Women's Group Ottar

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The Women's Group Ottar (Norwegian: Kvinnegruppa Ottar) is a Norwegian radical feminist women's organization founded in 1991. It has its historical roots in the Norwegian Marxist-Leninist movement of the 1970s and has been described as the most radical women's organization[1] and "a final offshoot of 70s feminism."[2] Ottar began as an offshoot of the Women's Front, and later, it splintered again, resulting in the creation of two new groups with explicitly trans-exclusionary profiles, Women's Declaration International (WDI) and Kvinneaktivistene. The Women's Front described WDI as "transphobes."[3] While mainly focused on combating pornography and prostitution from a radical feminist perspective, Ottar has also faced criticism from the Red Party, the Red Youth, LGBT+ rights groups and others for promoting or tolerating anti-trans[4] and anti-Jewish views within its ranks,[5] and some prominent members such as Kari Jaquesson have expressed support for trans-exclusionary radical feminism (TERF) and declared themselves to be TERFs.[6] Ottar members have also engaged in doxxing and harassment of trans women by publishing pre-transition photos of them.[7] Ottar has promoted several anti-gender beliefs, including opposition to the word "cisgender" and opposition to trans people's access to public restrooms in accordance with their gender identity. Ottar has accused the Norwegian Organisation for Sexual and Gender Diversity of working for prostitution as "a nice way to recruit young men into the gay community[8] and has claimed that the Norwegian Humanist Association and Amnesty International are linked to an alleged "prostitution industry."[9] Ottar's claims have been criticized by LGBT+ rights advocates as conspiracy theories[4] and by the Norwegian Humanist Association as unworthy of serious attention.[9] In 2024 Ottar faced strong criticism when the chair of its largest chapter referred to a Jewish woman as a "Zionist pig."[5][10][11]

History[edit]

The Women's Group Ottar has its historical roots in the Norwegian Marxist-Leninist (Maoist) movement of the 1970s and the Women's Front. In 1991, the most radical and anti-pornography faction broke away from the Women's Front after disputes over views on pornography and prostitution. They formed loosely organized groups with different names: the first breakaway group formed the original Kvinnegruppa Ottar in Stavanger, while breakaway groups from Oslo and Bergen formed Kvinnegruppa Oslo Øst and Kvinneaktivistene. From 1993, they united under the name Kvinnegruppa Ottar, named after sex educator Elise Ottesen-Jensen, also nicknamed "Ottar." The groups emphasized a flat structure and were skeptical of formal and hierarchical organization, with individual groups being autonomous and collaborating sporadically in the early years. Only in 2006 did Kvinnegruppa Ottar adopt a more formal structure with national meetings and a directly elected national board. In the 2020s, two breakaway groups focused exclusively on anti-trans politics were founded: Kvinneaktivistene and Women's Declaration International (WDI) Norway, with a significant overlap in membership with Ottar and the Women's Front. Internationally, WDI is regarded as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.[12][13]

Views[edit]

Kvinnegruppa Ottar is particularly focused on pornography and prostitution. In public debates, the group has strongly criticized organizations like the Norwegian Humanist Association and Amnesty International, linking them to an alleged "prostitution industry."[9] Kristin Mile, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Humanist Association, described Ottar's claims as unworthy of serious attention.[9] Ottar has accused queer people and the Norwegian Organisation for Sexual and Gender Diversity of working for prostitution as "a nice way to recruit young men into the gay community."[8] Daisy Sælen Hafstad and Vegard Rødseth Tokheim described Ottar's statements about Fri and queer people as "hate speech and conspiracy theories."[4] On behalf of Ottar, Ane Stø and Kari Jaquesson reported the state broadcasting company NRK to the police in 2015 for airing a comedy sketch where a "porn actress" had parodied Jaquesson.[14] The report was dismissed as baseless.[15]

Accusations of harassment[edit]

Conspiracy theorist and former television personality Kari Jaquesson has represented Ottar in several debates. In 2016 Jaquesson was criticized, e.g. by the Red Youth, for asking other women to "suck cock ten times a day."[16] Ottar defended Jaquesson, stating that she is "politically solidly founded in Ottar's radical feminism."[17] A survey by YouGov found that the public figures viewed most negatively by Norwegians were Donald Trump, Kari Jaquesson and Vladimir Putin.[18] In 2019, Jaquesson was removed from the nominations for Plan Norway's Girl Award. Kari Helene Partapuoli stated that Jaquesson's views were contrary to Plan's values and described Jaquesson's statements as "severe harassment," noting that "Plan International believes that all people must have the same rights regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender identity, or religion."[19]

