Katti Anker Møller (23 October 1868 – 20 August 1945) was a Norwegian feminist,

children's rights Children's rights or the rights of children are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.

advocate, and a pioneer of

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to human reproduction, reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights: Reproductive rights ...

Biography

She was born Cathrine Anker in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

, the daughter of Herman Anker. She had nine siblings, and grew up around the first

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

at Sagatun in Hamar, which was founded by her father. Educated as a teacher, she spent a year in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where her exposure to the life of

prostitutes Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-p ...

and single mothers affected her profoundly. Her mother died at the age of 50, apparently exhausted from her many pregnancies, though the number of children she had was normal for her time. She married her cousin Kai Møller from Thorsø Manor (''Thorsø herregård'') in Torsnes in 1889, with whom she had three children. Among them were the physician Tove Mohr, whose daughter Tove Pihl has carried on the

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...

activism in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Møller took an early interest in the dangers of too many childbirths, and the plight of unmarried women and their

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

. Her

modus operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...

was to travel and give lectures in local meetings, a revolutionary approach for a woman of her time. In collaboration with her brother-in-law Johan Castberg, she worked tirelessly to legislate the rights of children born out of wedlock. This culminated in the institution of the so-called Castberg laws, passed by the

Norwegian parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

in 1915. These laws were revolutionary in their time in giving illegitimate children full rights of inheritance and the right to use their father's surname. She then turned her attention to decriminalizing abortion in Norway, an idea she presented through a lecture called "the liberation of motherhood", with the subtitle "the production of children under culture, the woman's right to decide over her own body". As a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, she declared that "The basis of all freedom is the right to dispose of one's own body, and what is in it. The opposite is the condition of a slave." This was met with broad opposition, also from some women. She was not dissuaded, and continued her efforts, adding

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

to her causes. In spite of opposition from opinion leaders such as

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset (; 20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Danish people, Danish-born Norwegian people, Norwegian novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1928. Born in Den ...

, she managed to establish the first "hygiene office" in Oslo to inform women on contraception. The

Norwegian National Women's Council The Norwegian National Women's Council () was founded on 8 January 1904 as an umbrella organization for the various Norwegian women's associations. It was established by Gina Krog whose international contacts had revealed that the International Co ...

(''Norske Kvinners Nasjonalråd'') was founded in 1904 as an umbrella organization for various Norwegian women's associations. She served as a member of the organization, together with fellow rights activists Karen Grude Koht, Fredrikke Marie Qvam, Gina Krog, and Betzy Kjelsberg.

References

External links

Danish article on Møller

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moller, Katti Anker Norwegian birth control activists Norwegian feminists Norwegian human rights activists Norwegian abortion-rights activists Sex educators Norwegian socialist feminists 1868 births 1945 deaths People from Hamar People from Fredrikstad Anker family Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people

Biography

References

Related reading

External links