Legislative and policy framework

The Swedish Constitution seeks to combat discrimination, including on the grounds of sex. In line with Article 2 of the Swedish Constitution, public institutions work to combat discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, national or ethnic origin, linguistic or religious affiliation, functional disability, sexual orientation, age or any other individual circumstances.[1]

Legislation prohibiting gender-based discrimination in the labour market was adopted in 1979[2] and later in 1997. In 2008, the Discrimination Act was introduced to combat discrimination and promote equal rights and opportunities, using an intersectional approach, regardless of sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other beliefs, disability, sexual orientation or age.

Sweden’s national gender equality strategy guides gender equality and mainstreaming efforts. The overall objective is to ensure that women and men have the same power to shape the country and their own lives. With this wider picture in mind, the government has six subgoals, although the policy does not indicate a period in which to achieve them.

Subgoals of the Swedish gender equality policy

  • Equal distribution of power and influence.
  • Economic gender equality.
  • Gender equality in education.
  • An equal distribution of unpaid housework and the provision of care work.
  • Gender equality in health, care and social services.
  • Cessation of men’s violence against women.

Instead of a single national action plan, each ministry must create a plan for 2021–2025 to implement this strategy in their governmental office.[3] Additionally, as part of their letter of regulation in 2023, 31 out of 54 governmental agencies were tasked with developing strategic gender mainstreaming action plans for 2022–2025. These plans outline how each agency will contribute to gender equality goals in their areas and society. The action plans have goals but no targets, and each agency is required to report the progress of their work to the government in their annual reports.

Gender mainstreaming is Sweden’s main strategy for achieving its gender equality policy objectives. Sweden’s gender equality policy began with a five-year national action plan in 1988. Since adopting the ‘Shared power – shared responsibility’ proposition in 1994,[4] Sweden has focused on gender mainstreaming strategies. Government Decision A2021/01442 mandates integrating gender equality into all aspects of policy and decision-making, including budgeting, legislation, EU and international work, and government control of agencies.

Structures

Governmental gender equality bodies

Sweden is one of the few EU Member States that benefits from the presence of two governmental bodies with a mandate for gender equality.

The governmental position with the highest responsibility for gender equality in Sweden is the Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life, whose remit includes the Division for Gender Equality (Jämställdhetsenheten). The Division for Gender Equality is located within the Ministry of Employment, and is headed by the Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life, the Minister for Housing and the Deputy Minister for Employment.[5]

Functions of the Division for Gender Equality

  • Drafting gender equality policy for the government.
  • Conducting gender-sensitive analysis of policies and legislation.
  • Coordinating and/or implementing government decisions on gender equality and mainstreaming processes and methodologies, including gender budgeting.
  • Integrating gender equality considerations into EU and international affairs.
  • Consulting civil-society organisations to learn from expertise and accelerate the implementation of measures to achieve gender equality goals.
  • Publishing and disseminating gender-equality-related information and training.
  • Monitoring progress in achieving gender equality.

The Division for Gender Equality has 14 employees, who spend between 75 % and 100 % of personnel time working on gender equality issues. The annual budget for the division is not available.

A second governmental body, the Swedish Gender Equality Agency (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten), was established on 1 January 2018 to contribute to the effective implementation of Swedish gender equality policy. The work of the agency requires close cooperation with other government agencies, municipalities, county councils, regions and civil society. The Swedish Gender Equality Agency works on policy analysis, follow-up of progress against the gender equality goals, coordination and support for government agencies and universities on gender mainstreaming, and international exchange and cooperation.

An important part of the mandate is supporting the implementation and monitoring of Sweden’s national 10-year strategy to prevent and combat men’s violence against women, including female genital mutilation, honour-related violence and oppression, and prostitution and trafficking in human beings.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency has 135 employees, who spend between 75 % and 100 % of personnel time working on gender equality issues. The agency received approximately EUR 6.2 million from the government for special gender equality measures.

By 31 March each year, the Swedish Gender Equality Agency reviews and analyses measures to achieve Sweden’s gender equality goals, ensuring their effectiveness and implementation. The expectation is that the Swedish Gender Equality Agency will ensure that the priorities in the government’s gender equality policy have an impact and contribute to more effective implementation of Swedish gender equality policy.

Both the Division for Gender Equality and the Swedish Gender Equality Agency report regularly to parliament on gender equality progress, including on the budget bill, covering various targets such as power, finance, education, unpaid work, healthcare, social services and violence against women.

Independent gender equality body

The Equality Ombudsman (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen) (DO) in Sweden is an independent government agency that works on behalf of the Swedish parliament and government to promote equal rights and opportunities and to combat discrimination.[6] The mandate of the DO encompasses sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other beliefs, disability, sexual orientation and age. The DO’s tasks are to influence, guide and encourage employers, agencies, municipalities and others to combat discrimination.

Functions of the Equality Ombudsman

  • Publishing and disseminating gender-equality-related information, and conducting training.
  • Providing legal support for victims of discrimination on the grounds of sex or gender.
  • Deciding on complaints of discrimination on the grounds of sex.
  • Conducting gender-sensitive analysis of policies and legislation.
  • Coordinating and/or implementing anti-discrimination policies (on grounds other than sex or gender) for the government.

The DO has a total annual expenditure of EUR 12 million, with approximately 87 % allocated to personnel and operating costs. The DO has 112 employees, who dedicate up to a quarter of all personnel time to gender equality issues due to the expansive mandate.

Government departments or ministries frequently consult the DO about new or existing policies, laws or programmes, and the DO’s involvement leads to the adjustment of policies or legislative instruments in 50–75 % of the cases. The recommendations made by the DO on reducing discrimination in the future are not legally binding, although they may result in a change; for example removing a discriminatory rule or bringing in a new way of working to prevent discrimination.

