Women’s Right to Vote in Norway
Women’s Day / June 11, (1913)
Women’s Right to Vote in Norway: Pioneering Gender Equality
Women in Norway achieved full and universal suffrage on June 11, 1913, when the Norwegian parliament (Storting) amended the constitution to grant all women equal voting rights with men. This milestone marked Norway as the fourth country in the world and the second independent European nation to introduce universal women’s suffrage, establishing it as an early leader in the global movement for women’s political rights.
The Path to Suffrage: A Gradual Approach
Norway’s journey to women’s suffrage was characterized by a step-by-step process spanning over two decades:
- 1885: The Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights was founded, beginning organized advocacy for voting rights.
- 1890: Women gained the right to participate in school boards and other local governing bodies.
- 1901: Limited municipal voting rights were granted to women who paid taxes or whose husbands paid taxes, representing approximately 40% of adult women.
- 1907: Women gained limited parliamentary suffrage using the same tax-based qualifications as municipal elections.
- June 11, 1913: Universal women’s suffrage was established, removing all economic restrictions and granting women equal voting rights with men.
The first national election in which all Norwegian women could participate was held in October 1915, with women making up approximately 50% of eligible voters.
Key Figures in Norway’s Suffrage Movement
Gina Krog (1847-1916)
As founder of the Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights (1885) and later the National Women’s Suffrage Association (1898), Krog was the dominant figure in the Norwegian suffrage movement. A skilled strategist and orator, she advocated for a gradual approach while never losing sight of the ultimate goal of universal suffrage.
Fredrikke Marie Qvam (1843-1938)
Leading the National Council of Women and the Norwegian Women’s Public Health Association, Qvam mobilized thousands of women across Norway. In 1905, she orchestrated a petition gathering nearly 300,000 women’s signatures supporting Norwegian independence, dramatically demonstrating women’s political engagement and strengthening the case for suffrage.
Randi Blehr (1851-1928)
As president of the Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights during a crucial period, Blehr worked to unite different factions of the women’s movement and build alliances with sympathetic male politicians.
Fernanda Nissen (1862-1920)
A labor activist and journalist who ensured working-class women’s concerns were represented in the suffrage movement, Nissen helped bridge the gap between socialist women’s groups and middle-class women’s rights organizations.
Anna Rogstad (1854-1938)
In 1911, Rogstad became Norway’s first female parliamentarian as an alternate representative, two years before universal women’s suffrage was achieved. Her presence in the Storting helped normalize the concept of women in politics.
Political Context and Strategies
The Norwegian suffrage movement benefited from several contextual factors:
- Liberal Political Climate: Norway’s democratic traditions and emerging political liberalism created receptivity to arguments for expanded suffrage.
- National Independence: The dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905 reinforced democratic reforms as expressions of Norwegian national identity.
- Strategic Alliances: Women’s organizations built effective coalitions with liberal and labor political parties, creating parliamentary support for suffrage.
- Pragmatic Approach: Norwegian suffragists successfully employed a gradualist strategy, accepting partial victories while continuing to push for full equality.
- Economic Arguments: Pragmatic arguments about women taxpayers’ right to political representation resonated with Norwegian politicians, helping secure the initial tax-qualified suffrage.
Norway in Regional and Global Context
Norway’s achievement of universal women’s suffrage in 1913 places it among the world pioneers:
Countries achieving women’s suffrage before Norway:
- New Zealand: 1893 (first in the world, though still a British colony)
- Australia: 1902 (white women only; Aboriginal women waited until 1962)
- Finland: 1906 (while still part of the Russian Empire)
Nordic neighbors:
Other European countries:
- United Kingdom: 1918 (limited), 1928 (equal)
- Germany: 1918
- Netherlands: 1919
- France: 1944
- Switzerland: 1971
Within the Nordic region, Norway followed closely behind Finland but significantly preceded its other neighbors. This early adoption reflected Norway’s progressive political culture and the effectiveness of its women’s movement.
Factors Contributing to Norway’s Early Adoption
Several factors help explain Norway’s position as an early adopter of women’s suffrage:
- Strong Women’s Organizations: Norway had one of Europe’s best-organized women’s movements, spanning both urban and rural areas.
- Educational Progress: By the early 20th century, Norwegian women had relatively high levels of education and professional training.
- Economic Role: Women’s significant contributions to Norway’s economy, particularly in farming, fishing, and increasingly in professions like teaching, strengthened arguments for their political inclusion.
- Cultural Values: Norwegian cultural emphasis on equality and pragmatism created receptivity to gradual expansion of suffrage.
- Political Structure: Norway’s parliamentary system proved relatively responsive to organized advocacy compared to more authoritarian governments elsewhere in Europe.
Impact and Legacy
Norway’s early adoption of women’s suffrage established a foundation for broader gender equality. Following universal suffrage, Norwegian women gained increasing political representation:
- In 1916, the Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights successfully campaigned for married women’s economic independence.
- In 1922, Norway elected its first female government minister, Karen Platou.
- By the 1980s, Norway had achieved nearly 40% female representation in parliament.
- In 1981, Gro Harlem Brundtland became Norway’s first female Prime Minister.
- In 1993, Norway pioneered a gender quota system for corporate boards.
Today, Norway consistently ranks among global leaders in gender equality metrics, with women’s political representation approaching parity. The early achievement of suffrage helped establish gender equality as a core Norwegian value that continues to shape policy development.
Women’s suffrage in Norway
Norway’s achievement of universal women’s suffrage on June 11, 1913, represented both the culmination of decades of organized advocacy and a foundation for continued progress toward gender equality. The Norwegian approach—characterized by strategic pragmatism, effective organization, and building broad political alliances—proved highly effective in securing women’s political rights relatively early in the global suffrage movement.
As the second independent European nation to grant women full voting rights, Norway established itself as a pioneer in democratic inclusion. The legacy of these early suffrage advocates continues to influence Norwegian society today, where gender equality remains central to national identity and policy. Norway’s journey demonstrates how persistent, strategic activism can transform political institutions to become more inclusive and representative of all citizens.
Gender-equality pioneering, or how three Nordic states celebrated 100 years of women’s suffrage
Larsen, Eirinn; Manns, Ulla; Östman, Ann-Catrin
The Nordic countries do not just identify strongly with gender equality: they also increasingly mobilize their pasts, as well as more contemporary notions held at the international level wherein the Nordics are seen as exceptionally gender equal, to highlight and brand themselves in the present as global pioneers of women’s rights. In this article, using nation-branding as an overarching perspective, we examine how this eagerness among the Nordics to be perceived as front-runners of gender rights affected the memory politics at play during the national commemoration of 100 years of women’s suffrage in Finland (2006–2007), Norway (2013) and Sweden (2018–2022). In addition, we ask what national narratives the respective jubilee celebrations helped to facilitate – and whether those narratives correspond with the images that function as the primary brands of Finland, Norway and Sweden today.
> research.abo.fi/en/publications/gender-equality-pioneering-or-how-three-nordic-states-celebrated-