The association was founded with the goal to reform the marriage laws regarding the guardianship of men over their wife, and to make it possible for married women to handle their own economy.
The association was co-founded by Anna Hierta-Retzius and Ellen Anckarsvärd in 1873, while it was formally headed by the male parliamentarian Gustaf Fridolf Amlquist.
The association worked to affect public opinion in order to introduce legal reform regarding gender equality.
This was a controversial subject: married women were legally minors under the guardianship of their husbands, and thus had not control over their own property, unless there had been a prenuptial agreement.
In 1874, a legal reform introduced the right for a professional married woman to control the money she earned after marriage.