groups.
People
Presidents
- Gunvor Ngarambe 1997–2009
- Gertrud Åström 2009–2015
- Clara Berglund 2015–2016
- Anna Giotas Sandquist 2016–2022
- Susannah Sjöberg 2022–2024
- Hanna Carlsson Kota 2025–
Board
- Gita Rajan
- Hanna Stenström
- Hanna Carlsson
- Louise Elemalm
- Maja Ahrman
- Malin Malmström
- Stephanie Thögersen
- Tanja Olsson-Blandy
Vice Chair
- Ann-Sofie Lagercrantz
References
Crimaldi, Elena (December 2, 2025). The fracturing of European feminism: How TERF ideology threatens decades of progress. Feministeerium https://feministeerium.ee/en/the-fracturing-of-european-feminism-how-terf-ideology-threatens-decades-of-progress/
Gunnarsson, Hanna (March 13, 2025). Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer visar sitt sanna ansikte. Feministiskt Perspektiv https://fempers.se/2025/11/sveriges-kvinnoorganisationer-visar-sitt-sanna-ansikte/
Karlberg, Eva; Korolczuk, Elżbieta; Sältenberg, Hansalbin (2025). Insidious de-democratization: Conceptualizing anti-gender politics in Sweden. Journal of Gender Studies. 34 (1): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2024.2446345
Grahn, Michal; Holm, Malin (2025). Trans inclusive no more? Allies and adversaries of gender self-identification in Sweden. European Journal of Politics and Gender. 8 (1): 234–241. https://doi.org/10.1332/25151088Y2024D000000052
Alm, Erika; Engebretsen, Elisabeth Lund (2020). Gender Self-identification. Lambda Nordica. 25 (1): 48–56. https://doi.org/10.34041/ln.v25.613
Resources
RationalWiki (rationalwiki.org)
- Swedish Women’s Lobby
- Women’s Platform for Action International
- MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls
Swedish Women’s Lobby (sverigeskvinnoorganisationer.se)
- MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls
- sverigeskvinnoorganisationer.se/moteris-blogpost-mens-digital-violence-against-women-and-girls
Wikipedia (sv.wikipedia.org)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
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