Swedish Women's Lobby

{{gender}}{{cquote|A reminder that, the world over, [[Transgender ideology|trans ideology]] has been a pernicious threat to women's safety and freedom. No woman should have to flee her home because she [[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|knows what a man is]]!|||An official statement of [[Women's Platform for Action International]], SWL's international arm<ref name=WoPAIA2025>Women's Platform for Action International (2025): [https://x.com/WomensActionInt/status/1963150786193412532 "A reminder that, the world over, trans ideology has been a pernicious threat to women's safety and freedom. No woman should have to flee her home because she knows what a man is!"] ([https://archive.ph/cYtKa Archive.ph]; [https://bsky.app/profile/phindus.bsky.social/post/3lxwzrfoe2c2f Screenshot])</ref>}}
The '''Swedish Women's Lobby''' (or '''Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer'''; SWL) is a Swedish [[Transphobia|anti-transgender]] organization.<ref name=Crimaldi>{{cite news |last1=Crimaldi |first1=Elena |title=The fracturing of European feminism: How TERF ideology threatens decades of progress |url=https://feministeerium.ee/en/the-fracturing-of-european-feminism-how-terf-ideology-threatens-decades-of-progress/ |date=2 December 2025 |work=Feministeerium|quote=Sweden, previously highlighted as a pioneer of feminist and LGBTIQ rights policies, has seen the rise of TERF-aligned groups. The Swedish Women’s Lobby (SWL), established in 1997 as an umbrella organisation uniting 57 associations representing over 130,000 women and girls, now actively opposes the ‘pro-gender movement’. The SWL, which participated in the 2010 Krafttag mot våldtäkter campaign, this year launched the Women’s Platform for Action International, a far-right, anti-transgender association promoting “sex-based rights”.|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203093202/https://feministeerium.ee/en/the-fracturing-of-european-feminism-how-terf-ideology-threatens-decades-of-progress/|archivedate=2025-12-03}}</ref> Best known for its {{wpl|radicalization}} from a generally respected and outwardly trans-inclusive feminist coalition into a central node in the transnational [[anti-gender]] movement, it now promotes [[TERF|TERF ideology]] and claims to oppose the "[[queer agenda]]," working closely with [[far-right]] and even pro-[[Trump]] groups. As a result, its credibility within both feminist and academic communities gradually collapsed during the late 2010s and 2020s. Mathias Wåg, a Swedish journalist who covers the far right, said that "it is important to highlight the role the Swedish Women's Lobby plays in international anti-trans organizing."<ref name=Wåg/>

Beginning in the late 2010s, SWL underwent a spiraling radicalization into anti-gender activism.<ref name=Alm/><ref name=Karlberg/><ref name=Grahn/> In 2018, thirteen gender studies scholars criticized SWL for promoting misleading narratives associated with broader anti-trans discourse.<ref name=Schmitt/> In 2019 SWL was strongly criticized for transphobia by the {{wpl|National Council of Swedish Children and Youth Organisations}} and others.<ref name=Ottar/><ref name=lsu/><ref name=lsu2/> In 2020 gender studies scholars Alm and Engebretsen observed SWL's promotion of "[[gender-critical]]" ideology and highlighted the growing convergence between "gender-critical" activists and far-right actors, "even [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] and fascist movements," as "a key issue in the current political and scholarly landscape."<ref name="Alm" /> Since then, SWL has become closely associated with [[Women's Declaration International]] (WDI), a far-right anti-trans organization that is described by [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] as a central node in a transnational "anti-LGBTQ+ [[pseudoscience]] network"<ref name=SPLC-Timeline>{{cite web
 |title=Timeline: Building a Pseudoscience Network
 |url=https://www.splcenter.org/captain/timeline-building-pseudoscience-network
 |website=Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience
 |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center
 |date=2023
}}</ref><ref name=SPLC-Network>{{cite web
 |title=Group dynamics and division of labor within the anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network
 |url=https://www.splcenter.org/captain/defining-pseudoscience-network
 |website=Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience
 |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center
 |date=2023
 |quote=Table 5.2: Networked Groups by Typology [...] Narrative Manipulation: [...] Women's Declaration International}}</ref> and that openly supports [[Donald Trump]]. In a talk to WDI in 2020, WDI's Swedish country contact Fanny Knyphausen said WDI and SWL were the main organizations opposing gender self-determination in Sweden, and that SWL "had a really big loss of organizations" that left the organization as a result of its anti-trans policies.<ref name=Fanny/> In 2020, the magazine ''Ottar'' published an exposé on what it described as an "unholy alliance" of right-wing Christians and radical feminists working to undermine trans rights, highlighting SWL's cooperation with anti-trans group Genid and identifying 2020 as the point when organized anti-trans mobilization gained momentum in Sweden.<ref name=Ottar2/> Amid growing criticism of SWL for its anti-trans stance, 943 priests and other employees of the {{wpl|Church of Sweden}} in 2021 condemned "trans-exclusionary feminism [that] uses rhetoric we recognize from radical right-wing Christian groups and right-wing populists."<ref name=svenskakyrkan/> {{wpl|Daniel Poohl}}, publisher of Swedish anti-racist magazine ''{{wpl|Expo (magazine)|Expo}}'', pointed out that "radical feminists, [[Christian right|right-wing Christians]], [[Conspiracy theorist|conspiracy theorists]], and far-right extremists have found each other in an unholy alliance that has made transgender people the new target of the far right's hatred."<ref name=Poohl/>

