Sweden

Governmental equality bodies

The governmental position with the highest responsibility for gender equality in Sweden is the Minister for Gender Equality and Labour. The Division for Gender Equality is one of two governmental bodies responsible for the promotion of gender equality. It is located within the Ministry of Labour which is headed by both the Minister for Labour and Gender Equality and Minister of Housing and Deputy Minister of Labour. ^[2]

Currently, the Division for Gender Equality employs 14 personnel who, as reflected in the scope of the Division, work exclusively on gender equality issues.

In addition, since January 2018, a second governmental body - the Gender Equality Agency - has been tasked with raising awareness of gender equality policy and gender mainstreaming, increasing coordination, contributing to knowledge and methods, and supporting implementation.

The overarching purpose of the Agency is to provide support and knowledge to reach the gender equality policy sub-goals. Moreover, all gender mainstreaming actions are guided by the objectives set out in the policy on gender equality The Gender Equality Agency currently has 104 employees.

By 31 March each year, the Gender Equality Agency must present, collect, and analyse the measures adopted by relevant government agencies and other actors, which are designed to reach the goals of Sweden’s gender equality policy. The expectation is that the 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. Further, the Swedish Gender Equality Agency was commissioned to execute the ‘gender mainstreaming in Government Agencies’ (GMGA) programme. ^[3] The programme started in 2013 and now supports 60 agencies in their gender mainstreaming efforts. The Swedish Agency for Public Management was tasked with evaluating GMGA. The evaluation, presented in the second half of 2019, found that GMGA has contributed to more agencies carrying out extensive work, changing their working methods, achieving more results and consequently increasing gender equality among their target groups. ^[4]

In addition to the programme, gender mainstreaming is supported by an inter-ministerial working group on gender mainstreaming that meets quarterly. All 11 ministries have a gender equality coordinator in the working group, as does the Office of the Prime Minister.

In addition, Government Decision (A2021/01442) states that all employees have a responsibility for gender mainstreaming in their areas of expertise. Statistics Sweden does annual follow-ups on how well gender equality is integrated into the government’s offices. The 2020 results show that, for example, 100 % of the Official reports of the Swedish government, 96 % of the EU fact sheets, 82 % of the committee directives, and 70 % of the charts and diagrams in the budget bill mention gender equality.

Both the Division for Gender Equality and the Swedish Gender Equality Agency are part of a regular reporting system with the Swedish parliament for the promotion of gender equality in the country. In addition, the Minister for Gender Equality and Housing regularly informs and consults with the parliament. An official report is sent to the parliament through the Budget Bill ^[5] wherein the government reports on how its efforts have led to results related to the overall target for Swedish gender equality policies, including the sub-targets on power, influence, finances, education, work, men’s violence against women and physical integrity. Results on gender mainstreaming are also included in the Budget Bill.

Independent equality body

The Equality Ombudsman (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 combat discrimination. ^[6] The mandate of the DO also encompasses 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 minimise discrimination. In general, the DO receives about 2 000 reports each year, around 200 of which result in supervision (i.e., they are investigated for their compliance with the Act on Discrimination).

Government departments or ministries frequently consult the DO about new or existing policies, laws, or programmes, where the Ombudsman's involvement leads to the adjustment of policies or legislative instruments in up to 50 % 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. Currently, 104 personnel are employed at the office of the Equality Ombudsman.

Parliamentary body

The committee responsible for gender equality is the Labour Market Committee (Arbetsmarknadsutskottet). ^[7] However, the relevant committee regarding discussing gender equality law depends on the nature of the issue at hand as such issues can be presented to the Justice Committee, for example, particularly concerning questions regarding men’s violence against women.

Regional structure

Sweden has 20 county councils (landsting), which are self-governing local authorities and one of the principal administrative subdivisions. These county councils are governed by a county council assembly (landstingsfullmäktige), which is elected by county constituents every four years, in conjunction with general elections.

Each county has a county administrative board (länsstyrelse), a Swedish government agency that is responsible for government administration at the county level. Through ordinances, the government has assigned county administrative boards responsibility for developing county gender mainstreaming strategies for the period 2018-2020. ^[8] They have an important role to play as coordinators of regional action to prevent violence against women (by men), honour-related violence and oppression, prostitution and trafficking for sexual purposes, and protection of children subjected to violence. They are also important partners in the new Gender Equality Agency.

The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting) represents the government’s, professionals’, and employers’ interests vis-à-vis Sweden's 20 county councils/regions and 290 municipalities. ^[9] The 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.

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

Consultation with civil society

Consultation with civil society happens through a variety of means. One way is through hearings for reporting to the UN on progress in fulfilling articles of the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). As part of this process, there are formal hearings with many women's NGOs.

The NGOs are given the opportunity to reflect on the Swedish government’s shortcomings both orally to the State Undersecretary and/or to the Minister for Gender Equality and Labour, as well as the opportunity to submit written statements to the Swedish government. The Swedish government also regularly initiates specific councils with NGOs depending on the topic at hand, for example, men’s violence against women. The NGOs themselves also regularly request and are granted meetings with the Minister and/or the Undersecretary to discuss relevant issues.

In addition, the Government Offices of Sweden has an inter-ministerial working group for collaboration with civil society organisations. Meetings between the working group and civil society take place at least four times annually, coordinated by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs A national body for dialogue and consultation between the government and civil society (NOD), with 665 member organisations and 17 umbrella organisations meet regularly, as per a treaty signed in 2018. The NOD aims to help public actors and civil society to cooperate, and to provide relevant organisations with meeting points to support dialogue. The NOD is a resource for method development and the arranging of consultative meetings on specific societal issues. This national body is active in all areas of society, facilitating meetings and dialogues. The platform is also administrating long-term processes and dialogues. The government grants large funds annually to women’s rights NGOs with national and international operations.