Stockholms Allmänna Skyddsförening (literary: 'Stockholm Public Protection Society') was a Swedish

charity organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, founded in 1866. Following the foundation of the Women's Charitable Society in 1819, numerous charitable societies were founded all over Sweden. These were commonly referred to as ''fruntimmers-skyddsföreningar'' (literary:'Women's protection societies') because they were founded and managed by (rich) women. They were founded with the equivalent women's charitable societies in Germany as role models, with the common thought to offer secular charity without using it to enforce religion upon the poor. These ''fruntimmers-skyddsföreningar'' eventually existed in almost every city and town, and in 1858 the duchess of Östergötland founded her own local ''fruntimmers-skyddsförening'' for the area of Kungsholm in

. In 1866, the Kungsholm Protection Society united all the other local Protection Societies in Stockholm to one central organisation named the Stockholm Public Protection Society. The Society collaborated with the authorities and acted as a channel between the private charitable societies and the Communal Poor Help of the state which had been introduced in Sweden in the Poor Help Law of 1847. They provided temporary monetary assistance as well as acting as employment agencies and housing agencies. From 1867, they were given financial support from the city council. Their work was important as a complement to the social help provided by the state, because after the introduction of the Poor Help Law of 1871, the communal and state authorities could no longer give any assistance to any poor people except the physically or mentally challenged, the aged or children, so all the other in need of assistance were referred to private charities, notably the Stockholms Allmänna Skyddsförening or its equivalent local ''fruntimmers-skyddsförening'', as most cities and towns had one.

References

* Monika Janfelt:
Den privat-offentliga gränsen: Det sociala arbetets strategier och aktörer
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' * Leen Van Molle:
Charity and Social Welfare: The Dynamics of Religious Reform in Northern
' {{Expand Swedish, Stockholms Allmänna Skyddsförening, date=May 2020 Charities based in Sweden Social welfare charities 1866 establishments in Sweden Women's organizations based in Sweden Social history of Sweden 19th century in Stockholm 1866 in Sweden