Antisemitism[edit]

At the parole meeting for March 8th in Oslo in 2024, Martine Votvik, who was the leader of Kvinnegruppa Ottar in Oslo until 2024, referred to a Jewish woman attending the meeting as a "Zionist pig," a variant of the Judensau antisemitic trope. The statement was reported to the police as a hate speech incident, but the case was dismissed.[5][10] The dismissal was criticized by the Jewish community.[11] Following the "Zionist pig" incident at the parole meeting, Jewish women experienced being shouted at with "no Zionists in our streets" and were prevented from participating in the event by the organizers.[20][21][22][23]

Transgender people[edit]

Conspiracy theorist Kari Jaquesson has represented Ottar in public debates for several years, and has said publicly that she considers herself to be a TERF.[6] A YouGov survey found that the public figures viewed most negatively by Norwegians were Donald Trump, Kari Jaquesson and Vladimir Putin.[18]

Ottar has been critical of the third wave of feminism that also emerged in the 1990s. In the debate on gender diversity, the group has often positioned itself against LGBT+ rights organizations and several members have supported trans-exclusionary radical feminism (or TERF ideology).[6][4] Ottar's most widely known member for several years, conspiracy theorist Kari Jaquesson, has stated publicly that she considers herself to be a TERF and insisted that "a man can never become a woman."[6] Jaquesson has engaged in doxxing of individual trans women, publishing pre-transition photographs.[7] She has also accused individual trans people of being sexual predators.[24] Minister of Equality Linda Hofstad Helleland condemned Jaquesson's statements, stating that "trans people are subjected to hate, violence, and harassment."[25]

Ottar's leader Ane Stø has claimed that criticism of trans-exclusionary radical feminism or TERF ideology constitutes a "hate campaign" against "feminists."[26] While some Ottar members have used the term as a self-description,[6] Stø has claimed that the term trans-exclusionary radical feminism (TERF) is a "slur" that "aims to exclude feminists from public debate, by accusing us of promoting hatred against transgender people and demanding that society must be protected from our beliefs."[26] Sociologists Ruth Pearce, Sonja Erikainen, and Ben Vincent note that "‘TERF’ is now employed by many trans-inclusive feminists and rejected by trans-exclusionary campaigners," and they reject the TERF movement's assertion that it is a slur.[27] The vast majority of feminist activists and scholars view TERF ideology as transphobic, hateful and not feminist; TERF is primarily a term that feminists use to criticize what they view as a reactionary hate movement.[28][29][30] WDI Norway, an offshoot of Ottar co-founded by former Ottar board member Anne Kalvig, also uses the term as a self-description and has established an award named the "Council of Terfdom Award," that they awarded to far-right anti-trans website Reduxx, which is affiliated with The Post Millennial.[31]

For several years, Ottar has participated in the anti-trans FiLiA conference, which is closely linked to Women's Declaration International (WDI), with FiLiA stating that "the Radical Feminist Activist group Ottar have been incredibly supportive to FiLiA over the years."[32] FiLiA is described as one of "the most important 'gender critical' groups" alongside WDI.[33] FiLiA considers itself to be gender-critical (also known as TERF), states that it supports "sex-based rights"[34][35] and opposes what they refer to as "gender ideology."[36] It has lobbied against gender recognition reform, and been criticized for "deliberately veil[ing] their transphobia behind ‘feminist’ rhetoric in a way that is calculated, tactical and deceitful."[36][37][38] FiLiA co-founder and spokesperson Heather Brunskell-Evans is the founder of WDI. Numerous members of Ottar have also signed WDI's anti-trans manifesto;[39] the secretary of Norway's Red Party, Benedikte Pryneid Hansen, criticized Ottar and the Women's Front for remaining silent about transphobia within their ranks and called upon them to clearly distance themselves from WDI.[40] In response, the Women's Front called WDI "transphobes, racists and sexists."[3]