In 2025 SWL launched [[Women's Platform for Action International]] (WoPAI), a [[far-right]]<ref name=Crimaldi/> [[Women's Platform for Action International#Twitter activity|self-described TERF group]] that seeks to unite the global organized anti-trans movement. WoPAI states that it opposes the "[[queer agenda]]", a "pro-gender movement" in academia and NGOs, and "non-legal and not agreed upon by the international community concepts of '[[gender identity]]'".<ref name=why/> WoPAI is hostile to [[TERF#How feminists resist TERFs|mainstream feminist]] organizations, scholarship, and movements. It denounces "large civil society organizations that claim to be feminist," which it accuses of driving resistance to the [[anti-gender]] movement. It portrays these groups as controlled by "corporate and special interest lobby groups," and insists that "left-labeled agendas" are being institutionalised and that "these actors have codified postmodern identity based ideologies (...). They claim that [[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|being a woman is a matter of opinion]] and search to [[TERF#Conspiracy theories, disinformation, and moral panics|eradicate women]] in [[TERF#Attacks on inclusive language|terminology and language]]. (...) They say that a floating gender replaces sex."<ref name=why/> WoPAI also [[Women's Platform for Action International#Twitter activity|derides]] {{wpl|UN Women}} as a "men's rights organization." Its website also features imagery of other populist anti-trans slogans such as "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|adult human female]]," "[[TERF glossary#Gamete Size/Gamete Potential|large gametes]]" and "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|ordinary meaning]]."<ref name=court/> WoPAI brings together some of the world's main anti-trans actors, including [[Women's Declaration International|WDI]]. WoPAI shares its secretariat and address with SWL,{{efn|According to Swedish official records, the address of Women's Platform for Action International is: "SVERIGES KVINNOORGANISATIONER [Swedish Women's Lobby], Karlbergsvägen 86 a, 113 35 Stockholm." See [https://www.allabolag.se/foretag/women%C2%B4s-platform-for-action-international/-/f%C3%B6reningar/3OQ67GBI63IGG Allabolag] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250702210608/https://www.allabolag.se/foretag/women%C2%B4s-platform-for-action-international/-/f%C3%B6reningar/3OQ67GBI63IGG Internet Archive], [https://archive.ph/SDjdF Archive.ph]). This information is also published on WoPAI's "Who we are" page, which lists WoPAI's address as "Karlbergsvägen 86A, 3 tr, 113 35 Stockholm" (which is SWL's address). WoPAI's "Who we are" page also listed SWL's secretary-general Susannah Sjöberg as secretary-general of WoPAI and SWL's former chair Gertrud Åström as chair of WoPAI from its establishment. Archived versions of WoPAI's "Who we are" page: [https://web.archive.org/web/20250223085805/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/who-we-are/ Internet Archive], [https://archive.ph/eqHnf Archive.ph]. Their "Legal Notice" also lists WoPAI's address as "Karlbergsvägen 86A, 3 tr, 113 35 Stockholm" and its legal representatives and "responsible for editorial" content as Gertrud Åström, Anna Zobnina, Susannah Sjöberg. Archived versions of their "Legal Notice": [https://web.archive.org/web/20250704172258/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/legal-notice/ Internet Archive], [https://archive.ph/BMNXJ Archive.ph]. On their own [https://www.instagram.com/kvinnoorganisationerna/ Instagram account], SWL specifically said that "we [SWL] have launched the new global movement Women's Platform for Action International" [''Vi har lanserat den nya globala rörelsen Women's Platform for Action International'']. On their own website, SWL said they had "initiated" WoPAI ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250726015257/https://sverigeskvinnoorganisationer.se/om-sveriges-kvinnolobby/internationellt/ Internet Archive], [https://archive.ph/DVKvG Archive.ph]). Despite this well-documented relationship, and the fact that WoPAI was created by SWL to spread anti-trans ideology globally, representatives of SWL have, oddly, [https://bsky.app/profile/phindus.bsky.social/post/3lsy4dmv6u22e tried to deny the relationship].}} highlighting SWL's role in the global spread of anti-trans ideology. WoPAI also promotes {{wpl|Masonic conspiracy theories}} with [[Antisemitism|Anti-Semitic]] undertones; in 2025, WoPAI board member Anna Kerr gave a lecture positing that trans people were invented by the [[Freemason|Freemasons]].<ref name=WDIFeministLegalClinic/> In 2025, SWL and WoPAI published a statement in support of anti-trans activist [[Reem Alsalem]]'s report "Sex-based violence against women and girls",<ref name=JointStatement/> that called for a ban on legal and social gender transition for children and that called on states to "ensure that the terms 'women' and 'girls' are only used to describe biological females."<ref name=RAlsalem/> SWL and WoPAI referred to trans women as "males who do not wish to be treated in law and practice as men," opposed their inclusion in analyses of violence against women, accused states and UN agencies of "redefining [women] out of legal existence," called women a "[[TERF#The roots of TERF ideology|sex class]]," and denounced "exclusion, harassment, and professional retaliation" faced by those "who advocate for [...] [[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]."<ref name=JointStatement/> WoPAI also amplifies content from [[Reduxx]], a far-right conspiracy website that specializes in portraying trans people as "pedophiles." WoPAI has [[Women's Platform for Action International#Twitter activity|identified itself]] as a [[TERF]] organization on Twitter, despite TERFs often [[TERF#Why "TERF" is not a slur|pretending it is a slur.]]

In 2025 gender studies scholars Karlberg, Korolczuk, and Sältenberg situated SWL's anti-trans stance within the rise of {{wpl|Anti-gender movement in Sweden|anti-gender politics in Sweden}}, which they described as part of a broader process of "insidious {{wpl|Democratic backsliding|de-democratization}}," marked by the marginalization of vulnerable groups.<ref name=Karlberg/> In the same year, gender studies scholars Michal Grahn and Malin Holm argued that SWL's rhetoric in its opposition to the Gender Recognition Act closely mirrored the "threat to women" narratives commonly employed in anti-trans rhetoric across other national contexts.<ref name=Grahn/> The ''Report on Violence and Pathways to Violence in Anti-Gender Campaigns'', published by the European Commission, identified several SWL's member groups as part of an anti-gender landscape in Sweden, noting that Sweden has seen "a gradual rise in anti-gender discourses between 2015 and 2023," and that such "self-described 'gender-critical feminists'" challenge feminist expertise and engage in attacks on gender studies and scholars.<ref>{{cite web |title=Report on violence and pathways to violence in anti-gender campaigns |url=https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101061256/results |publisher=European Commission |date=2024}}</ref>

After research had identified SWL as a key anti-gender actor in Sweden, SWL in August 2025 founded a second transnational anti-gender network, the Orwellian-named "[[MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls]]." It claims to campaign for "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]" and brings together a familiar cast of anti-trans groups, particularly those linked to the [[Women's Declaration International|WDI movement]]. Its main objective appears to be attacking research on anti-gender campaigns and gender studies more broadly, portraying scholarly analysis as attacks on "women's civic space" and "[[free speech]]." The group's rhetoric is intentionally deceptive, using the appearance of civic and human rights discourse to mask anti-trans hostility. This reflects a broader pattern within anti-gender mobilizations, where reactionary movements co-opt human rights and civic discourse to target feminist and queer expertise. Appeals to "free speech" have long been a hallmark of {{wpl|right-wing populism|right-wing populist movements}}, used to normalize bigotry and deflect accountability. MOTERIS thus consolidates Sweden's role in the transnational anti-gender backlash.

==Overview==

<div style="background:#e6f2ff; border-left: 5px solid #3399cc; padding: 15px; margin: 10px 0; font-size: 95%; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.1); line-height: 1.6;"> <span style="font-weight:bold; font-size:110%;">🔍 Key takeaways</span> <ul style="list-style-type: square; padding-left: 20px; margin: 10px 0;"> <li><b>Organizational radicalization.</b> SWL began in the late 1990s as a mainstream, trans-inclusive feminist umbrella group. By the late 2010s, it underwent a sharp ideological shift, aligning itself with [[TERF|trans-exclusionary radical feminist]] (TERF) politics. This shift is widely documented by gender studies scholars, civil society groups, and even the Church of Sweden, which condemned its rhetoric as indistinguishable from far-right populism.</li> <li><b>Pseudofeminist language, dehumanization and conspiracy narratives.</b> Like many actors in the global anti-gender movement, SWL appropriates elements of feminist language such as "women's rights" and "equality," fusing them with reactionary rhetoric drawn from far-right discourse ("[[TERF#"Groomer," "safeguarding," "women's spaces" and weaponization of "violence against women" narratives|safeguarding]]" and "[[TERF#"Groomer," "safeguarding," "women's spaces" and weaponization of "violence against women" narratives|protecting girls]]"). It presents exclusionary, anti-trans politics as feminism itself. This rhetorical hijacking is known as discursive mimicry: using pseudo-emancipatory language to justify oppression. It reflects the same pattern seen in far-right movements that claim to defend women while opposing abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, or sex education. Within this logic, trans women are described as "males" or predators, and conspiratorial narratives are used to legitimize that portrayal. SWL and its affiliates promote [[Anti-Semitic|anti-Semitic]] and {{wpl|Masonic conspiracy theories}} that link gender diversity to social collapse. Such rhetoric is structurally dehumanizing, which is a core characteristic of hate-based mobilization.</li> <li><b>International hub for anti-gender politics.</b> SWL created [[Women's Platform for Action International|WoPAI]] and [[MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls|MOTERIS]] as global coordination nodes for trans-exclusionary and anti-gender activism. Both organizations repeat tropes familiar from far-right and authoritarian movements: conspiracy theories, scapegoating of minorities, and attacks on international human rights institutions (e.g. UN Women). Their rhetoric positions trans rights, queer inclusion, and intersectional feminism as "elite" or "corporate" projects — classic populist talking points.</li> <li><b>Integration with far-right actors.</b> SWL is explicitly tied to groups the [[SPLC]] designates as anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups (e.g. [[Women's Declaration International|WDI]]). It aligns with anti-abortion extremists, authoritarian regimes, and even actors around [[Donald Trump|Trump]] and the [[MAGA|MAGA movement]]. This convergence of radical feminism with far-right populism is a well-documented international pattern in anti-gender mobilization.</li> <li><b>Loss of legitimacy in mainstream feminism.</b> Civil society groups, gender studies scholars, Swedish youth organizations, and even feminist NGOs have severed ties with SWL. Swedish gender studies scholars describe SWL's anti-transgender activism as part of an "insidious de-democratization," eroding democracy by targeting vulnerable groups and undermining expertise. In Sweden and beyond, SWL is now largely seen as discredited and aligned with reactionary politics, not emancipatory feminism.</li></ul></div>

