It was established in 1878 with the purpose to repeal the so-called reglementation system, which required prostitute women to registration and regular medical examination to prevent sexually transmitted infections.
[2] However, the law was met with rising opposition, as the police harassed women on mere suspicion of being prostitutes, such as for example bar waitresses, and a different method was therefore deemed necessary.
Known members was Ellen Bergman, a key front figure of the organization,[8] and Karolina Widerström, Sweden's first woman physician and chairperson of the National Association for Women's Suffrage.
[9] Svenska Federationen deemed the regulation system as humiliating and socially stigmatizing: after being registered, the prostitutes were made to hand in their passport and exchange it for control books which were stamped after their weekly examination.
It attempted to organize in all of the Swedish cities were the regulation system was in practice, as well as in Denmark and Norway, but most of its activity was to remain restricted to the capital of Stockholm.