Ottar has promoted the idea that trans people pose a threat e.g. in bathrooms.[41] Researchers have described such claims as baseless and part of a transphobic moral panic that is promoted primarily by the far right, and that harms both trans and cis women.[42][43][44][45] Feminists Anna-Sabina Soggiu and Susanne Demou criticized the radical feminist organizations for fostering "fabricated issues and threat scenarios" about transgender people.[46] Women's Front board member Natasha Alijeva stated that "it is undignified when the women's movement spreads fear about a vulnerable minority."[47] Ottar has also objected to the term "cisgender,"[48] which Rogers describes as a common theme in TERF discourse.[49]

Due to rising levels of transphobia in Norway, promoted in the name of radical feminism, 2476 feminists called for an inclusive feminism in a 2020 open letter.[50] 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."[51]

Alberte Bekkhus, the leader of the Red Youth—the youth organization of the Red Party that Ottar and the Women's Front are historically associated with—criticized the radical feminist organizations for transphobia, and 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."[52] The leader of the Workers' Youth League, Astrid Hoem, emphasized that the left must take responsibility and confront transphobia within their ranks.[53] In 2023 Hoem and others criticized Ottar for using so-called "TERF flags," in purple, green, and white, that have become a rallying flag for transphobic groups in recent years.[54] 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, some of whom with a background in Ottar.[55] Hedda Marie Westlin argued that "it's very striking that Ane Stø talks about expressing herself without being harassed when engaging in harassment is exactly what Stø, Gjevjon, and Jaquesson are doing. They write in public media about how trans women with penises are entering women's spaces, spreading fear about rape, violence, and abuse from transgender people,"[56] while Anna Dåsnes wrote that the claims made by Ottar activist Kari Jaquesson were "conspiratorial nonsense" that constituted a "hateful, ignorant and dangerous campaign against trans women."[57] 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."[58] Feminist scholars have described these anti-gender movements operating in the name of radical feminism in the Norwegian context—several of whom with a background in Ottar—as part of a "complex threat to democracy."[59] Writing in the magazine Ottar, 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," mentioning former Ottar board member Anne Kalvig as an example.[60] 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 become "anchored" in the radical feminist milieu in Oslo, including the 8 March Committee that is dominated by Ottar and the Women's Front.[61]

At Ottar's 30th anniversary event in 2021, German anti-transgender activist Manu Schon, who is active within Posie Parker's "Let Women Speak" movement in Germany, was invited to deliver a speech that promoted gender-critical talking points such as the idea of "transing," while citing right-wing anti-trans figures such as Helen Joyce.[62] Schon is listed by the German branch of "Let Women Speak" as one of ten prominent anti-trans activists in Germany, alongside Huschke Mau.[63] In 2022, Ottar and the Women's Front were criticized for proposing that non-binary people be stripped of their voting rights at the parole meeting for the March 8th march.[64]

Despite the long-standing criticism from the Red Party, the Red Youth, LGBT+ rights groups and others over tolerating transphobia within its ranks, some anti-trans activists have accused Ottar of not being sufficiently anti-trans, and demanded that they make the struggle against transgender people the main priority. Former Ottar board member Anne Kalvig has strongly criticized Ottar and the Women's Front for not actively campaigning against gender self-identification and other transgender rights, and has been particularly critical of the Women's Front for labeling her group WDI as transphobes.[3]

Membership[edit]

Full membership with voting rights is only for women. Ottar has clarified that Kvinnegruppa Ottar's concept of women includes trans women, and that trans women can therefore be full members.[65]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Stille ved fronten". Dagbladet. 4 March 2006.
  2. ^ Erichsen, Bodil Chr. (2017). Norske kvinners liv og kamp. Res Publica. ISBN 9788282261128.
  3. ^ a b c Kalvig, Anne (2023). Kjønnstru. Randaberg: Medvit. ISBN 9788230361368.
  4. ^ a b c d "Skremmende holdninger mot transpersoner fra norske TERF-feminister: Jaquesson, Stø og Gjevjon bidrar raust med å helle bensin på fordommenes bål" [Frightening attitudes towards transgender people from Norwegian TERF feminists: Jaquesson, Stø, and Gjevjon generously contribute to fueling the fire of prejudice]. Dagbladet. 16 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Feminist med jødisk bakgrunn kalt «sionistsvin» på 8. marsmøte" [Feminist with a Jewish background called 'Zionist pig' at 8 March meeting]. Dagen. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
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