==Trans-inclusive beginnings==

The Swedish Women's Lobby was founded in 1997 as an umbrella group for the Swedish women's movement. It brought together dozens of member organizations to promote gender equality. In its early years, it represented normal feminist positions, at least outwardly.{{efn|There have been reports of anti-trans attitudes within the organization before, but these views were not openly promoted as a matter of policy prior to the late 2010s, nor were they widely known. By 2024, however, after several years of drifting in an increasingly trans-hostile direction, SWL intensified its opposition to the Gender Recognition Act, employing rhetoric that drew on familiar moral panic and conspiratorial narratives associated with the transnational anti-gender movement. As gender studies scholars Michal Grahn and Malin Holm observed, SWL's claims—that the Act would endanger "women's rights" and allow "men" to access "women-only spaces"—closely mirrored the "threat to women" narratives common in anti-trans discourse internationally.<ref name=Grahn/> One activist commented at the time, "They have always been anti-trans, so it's good if more people become aware of it. They've been portrayed as reasonable and normal for far too long. (...) I can imagine people feel deceived. I would have too, if I hadn't come across these views from them earlier (in 2013 I sat at a conference with the chairperson and was stunned)."<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Vilka är dessa kvinnoorganisationer som är emot nya könstillhörighetslagen? Jag vill veta. Hur FAN kan man efter århundraden av förtryck själv sparka neråt istället för solidaritet. Har inte feminismen lärt er ett jävla skit?
 |url=https://bsky.app/profile/vermista.bsky.social/post/3kpfal37iyi2y
 |date=2024
}}</ref>}} A 2015 report on their website, offering guidance for feminist organizing, emphasized the importance of actively working against {{wpl|Cisgenderism|cissexism}} and ensuring inclusion of trans and queer people. It noted that individuals who do not conform to the binary gender norm have long struggled to find space within the feminist movement, and that it is essential to combat both the discrimination they face and the ignorance that often underlies it. The report defined "not recognizing other gender identities or gender expressions than man and woman, or not taking transgender people's gender identity or gender expression seriously" as a form of [[transphobia]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250525173915/https://sverigeskvinnoorganisationer.se/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Organiserad-eller-oorganiserad-feminism_Metodkit.pdf Organiserad eller oorganiserad feminism? Metodkit och idébank för stärkt feministisk organisering] ([https://archive.ph/MbFZr archive.ph])</ref> Around 2014 SWL was promoting feminist events that actively opposed "sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of discrimination."<ref>[https://sverigeskvinnoorganisationer.se/femtech-festival-2014/ FEMTECH 2014] ([https://archive.ph/0PAis archived])</ref> In 2015, SWL was also one of the five organizations behind a demand that "no taxpayer money should go to religious communities that encourage discrimination against women, homophobia, transphobia, or gender apartheid."<ref>"[https://www.svd.se/a/a41d65f6-f386-4e69-848d-ad7f1e159c58/dags-for-feministisk-regering-att-agera Dags för feministisk regering att agera]," ''Svenska Dagbladet'', 2015-12-14</ref>

==Embracing anti-trans politics==
{{cquote|The ignorance the Swedish Women's Lobby displays regarding the general situation of trans people in need of gender-affirming care is astonishing.|||13 Swedish gender studies academics, 2018<ref name=Schmitt/>}}

By the late 2010s, the organization's public rhetoric began shifting toward "[[gender-critical]]" (TERF) ideology,<ref name=Schmitt/><ref name=Alm>Alm, E., & Engebretsen, E. L. (2020). Gender Self-identification. ''Lambda Nordica'', 25(1), 48-56. https://doi.org/10.34041/ln.v25.613</ref> a specific form of [[transphobia]] that presents itself as feminism while aligning with [[far-right]] [[populism]] and targeting trans people, especially women. In 2018, thirteen Swedish gender studies scholars issued a statement criticizing the organization's trans-hostile stance, particularly its opposition to proposed legal reforms intended to improve the lives of transgender people. Writing in ''Feministiskt Perspektiv'', the scholars—including Erika Alm, Irina Schmitt, Ida Linander, and Jens Rydström—accused SWL of spreading misinformation and reproducing a binary, heteronormative, and trans-exclusionary conception of gender. They criticized the organization's framing of trans rights as incompatible with gender equality and refuted its claims that proposed legal changes lacked sufficient gender analysis. The authors warned that SWL's rhetoric not only marginalized trans and nonbinary people, but also distorted the meaning of feminist and intersectional equality work in Sweden. They called on SWL to adopt a more solidaristic approach and to engage seriously with up-to-date knowledge on trans issues, rather than echoing misleading narratives associated with broader anti-trans discourse.<ref name=Schmitt>Schmitt, Irina; Bremer, Signe; Nord, Iwo; Holmqvist, Sam; Alm, Erika; Linander, Ida; Wurm, Matilda; Lundberg, Tove; Lindqvist, Anna; Wagner, Anthony; Bäck, Emma; Olovsdotter Lööv, Anna; Rydström, Jens (9 June 2018). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20250601162545/https://feministisktperspektiv.se/2018/06/09/vi-kan-battre-sa-kvinnolobbyn/ Vi kan bättre än så, Kvinnolobbyn!]". ''Feministiskt Perspektiv''.</ref>

The trans-exclusionary shift culminated in 2019, when the SWL denied board candidacy to Signe Krantz, a 20-year-old transgender woman representing the member organization Maktsalongen. The SWL conducted an unauthorized, invasive and demeaning inquiry into her legal gender, prompting outrage from civil society and the {{wpl|National Council of Swedish Children and Youth Organisations||,}} which accused SWL of blatant transphobia. Maktsalongen left the organization in protest. In an open letter to SWL the National Council of Swedish Children and Youth Organisations called SWL's actions "offensive" and "directly transphobic," noting that "a person's legal gender says nothing about their identity. The legal gender is determined by the National Board of Health and Welfare's Legal Council after a prolonged process, which is a remnant of the forced sterilizations that ended in 2013."<ref name=Ottar>{{cite news |last1=Ortiz |first1=Joel Mauricio Isabel |title=Hur ska vi förstå transfobin? |url=https://www.ottar.se/hur-ska-vi-f-rst-transfobin/ |work=Ottar |date=9 June 2019|quote= Detta ledde till stark kritik mot organisationen och till en diskussion i medier och sociala medier om transfobi}}</ref><ref name=>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.jmk.su.se/laget/de-lamnar-sveriges-kvinnolobby-i-protest/1453|title=De lämnar Sveriges kvinnolobby i protest|date=16 April 2019|website=su.se}}</ref><ref name=lsu>{{Cite web|url=https://lsu.se/nyhet/oppet-brev-till-sveriges-kvinnolobby/|title=Öppet brev till Sveriges Kvinnolobby|first=Joakim|last=Lindgren|date=8 April 2019|publisher=National Council of Swedish Children and Youth Organisations|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504220736/https://lsu.se/nyhet/oppet-brev-till-sveriges-kvinnolobby/|archive-date=2025-05-04}}</ref><ref name=lsu2>{{Cite web|url=https://lsu.se/nyhet/fragor-om-vart-oppna-brev-till-sveriges-kvinnolobby/|title=Förtydliganden om vårt öppna brev till Sveriges Kvinnolobby|first=Emelie|last=Nilsson|date=13 April 2019|publisher=National Council of Swedish Children and Youth Organisations|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504220734/https://lsu.se/nyhet/fragor-om-vart-oppna-brev-till-sveriges-kvinnolobby/|archive-date=2025-05-04}}</ref>

