Linnéa Petra Sofie Claeson (born 31 January 1992) is a

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

and law student, known for her

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and trademark multi-coloured hair, which has earned her the nickname "rainbow warrior". She is also a former Swedish professional

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player, active from 2013 to 2017, who played for

Ringkøbing Håndbold Ringkøbing Håndbold (Ringkøbing Handball) is a Danish handball club from Ringkøbing. In the season 2022/23 it plays in the Danish Women's Handball League. Kits Stadium *Name: Green Sports Arena *City: Ringkøbing *Capacity: 1,100 pers ...

. Claeson was born in

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

on 31 January 1992. During and since her sporting career, she speaks and writes about

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

and

LGBTQI ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is an ...

rights. She has co-founded several

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

organisations, including Omtanke Stockholm, supporting

homeless people Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

, Kvinna till Kvinna, supporting women in war and

conflict zone War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

s, and Refugee Relief. She founded @assholesonline on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, which had over 200,000 followers by early 2018, in order to counteract the vitriol that she had had directed towards her, even as a

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

. She posted some of the

misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

messages she had received, and included her own witty responses to them. (Later on some of them were revealed to be falsely fabricated and staged, thus was she accused of exploiting true victims of sexual abuse.) This earned her the UN Association of Sweden's Human Rights Prize, and she was also voted "Lawyer of the Year" by readers of '' Dagens Juridik''. The accolades brought another torrent of abuse directed at her on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

. The # jagärhär (#iamhere) Facebook group countered the abuse by posting congratulatory comments and praise for her courage in standing up to the abuse. She participated as a celebrity dancer in

Let's Dance 2019 Let's Dance 2019 was the fourteenth season of the Swedish celebrity dancing show Let's Dance. The season premiered on 22 March 2019, and is broadcast on TV4. Presenters were Tilde de Paula Eby and David Hellenius. Contestants Scoring char ...

, which was broadcast on

TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to: *TV4 (Poland), a private Polish television station *TV4 (Sweden), a Swedish television network **TV4 Group, owners of the Swedish television station *South African Broadcasting Corporation TV4, a channel operated by the st ...

References

External links

* 1992 births Living people People from Norrköping Municipality Swedish female handball players Swedish human rights activists Swedish feminists Sportspeople from Östergötland County {{Sweden-handball-bio-stub