The Kvindelig Fremskridtsforening (KF), or Women's Progress Association, was a Danish women's association which was founded in 1885 by Matilde Bajer and Elisabeth Ouchterlony. They had both been co-founders of the Danish Women's Society (Dansk Kvindesamfund) in 1871 but now wanted an organization which included specific attention to

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

in municipal and national elections, an issue which was not on the agenda of the apolitical Women's Society. The organization also addressed women's involvement as peace activists and as members of the workforce. In 1888, with the support and involvement of

Johanne Meyer Johanne Marie Abrahammine Meyer née Petersen (1838–1915) was a Danish suffragist, pacifist and journal editor. A pioneering member of various women's societies, from 1889 she served on the board of the pacifist organization '' Dansk Fredsforen ...

, KF arranged the first meeting of the Nordic Women's Movement (Nordisk Kvindesagsmøde) which was held in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in connection with the Nordic Exhibition. Open to both men and women, it attracted 700 participants from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. KF was restricted to women. Members came mainly from the political left and the trade unions, creating opposition to the Women's Society. Bajer was the first president of the KF from 1886 to 1889, after which she served on the board. Ouchterlony, a journalist, contributed to the organization's journal ''Hvad vi vil'' (What We Want). She was also an effective public speaker. From 1888, Meyer was editor of ''Hvad vi vil'', to which she contributed many articles. She became president of KF in 1889. In 1889, many members of the KF left to set up the

Kvindevalgretsforeningen Kvindevalgretsforeningen (KVF), or the Women's Suffrage Association, was a Danish organization established by Line Luplau in 1889 specifically to promote women's suffrage. The association not only organized meetings on voting rights but participat ...

(Women's Suffrage Association) which, as its name implies, was even more strongly focused on suffrage. As a result, interest in the KF diminished and it was dissolved in 1893.

References

{{Authority control Women's organizations based in Denmark Organizations established in 1885 Organizations disestablished in 1893 1885 establishments in Denmark Organizations based in Copenhagen Women's suffrage in Denmark Voter rights and suffrage organizations