By 2020, Nordic gender studies scholars such as Alm and Engebretsen were drawing attention to SWL's promotion of "gender-critical" ideas,<ref name=Alm/> making SWL one of the first "gender-critical" organizations in the Nordic region and arguably its most influential [[anti-gender]] and anti-transgender lobby group. Alm and Engebretsen situate SWL's alignment with "gender-critical" positions within a broader trend, highlighting the early signs of a growing convergence between "gender-critical" activists and far-right actors, a pattern that would later materialize in SWL's own alliances. They note that "a key issue in the current political and scholarly landscape is the growing convergence, and sometimes conscious alliances, between 'gender-critical' feminists (sometimes known as TERFs – Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists), religious and social conservatives, as well as right-wing politics and even [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] and [[Fascist|fascist]] movements."<ref name=Alm/> In 2020, the Swedish magazine ''Ottar'' published an exposé on what it described as an "unholy alliance" of right-wing Christians and radical feminists working to undermine trans rights. The article reported that in 2018, the Swedish Women's Lobby invited the anti-trans group Genid to an internal training session, and it identified 2020 as the point when organized anti-trans mobilization gained momentum in Sweden.<ref name=Ottar2>{{cite news |title=Antitrans-allians |url=https://www.ottar.se/antitrans-allians/ |date=2020-06-11 |work=Ottar}}</ref> This shift aligns with what Claire House has identified as a broader international trend beginning in the mid-2010s, where (radical) feminist actors increasingly participate in anti-gender and regressive politics, often with particularly harmful consequences for trans rights, a trend she illustrates, in part, by referencing Alm and Engebretsen's discussion of developments in Sweden.<ref name=House>House, C. C., (2023) "[https://www.digest.ugent.be/article/id/85755/ 'I'm Real, Not You': Roles and Discourses of Trans Exclusionary Women's and Feminist Movements in Anti-gender and Right-wing Populist Politics]", ''DiGeSt: Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies'', Special Issue: ''Varieties of TERFness'', 10(2), 14-32. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/digest.85755</ref> Daniel Poohl, publisher of Swedish anti-racist magazine ''Expo'', pointed out that “radical feminists, right-wing Christians, conspiracy theorists, and far-right extremists have found each other in an unholy alliance that has made transgender people the new target of the far right's hatred.”<ref name=Poohl>{{cite news |last1=Poohl |first1=Daniel |title=Transpersoner – extremhögerns nya hatobjekt |url=https://expo.se/analys/analys-transpersoner-extremhogerns-nya-hatobjekt/ |access-date=2 October 2025 |work=Expo}}</ref>

In a talk to [[Women's Declaration International]] (WDI) in 2020, WDI's Swedish country contact Fanny Knyphausen said WDI and the Swedish Women's Lobby were the main organizations opposing gender self-determination in Sweden, and that "the Swedish Women's Lobby had a really big loss of organizations" that left the organization as a result of its anti-trans policies.<ref name=Fanny>{{cite web |title=Who opposes gender identity politics in Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Germany, Sweden? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SblCQ605Jw|publisher=Women's Declaration International |date=14 July 2020}}</ref> 

Since then, SWL has emerged as a prominent actor within the European anti-gender movement and an active promoter of anti-transgender ideology on the international stage. During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], a period marked by intensified circulation of anti-trans conspiracy theories and broader radicalization around gender issues, SWL further entrenched its alignment with gender-critical discourse. It adopted rhetoric commonly associated with far-right actors, using anti-trans dogwhistles such as "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]" and mobilizing narratives around "[[gender ideology]]" that resonate with populist and reactionary agendas.

In 2021, SWL's Clara Berglund appeared on a panel organized by a group that calls itself the "Irish Women's Lobby," a fringe, obsessively anti-trans hate group founded in opposition to the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI), the country's widely respected, trans-inclusive, mainstream umbrella organization for women's groups (and a founding member of the European Women's Lobby). Berglund gave the "Irish Women's Lobby" her full endorsement, despite its overt hostility toward NWCI, SWL's original sister organization. Berglund also promoted a conspiratorial narrative of a "two-front war on women." Notably, she spent only two minutes addressing the very real threat of conservative and religious efforts to roll back women's rights, but then spent ten minutes portraying what she called a "pro-gender movement," "academia and left-wing movements", "identity politics" and even Black Lives Matter as an even greater threat. Finally, she promoted something she called a "pro-woman movement", rooted in biologically essentialist ideas, and said she hoped the Irish Women's Lobby would join her in that movement.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gqi2hV-HfU Clara Berglund's talk to Irish anti-trans hate group]</ref> Her claims carried the marks of online radicalization, shaped by the conspiratorial discourse of TERF subcultures that flourished in fringe internet spaces during the pandemic.

By 2023 [[SPLC]]-designated hate group [[Women's Declaration International]] had become a member of SWL. SWL has also hosted and promoted [[Kajsa Ekis Ekman]],<ref>[[Kajsa Ekis Ekman]] (2024): [https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0UQ2t4WSKLFLSpj25Ep5WD8P8NYM8JuAUjxXPdXqwHZ7T6tx2E3DmvskJw1S7CuCzl&id=100044241859116 Avtackning för Clara Berglund och Malpuri Groth från Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer]</ref> a conspiracy theorist, leading figure in the Swedish transphobic movement and co-founder of WDI Sweden, who is also known for her pro-Kremlin and "[[Alt-right glossary#Woke|anti-woke]]" views, and who was even denounced for her transphobic views and disinvited by the radical feminist {{wpl|National Organisation for Women's Shelters and Young Women's Shelters in Sweden}} in 2018.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180318220059/https://www.roks.se/index.php/nyheter/uttalande-angaende-kajsa-ekis-ekmans-deltagande-pa-roks-konferens-20-februari Uttalande angående Kajsa Ekis Ekmans deltagande på Roks konferens 20 februari], ROKS, 2018</ref> For example, in 2025, SWL translated a text by Ekman, full of conspiracy rhetoric, attacking the political left, in an apparent effort to promote it internationally.<ref>[https://bsky.app/profile/phindus.bsky.social/post/3lksvhrxn6k2k Plus att Spinifex Press (Sheila Jeffreys (WDI)  bokförlag) har en översättning på sin sida som de krediterar till Swedish Women's Lobby.]</ref><ref>[[Kajsa Ekis Ekman]]: [https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/blog/no-one-defends-womens-interests-anymore The Two Front War Against Women]. Translated by the Swedish Women's Lobby.</ref> SWL is often seen as an inspiration by anti-trans "gender-critical feminists" in other countries, and has hosted [[Meghan Murphy]] in the year she was permanently banned from [[Twitter]] for anti-trans hate speech.<ref>[[Meghan Murphy]] (2018): [https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10155106692657343 So much love and gratitude to Kajsa Ekis Ekman and the Swedish Women's Lobby for hosting]</ref> In 2023, SWL and the anti-trans group "Women's Rights Watch" co-organized a seminar critical of gender self-identification, which promoted anti-trans rhetoric and opposed trans rights. The event featured prominent figures in the international anti-transgender movement, including [[Reem Alsalem]].<ref>[https://sverigeskvinnoorganisationer.se/se-vart-almedalsseminarium-om-sjalvidentifikation-i-efterhand/ Se vårt Almedalsseminarium om självidentifikation i efterhand]. Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer.</ref> In 2024, SWL aligned with the [[Sweden Democrats]], a far-right party, to oppose the Gender Recognition Act supported by nearly all other parties, including the entire political left.<ref name=Karlberg/> Gender studies scholars Michal Grahn and Malin Holm observed that SWL's claims—that the Gender Recognition Act would endanger "women's rights" and allow "men" to access "women-only spaces"—closely mirror the "threat to women" narratives commonly employed in anti-trans rhetoric across other national contexts.<ref name=Grahn>Grahn, M., & Holm, M. (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</ref> In 2024, SWL accused "progressive parties and movements" of working against women.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.svd.se/a/yE3dQe/kvinnoorganisationer-vi-efterlyser-politiker-som-star-upp-for-kvinnors-rattigheter|title=Vilka står upp för kvinnors rättigheter?|work=Svenska Dagbladet|date=18 May 2024}}</ref>