Parliamentary body

The committee responsible for gender equality is the Labour Market Committee (Arbetsmarknadsutskottet). The committee considers matters concerning integration, discrimination, and equality between women and men, and also prepares appropriations under the budget bill in expenditure area 13 (integration and gender equality)[7] and area 14 (the labour market and working life).[8]

Regional structure

In recent years, Sweden has updated its regional structure and moved towards self-governing units rather than county councils. Sweden has 21 regions, which in municipal law are defined as self-governing units with an area of geographical responsibility corresponding to a county.

Additionally, each county has a county administrative board (länsstyrelse), a government agency that is responsible for government administration at the county level. Through ordinances, the county administrative boards are responsible for developing county gender equality and gender mainstreaming strategies. Basing their work on the government’s national gender equality policy, they have an important role to play as coordinators of regional action and are important partners for the Swedish Gender Equality Agency.

The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) (Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner) represents the government’s, professionals’ and employers’ interests vis-à-vis Sweden’s 21 regions and 290 municipalities.[9] SALAR adopted the European Charter for Equality of Men and Women in Local Life to actively promote gender equality in its capacities. By signing the charter, SALAR has adopted the strategy of gender mainstreaming.

Functions of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions[vi]

  • Providing support to increase the number of women in the highest political positions.
  • Promoting gender equality in working life, including in working conditions and wages.
  • Contributing to the work against men’s violence towards women, and strengthening the focus on preventive measures in municipalities and county councils.
  • Mainstreaming gender in municipal and regional decision-making and services.

In numerous municipalities and county councils, the elected councils have also adopted the charter, similarly endeavouring to achieve gender equality in their operations.

Consultation with civil society

Consultation with civil society occurs through various means: non-government organisations (NGOs) can regularly request meetings with the Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life or the state secretary to discuss relevant issues and are able to voice concerns orally or in written statements. The Swedish government also regularly initiates specific councils with NGOs depending on the topic in question, for example on men’s violence against women.

The Government Offices of Sweden has an interministerial working group that collaborates with civil-society organisations, meeting quarterly under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture. In 2018, the Swedish government established the National Office for Dialogue and Consultation (NOD) to promote gender equality through cooperation between public actors and civil society. NOD facilitates meetings, supports dialogue and develops methods for addressing societal issues. The government grants funds annually to women’s rights NGOs with national and international operations.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency distributes funds to NGOs annually; in 2023 it allocated EUR 7 291 000 in grants for gender equality projects.

Methods and tools

Note: the methods and tools listed in this section were the focus of EIGE’s 2024 assessment. If certain methods and tools are not mentioned in this section, this does not necessarily mean that they are not used by Sweden.

Gender impact assessment

There is a legal obligation to conduct an ex ante gender impact assessment when drafting legal instruments, policies, plans or programmes.[11]

The government has also reinforced support and capacity-building measures to improve practices in conducting gender equality impact assessments. In addition, Government Decision A2021/01442 and rhw Government Offices Decision A2021/01442 both stipulate that a gender evaluation and assessment is required for all initiatives that originate from the government offices (i.e. bills, proposals, decisions, etc.).

Gender budgeting

There is a legal obligation to undertake gender budgeting for a ministerial budget or the budget of other governmental institutions,[12] incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of the budgetary process.

The government provides a clear statement of gender-equality-related objectives in budgets, and each proposal in the Budget Act is accompanied by a gender impact assessment. As a result of the extensive annual instructions, the practice of gender budgeting is used widely in most ministries, and data on gender equality budgetary allocations is also published.

Training and awareness raising

Officials at the highest political level, employees of the government’s Gender Equality Unit and most employees in other ministries participate in gender equality training on an ad hoc and voluntary basis. The training includes general sensitivity to gender issues, as well as specific training on gender mainstreaming, performing gender impact assessments and gender budgeting. The training takes up to four hours a year, except for the employees of the government’s gender equality body, who receive eight hours of training per year.

Gender statistics

Since 1994, official statistics related to individuals must be disaggregated by sex unless there are special reasons for not doing so (Section 14 of the Official Statistics Ordinance, 2001). National regulations ensure the quality and evaluation of these statistics. Statistics Sweden has certified its entire production of statistics according to the international standards of marketing, opinion and social research (International Organization for Standardization code 20252). SALAR collects and reports a wide range of statistics on its members’ activities (including a number of statistics disaggregated by sex).

The production of official statistics is decentralised, with multiple agencies producing relevant statistics in their fields of expertise. Some agencies also require sex-disaggregated data for non-official statistics. For example, the Discrimination Act was amended in 2017 to incorporate the requirement for all organisations to conduct an annual pay survey to discover, remedy and prevent unfair gender differences in pay and other terms of employment in the workplace. An employer with a minimum of 10 employees must document the work on the survey and analysis, and employers with over 25 employees are subject to further requirements, such as the requirement to work on ‘active measures’ to promote fair pay.[13]

Since 1983, Statistics Sweden has had a unit dedicated to promoting sex-disaggregated data, with a section of its website dedicated to gender statistics.

Data can be downloaded directly from the Statistics Sweden web page in Excel file format to facilitate the use of the data. There are also links to regular publications, including ‘Women and men in Sweden – Facts and figures’ (‘På tal om kvinnor och män’), which has been published biannually since 1984.[14] Similar measures have also been rolled out at the regional and local levels.

Monitoring progress

Sweden’s institutional mechanisms for gender equality and gender mainstreaming stand above the EU average but show a decline compared with 2021.

Explore Sweden’s scores on the four key indicators on institutional mechanisms for the promotion of gender equality and gender mainstreaming developed to monitor progress on Area H of the Beijing Platform for Action.

Sweden: Institutional mechanisms for gender equality and gender mainstreaming

References