Sweden –

and the highroad to success of gender equality?

Has EQUAL made any difference?

Lisbon the 17th of December 2008

Catharina Alpkvist

Gender politics and the lawHistory

TheoryFacts and statistics about gender and segregation

Methods and tools for change

Hard, systematic, strategic, structural and long termwork inside the organisations………

– instead of gender projects with a beginning and an end…..

Laws!

- the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman and the Equal Opportunities Act (since the 1st of July 1980)

- the Act on individual (separate) taxation (1971)

- the Act on universal suffrage (1921)

Political targets!

- The gender equality policy objectives (adopted by the Swedish Riksdag in May 2006)

Women and men must have the same power to shape society and their own lives.

Equal division of power and influence between women and men.

Economic equality between women and men.

Equal distribution of unpaid care and household work.

Men’s violence against women must stop.

Gender mainstreaming needs an understanding and a theory:

Two principles:

Separation

The gender-segregated labour market. Almost all of those working in care are women and almost all of those workingin technical jobs are men.

Hierarchy

In the labour market, men generally earn more than women in just about every occupational category. Women are increasingly scarce the higher up you go in an organisation’s hierarchy. Whatever men do, or whatever is regarded as male work,tends to be valued higher than whatever women do and whatever is regarded as female work.

Maintaining the gender system!

Gender structures in society are created and maintained by all of us, women and men alike;

such structures cannot survive unless individuals recreate them in their everyday life….

Women and Men in Sweden 200781 percent of women and 87 percent of men were in the labour force.

21 percent of the parental benefits are taken by the fathers. 77 percent of managers in the private sector and 42 percent of managers in the public sector were men in 2006

Sexual segregation remains on labour market

Pay differences remain.

Men are over-represented for all types of crime

Subjected to crime at different crime scenesMen are more often subjected to assault in a public place while women are more often subjected to crime at work/school and in the home. 

The strategy gender mainstreaming demands

- explicit and conscious leadership,

- knowledge about the gender system

- an understanding of the powerdiscussion

- knowledge about the existing differences and challenges between

men and women

- a genuine wish to change,

- a supportsystem within the organisation.

Gender equality is about a shift of power.

A large-scale change.

It is about a shift of power from men to women

Gender equality is not a reality in any country in the world.

Do we really want gender equality?

If so – why is it so hard??

EQUAL in Sweden has meant practical gender equality work in partnerships all over the country.

Projects have started and finished their work

New and old methods and models have been developed

Results and experiences have been spread and sometimes also integrated in the old structures

A lot of people have learnt a lot more….

Change is about taking another little step.

EQUAL has meant a number of steps towards a new future…

Maybe and hopefully a more gender equal future????

Thankyou

Tack så mycket

Muito obrigada

for your attention!!!

Catharina Alpkvist