SWL has been widely criticized for its anti-trans views in Sweden. Sofia Magnusson and Emmeli Nybom argued that the trans-exclusionary stance seen in SWL is the result of a broader shift in values that has taken place over time within parts of Swedish feminism. They criticized how SWL is often portrayed by its supporters as representing "the unified women's movement," despite promoting a clearly trans-exclusionary agenda. According to the authors, this shift aligns with international anti-trans campaigns and echoes rhetoric pushed by far-right actors and by anti-trans campaigners like [[J.K. Rowling]].<ref>[https://www.dagensarena.se/opinion/vi-oroas-over-s-kvinnors-transexkluderande-feminism/ Vi oroas över S-kvinnors transexkluderande feminism]</ref> Amid growing criticism of SWL for its anti-trans stance, 943 priests and other employees of the {{wpl|Church of Sweden}} in 2021 condemned "trans-exclusionary feminism [that] uses rhetoric we recognize from radical right-wing Christian groups and right-wing populists." They added: "We mourn a rights movement that punches down. You, me, we, all of us, need a broad, solidarity-based feminism that fights restrictive gender norms."<ref name=svenskakyrkan>{{cite web
 |author=943 Church of Sweden employees
 |title=Personligt brev till dig som är trans
 |trans-title=A personal letter to you who are transgender
 |url=https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/vasterasstift/personligt-brev-till-dig-som-ar-trans
 |publisher=Church of Sweden
 |date=2021
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519133707/https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/vasterasstift/personligt-brev-till-dig-som-ar-trans
 |archive-date=2021-05-19
}}</ref> In 2024 Edward Summanen, a trans health expert and writer, criticized SWL for legitimizing transphobia by accepting extremist member groups like XXantippas Vrede (WDI). He warned that their tactics, such as misgendering and public shaming, amount to harassment in the name of feminism and pose a threat to democracy by silencing trans people.<ref>{{cite web
 |last=Summanen
 |first=Edward
 |title=Var går gränsen för trakasserier i feminismens namn?
 |url=https://www.qx.se/samhalle/opinion/261203/var-gar-gransen-for-trakasserier-i-feminismens-namn/
 |website=QX
 |date=2024-03-08
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250613181230/https://www.qx.se/samhalle/opinion/261203/var-gar-gransen-for-trakasserier-i-feminismens-namn/
 |archive-date=2025-06-13
 |quote=Vilken feminism välkomnas av Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer? Om feministiska föreningar som kränker och hånar transpersoner.
}}</ref>

In 2025, feminist lawyer Hanna Gunnarsson wrote in ''Feministiskt Perspektiv'' that SWL was showing its "true colors" in its opposition to inclusive language in abortion law and that its trans-exclusionary rhetoric echoed "the right-wing movement that is currently driving a global offensive against trans people's rights." She argued that in this situation it was "deeply problematic" for SWL to exclude trans people instead of defending equal access to healthcare and protection. Gunnarsson asked whether all of SWL's member organizations supported SWL's "transphobic line," and said Sweden needed a feminist movement that stands up for both women's rights and trans rights, while opposing [[far-right]] extremism.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gunnarsson |first1=Hanna |title=Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer visar sitt sanna ansikte |url=https://fempers.se/2025/11/sveriges-kvinnoorganisationer-visar-sitt-sanna-ansikte/ |access-date=26 September 2025 |work=Feministiskt Perspektiv |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318231455/https://fempers.se/2025/11/sveriges-kvinnoorganisationer-visar-sitt-sanna-ansikte/ |archive-date=2025-03-18}}</ref> Jon Voss argued in Swedish LGBT+ magazine ''QX'' in 2023 that "the [[Sweden Democrats]] and the Swedish Women's Lobby sound frighteningly similar to [[Vladimir Putin|Putin]], [[Viktor Orbán|Orbán]], [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan|Erdoğan]], [[Donald Trump|Trump]], and [[Ron DeSantis|DeSantis]] in their ways of arguing by belittling transgender people."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Voss |first1=Jon |title=Upprörande smutskastning av transpersoner |url=https://www.qx.se/samhalle/opinion/245698/qx-ledarstick-upprorande-smutskastning-av-transpersoner/ |date=2023-04-06 |work=QX}}</ref>

Gender studies scholars Karlberg, Korolczuk and Sältenberg have situated SWL's anti-trans stance within the rise of anti-gender politics, which they argued is part of a broader process of "insidious {{wpl|Democratic backsliding|de-democratization}}," a set of discourses and practices that erode liberal democracy by marginalizing already vulnerable groups.<ref name=Karlberg>Karlberg, E., Korolczuk, E., & Sältenberg, H. (2025). Insidious de-democratization: Conceptualizing anti-gender politics in Sweden. ''Journal of Gender Studies'', 34(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2024.2446345</ref>

In 2025, SWL's secretary-general (and former president) Susannah Sjöberg appeared in a video with Sharon Byrne, the head of the far-right anti-trans astroturf group [[Women's Liberation Front]], which works with [[Alliance Defending Freedom]] and the [[Heritage Foundation]], and which is closely linked to anti-abortion extremist, evangelical Christian hate group [[Focus on the Family]]. According to Byrne, they talked about how "her team at the Swedish Women's Lobby had worked to kill" the gender recognition act in Sweden, and how she loved meeting "TERFs in the wild."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIG5Y8-BEYk Sharon Byrne, WoLF, USA, Report from the Commission on the Status of Women Beijing]</ref><ref>[https://bsky.app/profile/phindus.bsky.social/post/3lmk452kewc2a Äntligen har WDI släppt en video om CSW69 via Sharon Byrne från Women's Liberation Front (WoLF). Hon berättar att hon mötte SKOs generalsekreterare och ska ha pratat om "trans-lagen" och hur SKO hade "worked to kill it" och hur kul det är att träffa "TERFs in the wild".]</ref>

Sjöberg has also started using the word "[[TERF#Conspiracy theories, disinformation, and moral panics|safeguarding]]" when talking about trans people,<ref>[https://bsky.app/profile/phindus.bsky.social/post/3lpbpwp4xns2m Lyssnade in på Kvartals intervju med Susannah Sjöberg, Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer och hörde ordet "safeguard" användas i en svensk kontext kopplat till transpersoner]</ref> a [[Dog whistle politics|dog whistle]] imported from UK anti-trans rhetoric, where it's used to suggest that trans women are "predators" in places like changing rooms and schools. Closely associated with the long-standing {{wpl|LGBTQ grooming conspiracy theory}}, it's weaponized to mask anti-trans hate speech as concern for child protection, and feeds fears and conspiracy theories. Tanja Olsson-Blandy, a board member of SWL, repeated a familiar conspiracist claim when she stated that "soon only men will be able to be women."<ref>[https://www.fokus.se/opinion/snart-ar-det-bara-man-som-kan-vara-kvinnor/ Snart är det bara män som kan vara kvinnor]</ref> This remark draws from the "[[TERF#Conspiracy theories, disinformation, and moral panics|erasure of women]]" conspiracy theory central to anti-trans ideology. At the same time, she openly misgenders and dehumanizes trans women by denying their identities.

The Swedish Women's Lobby describes itself as "the free women's movement,"<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/sverigeskvinnoorganisationer/posts/pfbid02KTPmepJT5GUA5x8YXMYq57ccn3JZmGmvkBq4RaboCUypY8RL2BGg41j9TafdiKsWl Vill du stötta kvinnorörelsen?]</ref> in opposition to what its international arm WoPAI derides as "large civil society organizations [[No True Scotsman|that claim to be feminist]],"<ref name=why/> in other words, established, trans-inclusive feminist organizing. This language mirrors broader conspiratorial narratives common in anti-gender and far-right spaces, where self-declared "grassroots" actors position themselves as resisting a supposedly elite-controlled establishment.

Anti-trans activist Dianna Kenny lists the Swedish Women's Lobby as a group opposing trans healthcare alongside [[Moms for Liberty]], {{w|Gays Against Groomers||,}} [[LGB Alliance]], [[Genspect]], Sex Matters, Transgender Trend, WDI, and other well-known anti-trans hate groups.<ref>Dianna Kenny (2024), [https://books.google.com/books?id=V3QzEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA295 Gender Ideology, Social Contagion, and the Making of a Transgender Generation], Appendix B</ref>

The ''Report on violence and pathways to violence in anti-gender campaigns'', published by the European Commission, discussed several of SWL's member organizations as part of an [[anti-gender]] landscape in Sweden, noting that Sweden has seen "a gradual rise in anti-gender discourses between 2015 and 2023," and that also "self-described 'gender-critical feminists'" such as WDI and Women's Rights Watch challenge feminist expertise and engage in attacks on gender studies and scholars.<ref>{{cite web |title=Report on violence and pathways to violence in anti-gender campaigns |url=https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101061256/results |publisher=European Commission |date=2024}}</ref>

Elena Crimaldi notes that
{{cquote|Sweden, previously highlighted as a pioneer of feminist and LGBTIQ rights policies, has seen the rise of TERF-aligned groups. The Swedish Women’s Lobby (SWL), established in 1997 as an umbrella organisation uniting 57 associations representing over 130,000 women and girls, now actively opposes the "pro-gender movement." The SWL [...] this year launched the [[Women's Platform for Action International]], a [[far-right]], anti-transgender association promoting "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]."|||Elena Crimaldi, 2025<ref name=Crimaldi/>}}

==An international TERF hub: WoPAI==

{{cquote|The UK Supreme Court [[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|knows what a woman is]]|||Women's Platform for Action International, SWL's international arm<ref name=court>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250417123443/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/the-uk-supreme-court-knows-what-a-woman-is-now-the-rest-of-the-world-must-follow/ The UK Supreme court knows what a woman is – now the rest of the world must follow], Women's Platform for Action International (WoPAI)</ref>}}

In 2025, the Swedish Women's Lobby launched [[Women's Platform for Action International]] (WoPAI) as an international umbrella group for the [[TERF|TERF movement]]. According to its own statements, WoPAI was created to promote "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]"<ref name=why/>—a [[Pseudolaw|pseudolegal]] slogan TERFs weaponize against the legal recognition of trans people—and to put "women and girls first."<ref name=womensplatformforaction/> It rejects what it calls "non-legal and not agreed upon by the international community concepts of '[[gender identity]].'" It positions itself against what it calls the "pro-gender movement" in academia and NGOs, and opposes "[[Queer agenda|queer]], [[postmodern]], or [[neoliberal]] agendas of [[liberal]] and [[leftist]] origin." It condemns what it calls "large civil society organizations that claim to be feminist," which it accuses of driving resistance to the [[anti-gender]] movement. It portrays these groups as illegitimate, claiming they lack grassroots support and are controlled by "corporate and special interest lobby groups." WoPAI further claims that "the very concept of sex is being annihilated in [[TERF#Attacks on inclusive language|language]] and legislation, and women as a legal class of right holders are being erased." Despite claiming to be politically neutral, WoPAI's rhetoric obsessively targets the left: progressive feminist NGOs, academic institutions, and international [[human rights]] groups that support trans people. It claims that "neoliberal, relativist, left-labeled agendas" are being institutionalised and that "these actors have codified postmodern identity based ideologies and theories which harm women's rights. They claim that being a woman is a matter of opinion and search to eradicate women in terminology and language. (...) They say that a floating gender replaces sex."<ref name=why>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250219090601/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/why-wopai-is-needed/ Why Wopai is needed] ([https://archive.ph/qqxVL Archive.ph])</ref> Its website also features imagery of other anti-trans slogans such as "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|adult human female]]," "[[TERF glossary#Gamete Size/Gamete Potential|large gametes]]" and "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|ordinary meaning]]."<ref name=court/>

Observing the launch of Women's Platform for Action International in 2025, Andrea Cornwall discusses the launch as dedicated to promoting "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]" and as part of a broader anti-gender discourse coalition. She notes that self-described grassroots women's liberation movement activists find common cause with Christian anti-abortion activists in fighting "gender", stating that one activist at the WoPAI launch told her that it "was the power of shared anti-gender antipathy that enabled her to organise across political faultlines that might have sundered potential alliances in any other context."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cornwall |first1=Andrea |title=Troubling gender in international development |journal=Third World Quarterly|date=2026 |doi=10.1080/01436597.2025.2600552}}</ref>

WoPAI's rhetoric reflects a broader [[Conspiracy theory|conspiratorial]] narrative common in anti-gender discourse, which treats established feminist and human rights institutions as corrupt or co-opted enemies of "real" women. WoPAI repeats the standard talking points of the broader anti-gender movement, blaming social change on shadowy elites, presenting trans rights as a threat to women, and portraying gender diversity as a dangerous "gender ideology." A central part of this narrative is the baseless claim that [[TERF#Attacks on inclusive language|inclusive language]] and the recognition of gender diversity "erase" women from law or society. This is often packaged in pseudolegal slogans like "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]." WoPAI's actual agenda mirrors that of the [[far-right]]: dismantling legal protections for trans people and pushing an an exclusionary, biologically essentialist definition of womanhood. WoPAI publicly supported a UK court ruling that defined women solely as biological females, promoting it with the slogan: "The UK Supreme Court [[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|knows what a woman is]]."<ref name=court/>

In June 2025 Tanja Olsson-Blandy, a board member of both Swedish Women's Lobby and WoPAI, supported<ref>[https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/wopai-intervenes-at-human-rights-council-session/ WoPAI Intervenes at Human Rights Council Session]</ref><ref>[https://bsky.app/profile/phindus.bsky.social/post/3lst5y4lank2r WoPAIs (och SKO-medlemmen Östersjöfreds) Tanja Olsson-Blandy backade upp Reem Alsalems presentation, om bl a art kön enbart får ses som biologiskt och från födseln, på FNs Human Rights Council.]</ref> anti-trans activist [[Reem Alsalem]]'s report "Sex-based violence against women and girls", that called for a ban on legal and social gender transition for children and that called on states to "ensure that the terms 'women' and 'girls' are only used to describe biological females and that such a meaning is recognised in law," while insisting trans women are "males." The report also promoted the "[[TERF#"Erasure of women" conspiracy theory|erasure of women]]" conspiracy theory.<ref name=RAlsalem>{{cite web |last1=Alsalem |first1=Reem |title=Sex-based violence against women and girls |url=https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session59/advance-version/a-hrc-59-47-aev.pdf |date=2025}}</ref> Alsalem was praised by [[Alliance Defending Freedom]] for resisting "[[gender ideology]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=UN reports calls on governments to prohibit ‘gender transition’ for children |url=https://thecatholicherald.com/un-reports-calls-on-governments-to-prohibit-gender-transition-for-children/ |date=2025 |work=The Catholic Herald}}</ref> In July 2025, SWL together with WoPAI and the European Network of Migrant Women, also issued a joint statement in support of Alsalem and this report. They accused states and UN agencies of "redefining [women] out of legal existence," called women a "sex class," and denounced "exclusion, harassment, and professional retaliation" faced by those "who advocate for [...] [[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]," whom they said are met with "institutional power and public vilification." They referred to trans women as "males who do not wish to be treated in law and practice as men" and opposed their inclusion in analyses of violence against women.<ref name=JointStatement>{{cite web |title=Joint Statement in Support of Reem Alsalem’s Renewed Mandate |url=https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/joint-statement-in-support-of-reem-alsalems-renewed-mandate/ |publisher= Women's Platform for Action International |date=8 July 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250708134746/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/joint-statement-in-support-of-reem-alsalems-renewed-mandate/|archive-date=8 July 2025}}</ref> 

WoPAI is [[Women's Platform for Action International#Twitter activity|active on Twitter]], where it retweets hate groups, derides {{wpl|UN Women}} as a "men's rights organization" and complains about how TERFs are supposedly being "silenced."

WoPAI is effectively an international extension of SWL itself, as SWL has aligned with the most extreme, far-right anti-trans actors in the global anti-gender movement. From its establishment SWL secretary-general (and former president) Susannah Sjöberg served in the same role at WoPAI, while former SWL president Gertrud Åström was WoPAI's inaugural president. Both groups share the same infrastructure and office at Karlbergsvägen 86A in Stockholm. In June 2025 activists noticed that WoPAI had removed any mention of SWL's secretary-general Susannah Sjöberg also being WoPAI's secretary-general.<ref>[https://bsky.app/profile/phindus.bsky.social/post/3lrnm35u3gs2w Av oklar anledning har WOPAIS hemsida tagit bort vem deras generalsekreterare är (samma som SKO har)]</ref> By August 2025, Susannah Sjöberg was still signing letters as secretary-general of WoPAI, calling for the exclusion of trans women from women's groups in Australia, of all places. This highlighted the deceptive tactics of SWL, which, while continuing to share the same secretary-general with WoPAI, attempted to obscure the connection by removing her name from WoPAI's website, likely in an effort to downplay their association with WoPAI's extreme anti-trans agenda to the Swedish audience, while WoPAI persisted in its global far-right, anti-trans crusade.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250803165758/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Australia.pdf WoPAI letter by Susannah Sjöberg], August 2025 ([https://archive.ph/8oShf Archive.ph])</ref>

WoPAI presents itself as a global voice for women, but its actual role is to expand anti-trans activism beyond national borders. It builds on trans-exclusionary campaigns already active in countries like the UK and Sweden, using pseudofeminist vocabulary to advance trans-exclusionary politics. This rhetorical hijacking is analytically understood as discursive mimicry — using pseudo-emancipatory language to justify oppression. References to "women’s rights" are used not to promote gender equality, but to justify opposition to gender recognition laws, inclusive policies, and protections for trans people. Rather than advancing feminist goals, WoPAI's agenda aligns with a broader anti-gender movement that seeks to roll back gains in equality and limit the rights of marginalized groups.

===Meet the members===

{{cquote|Did [[Freemason|Freemasonry]] have a role in the roots of the trans movement?|||A lecture by Anna Kerr, board member of SWL's new project [[Women's Platform for Action International|WoPAI]], published by [[Women's Declaration International|WDI]].<ref name=WDIFeministLegalClinic>Anna Kerr (board member, Women's Platform for Action International): "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foi7fFKx-kI Did Freemasonry have a role in the roots of the trans movement?]." Published by [[Women's Declaration International]] (WDI). ([https://archive.ph/0XRY9 Archived version of description])</ref> WDI is both a member of SWL itself and its international umbrella.}}

[[File:Official Presidential Portrait of President Donald J. Trump (2025) (3x4 close cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Some of WoPAI's founding members, like [[Women's Declaration International]] (WDI), are enthusiastic supporters of [[Donald Trump]] and even claimed credit for influencing his first anti-trans executive order, written by [[Stephen Miller]].<ref name="Dansky" />]]
WoPAI's founding members include a familiar cast of trans-exclusionary organizations, such as [[Women's Declaration International]] (WDI),<ref>[https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/who-we-are/ Who we are]</ref> an [[SPLC]]-designated anti-LGBTQ+ hate group that is closely aligned with [[alt-right]], authoritarian and even [[Fascism|fascist]] movements. WDI is described by recognized feminist organizations as "an extreme anti-trans group,"<ref name=awid2>"[https://awid.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/Final%20EN%20Web%20-%20Gender%20Ideology%20Brief%20-%20July%202022.pdf 'Gender ideology' narratives: A threat to human rights]". {{wpl|Association for Women's Rights in Development}}. 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230203233735/https://awid.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/Final%20EN%20Web%20-%20Gender%20Ideology%20Brief%20-%20July%202022.pdf Archived] (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2023.</ref> and claims to have inspired [[Donald Trump]]'s assault on trans rights. WDI boasted about its influence on {{wpl|May Mailman}}, a far-right [[anti-abortion]] activist and Trump appointee who co-wrote Trump's executive order "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" with [[Stephen Miller]].<ref name=Dansky>Kara Dansky: [https://karadansky.substack.com/p/ffs-friday-may-mailman FFS Friday: May Mailman]</ref> WDI's Swedish branch, XXantippas Vrede, is also a member of SWL,<ref>{{cite web |title= Medlemsorganisationer |url=https://sverigeskvinnoorganisationer.se/medlemsorganisationer-2/ |publisher=SWL}}</ref> highlighting the tight integration between national and international arms of the TERF movement. Given the deep ties and overt admiration many of its international affiliates, especially WDI, have for the Trump administration, it is no surprise that SWL's latest anti-trans initiative echoes the rhetoric of the [[MAGA]] movement, prominently adopting slogans like "we put women and girls first."<ref name=womensplatformforaction>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250221093209/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/ Women's Platform for Action International]</ref>

One of the board members is Susan Smith, a co-author of the transphobic book ''The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht'', a co-director of British TERF group For Women Scotland and an active collaborator with [[J.K. Rowling]] on her transphobic projects.<ref>[https://liberalvoiceforwomen.telltix.com/events/liberalvoiceforwomen/1724107 The Supreme Court ruling: What does it mean for women?]</ref>

==Another international TERF hub: "MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls"==
{{Main|MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls}}

Not satisfied with only having one international TERF organization to fight what they call the "[[queer agenda]],"<ref name=why/> the Swedish Women's Lobby only a few months later, in August 2025, created ''yet another'' anti-trans group, this time with the Orwellian name "[[MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls]]." Its stated purpose is to campaign for "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]," i.e. against transgender rights.<ref name=swl-MOTERIS>[https://archive.ph/TLjub SWL on MOTERIS]</ref><ref>[[European Network of Migrant Women]]: [https://www.migrantwomennetwork.org/2025/08/12/moteris-protectiong-the-civic-space-of-women-and-girls/ MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls]</ref><ref>Feminist Legal Clinic: [https://feministlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Moteris-Launch-PR-August-11-Moteris-Launch-PR-August-11.pdf MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls]</ref> It has the same address as both SWL and WoPAI, and the same leadership and members. According to press releases published on the websites of both SWL and anti-trans groups "Feminist Legal Clinic" (associated with [[Women's Declaration International|WDI]]) and "[[European Network of Migrant Women]]" (an anti-trans organization posing as a "migrants' rights" organization), the organization is led by the Swedish Women's Lobby.<ref name=swl-MOTERIS/><ref>[[European Network of Migrant Women]]: [https://www.migrantwomennetwork.org/2025/08/12/moteris-protectiong-the-civic-space-of-women-and-girls/ MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls]</ref><ref>Feminist Legal Clinic: [https://feministlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Moteris-Launch-PR-August-11-Moteris-Launch-PR-August-11.pdf MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls]</ref>

The organization's primary aim appears to be targeting academic, NGO and feminist critics of the [[anti-gender]] and [[TERF]] movements, portraying such criticism as an attack on "the Civic Space" of [[TERF]] activists. This reflects a broader pattern, documented by scholars, in which reactionary actors co-opt the language of rights and feminism to delegitimize opponents, thereby undermining academic freedom, human rights advocacy, and [[TERF#How feminists resist TERFs|feminist resistance]] to anti-gender campaigns. The leadership behind MOTERIS, WoPAI, and the Swedish Women's Lobby has, under their other organizational banners, recently pushed claims that opposition to anti-gender activism is driven by [[George Soros]], major foundations, or other so-called "[[globalist]]" forces, using this to paint critics as part of an "elite"-run agenda, and WoPAI even claims trans people were invented by the [[Freemason|Freemasons]].<ref name=WDIFeministLegalClinic/>

The organization's name, Moteris, a Lithuanian word for "woman," invokes an explicitly biological essentialist definition of womanhood and draws on Eastern European cultural signifiers that have become prominent within contemporary anti-gender and anti-LGBTQ+ mobilizations. The choice of name thus aligns the group with both the exclusionary "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based]]" framing characteristic of trans-exclusionary discourse and the symbolic repertoire of the broader transnational anti-gender movement, in which Eastern European actors have played an increasingly visible role.

==Ideology and analysis==

The Swedish Women's Lobby (SWL) has undergone a marked ideological transformation from its origins as a generally respected advocate for women's rights and equality to a central actor in Sweden's growing [[anti-gender]] movement. Mathias Wåg, a Swedish journalist who covers the far right, notes that "it is important to highlight the role the Swedish Women's Lobby plays in international anti-trans organizing."<ref name=Wåg>Mathias Wåg (2025): [https://bsky.app/profile/guldfiske.bsky.social/post/3m22kfvrqqk2v Viktigt lyfta fram Sveriges kvinnoorganisationers (SKO) roll för den internationella antitransorganiseringen]</ref> SWL now claims to promote so-called "[[TERF#Dog whistles TERFs use: "Sex-based rights", "adult human female" and "what is a woman?"|sex-based rights]]," a biologically essentialist doctrine that denies trans people's existence and opposes their legal recognition. Its current agenda mirrors the talking points of the global far right: portraying gender diversity as a social contagion, vilifying queer and trans communities, and campaigning to reverse decades of progress in equality law.

As feminist scholar Claire House observes, this development reflects a wider international trend since the mid-2010s, where self-described radical feminists increasingly participate in anti-gender and regressive politics, often with particularly harmful consequences for trans rights.<ref name=House/> Across Europe and North America, such alliances recycle far-right rhetoric about biology, nation, and purity while presenting themselves as "[[TERF#Why TERF ideology is not feminism|feminism]]." Rather than analyzing patriarchy or structural power, SWL reproduces them, centering its activism on controlling who is allowed to exist as a woman. Scholars David Paternotte, Roman Kuhar, Agnieszka Graff, and Elżbieta Korolczuk describe this process as anti-gender mobilization, a coordinated reactionary backlash built on [[moral panic]], [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy thinking]], and the deliberate erasure of trans and queer people from public life.

SWL's cooperation with far-right networks and groups, including [[SPLC]]-designated hate group [[Women's Declaration International]], has made it a key Swedish node in this global reactionary infrastructure. In 2025, the organization launched the [[Women's Platform for Action International]] and [[MOTERIS]], both of which promote "sex-based rights" and collaborate with anti-gender activists abroad. Through these transnational anti-gender networks, SWL has extended its reach beyond Sweden, linking national anti-trans campaigns to a coordinated transnational effort.

SWL's rhetoric borrows methods that are common in far-right campaigns. It builds a sense of threat around trans people and uses that manufactured fear to argue for restrictions on their rights and participation in public life. Claims of "[[TERF#"Groomer," "safeguarding," "women's spaces" and weaponization of "violence against women" narratives|protecting women]]" or "[[TERF#"Groomer," "safeguarding," "women's spaces" and weaponization of "violence against women" narratives|defending children]]" serve as a pretext for policies that target an already vulnerable minority.

Politically, this is part of what researchers Karlberg, Korolczuk, and Sältenberg (2025)<ref name=Karlberg/> identify as de-democratization, the erosion of liberal democracy through the targeting of minorities and the delegitimization of expertise. SWL's claims that trans rights are an "elite project" or a "neoliberal invention" echo the propaganda of authoritarian populists across Europe and North America. Its association with groups promoting [[QAnon]]-style conspiracy theories (such as claims about [[Freemason]]ry being behind trans rights) and its promotion of [[pseudoscience]] reflect the broader radicalization that accelerated during the pandemic, when anti-gender activism increasingly merged with online conspiracy movements and far-right networks.

SWL's rhetoric, projects, and partnerships have severely undermined its credibility within both feminist and academic communities. Scholars now view it as emblematic of the broader anti-gender backlash sweeping Europe.

==External links==
*[https://sverigeskvinnoorganisationer.se/in-english/ The Swedish Women's Lobby] — English language
*[https://sverigeskvinnoorganisationer.se/ Sveriges Kvinnoorganisationer] — Swedish language

==See also==
*[[Women's Platform for Action International]]
*[[MOTERIS Protecting the Civic Space of Women and Girls]]
*[[Women's Declaration International]]
*"[[Queer agenda]]"
*"[[Gender ideology]]"

==Notes==
{{notelist|80%}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

==External links==
*Archived versions of the mission statement "Why Wopai is needed" of SWL's international arm, explaining its goal to fight "the queer agenda," a "pro-gender movement" in academia and NGOs, and "non-legal and not agreed upon by the international community concepts of 'gender identity'": [https://web.archive.org/web/20250219090601/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/why-wopai-is-needed/ Internet Archive], [https://archive.ph/qqxVL Archive.ph]
*Archived versions of WoPAI's "Legal Notice", which lists their legal representatives and "responsible for editorial" content as Gertrud Åström, Anna Zobnina, Susannah Sjöberg: [https://web.archive.org/web/20250704172258/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/legal-notice/ Internet Archive], [https://archive.ph/BMNXJ Archive.ph].
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIG5Y8-BEYk Video] published by [[Women's Declaration International|WDI]] featuring SWL's/WoPAI's secretary-general Susannah Sjöberg with Sharon Byrne of the far-right anti-trans astroturf group [[Women's Liberation Front]] (closely associated with anti-abortion extremist, evangelical Christian hate group [[Focus on the Family]]). Byrne says they talked about how "her team at the Swedish Women's Lobby had worked to kill" the gender recognition act in Sweden, and how she loved meeting "TERFs in the wild." Archived screenshot (Sjöberg, left; Byrne, right): [https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:fibaxvnhjjygfhyay7ii7cej/bafkreid2abpjoxtipi4fhobjrt54dtccax223sx3paekdfivzliyf4vx3e@jpeg Bsky], [https://web.archive.org/web/20250616064556/https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:fibaxvnhjjygfhyay7ii7cej/bafkreid2abpjoxtipi4fhobjrt54dtccax223sx3paekdfivzliyf4vx3e@jpeg Internet Archive], [https://archive.ph/g7dcX Archive.ph]
*[https://bsky.app/profile/phindus.bsky.social/post/3m4scy7pj5226 Overview of the anti-trans network in Sweden] ([https://archive.ph/TW5hv Archived])

==Further reading==
*{{cite news |last1=Crimaldi |first1=Elena |title=The fracturing of European feminism: How TERF ideology threatens decades of progress |url=https://feministeerium.ee/en/the-fracturing-of-european-feminism-how-terf-ideology-threatens-decades-of-progress/ |date=2 December 2025 |work=Feministeerium|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203093202/https://feministeerium.ee/en/the-fracturing-of-european-feminism-how-terf-ideology-threatens-decades-of-progress/|archivedate=2025-12-03}}

[[Category:Denialist organizations]]
[[Category:Hate groups]]
[[Category:Misnomers]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoting organizations]]
[[Category:Sweden]]
[[Category:TERFs]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]

Categories: Denialist organizations, Hate groups, Misnomers, Pseudoscience promoting organizations, Sweden, TERFs, Transphobia