WUNRN
Submission to the United
Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women
Pre-sessional Working
Group for the 63rd session, Geneva, 27-31 July 2015
List of issues
and questions with regard to the combined eighth and ninth periodic reports of Sweden
Submitted by the
Swedish Women´s Lobby on behalf of the Swedish CEDAW network:
The Swedish Women’s Lobby (Sveriges
Kvinnolobby)
Equally Unique (Lika
Unika)
Everything is possible –
Media Watch Group (Allt är
Möjligt)
Forum – Women and
Disability in Sweden (Forum -
Kvinnor och funktionshinder)
Green Women (Gröna
kvinnor)
International Women’s
Union
(IKF)
Malmö Gender Equality
Bureau (Malmö
Jämställdhetsbyrå)
Soroptimist International
of Sweden (Sverigeunionen av
Soroptimistklubbar)
Swedish National Committee
for UN Women (UN Women Nationell
Kommitté Sverige)
The Dea Society for
Women’s Museums in Sweden (DEA-föreningen)
The Delta Kappa Gamma
Society Sweden (Delta Kappa
Gamma)
The Fredrika Bremer
Association (Fredrika Bremer Förbundet)
The National Organisation
for Women’s Shelters and Young Women’s Shelters in Sweden (Roks)
The Swedish Baha'i
Community (Svenska
Baha'i-samfundet)
The Swedish Medical
Women’s Association (Kvinnliga läkares
förening)
Unizon (Unizon)
Varken Hora eller Kuvad (Varken Hora eller
Kuvad)
Winnet Sweden (Winnet Sverige)
Women Can (KvinnorKan)
Women in Skaraborg (Kvinna
Skaraborg)
Women’s Organisations
Committee on Alcohol and Drug Issues
(KSAN)
Article 1 – Discrimination
The expression equality between women and men
is now present in the reformulated constitutional law. However, to fulfil the
demands according to CEDAW the Constitution needs to be more substantive in its
description and definition of discrimination of women. We urge the Government
to integrate the definitions of discrimination according to CEDAW into the
Swedish Constitution and to ensure that CEDAW and the Optional Protocol are
made into law.
Article 2 – Policy
Measures
The
Swedish anti-discrimination legislation was reformed in 2009, and the Gender
Equality Ombudsman (JämO) was merged with the Equality Ombudsman (DO). The
reform resulted in a weakening of the Governments’ operative gender equality
work. Instead of efforts to create structural change, the work is now focused
on individual cases of discrimination. The Government should give gender
equality higher priority by establishing a Gender Equality Agency responsible
for implementing gender mainstreaming as a strategy at both regional and
national level.
To eliminate the prevailing discrimination of women, active human rights
work is needed. An independent Human Rights Institution should be established
in accordance with the Paris Principles. Sweden has time and again been called
on by the UN system to establish an independent Human Rights Institution, just
as 17 other EU countries have done. By ratifying the Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities, Sweden has committed itself to do so.
The employment rate of the Roma population in Sweden, especially Roma
women, is far below the average population. The possibilities for Roma women to
obtain access to the labour market and to the education system have to be
prioritized. Distinct efforts to improve the health of Roma women and to
support Roma women who are subjected to violence, prostitution and trafficking
are also needed.
It is noteworthy that Sweden
has not ratified the ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal People’s
Rights, given the fact that the Samí is acknowledged as indigenous people in
Sweden with roots dating back to the 9th century. Existing Swedish laws do not
safeguard the rights of the Sami population. Instead it diminishes their
possibilities to self-determination. This has a significant impact on all Samí
and does not protect the rights of women and their empowerment within the Samí
identity. There will be little progress for the Sami people without the
ratification of ILO Convention 169.
Article 3 – Guarantee of
Basic Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Few cases of sex crimes are reported and even fewer go
to court; 17 500 sex crimes were reported to the Swedish police in 2013, of
which 1 175 were prosecuted. Despite a
strengthening of the law in 2013, sex crimes are rarely punished. A law based
on sexual consent needs to me implemented in order to strengthen the right of
the victim. Moreover, education on sexual offences, gender equality and
violence should be mandatory for all judges dealing with sex crimes.
The work against domestic violence has progressed, the
level of knowledge has increased and a huge amount of material has been
produced. However, more action is needed. The vast majority of women with
addictive behavior are exposed to violence, but are often treated with
disrespect by the Police. The attitude that women with addictive problems have
themselves to blame has to be tackled. The Government must also live up to
constitutional rights and protection, which includes physical integrity. Girls
and women should not have to tolerate to be exposed to violence and assaults by
persons in power positions such as nurturers and doctors. The efforts
undertaken by the Government have not been adequately effective, qualitative
and coordinated. In this work, the previously suggested Gender Equality Agency
has an important and central role to play (see article 2).
Article 4 – Special Measures
The Swedish Government has adopted gender mainstreaming as the strategy to
reach gender equality. To ensure that public spending is equally distributed to
men and women, boys and girls, all budget processes should have a gender
perspective. This applies to budgets on national, regional and local levels.
Regardless of where in Sweden you live, you have the right to gender equal
social service. The previously suggested Gender Equality Agency (see article 2) should function as a resource and support in the
Governments and municipalities work with gender mainstreaming of budget
processes.
Article 5 - Sex Role Stereotyping and Prejudice
Sweden does currently not have any law against gender stereotypical
advertising. In order to combat the growing sexualization of the public space
and the wide spread use of sexist images in advertising, a law needs to be
implemented. Legislation was suggested in a governmental enquiry already in
2008 (SOU 2008:5). The results showed that a law can be implemented without
threatening the freedom of expression and liberty of the press. An authority
should be given the task to monitor the application of the law and to give
sanctions when applicable, such as penalty payments.
Women in Sweden take 75 percent of the parental leave, perform more unpaid
domestic work and are to a lager extent absent from work to take care of sick l
children. The previous reserved parental months for each parent is the only
measure that has been effective in increasing men’s parental leave. The “gender
equality bonus” has not been equally effective. An individualized parental
leave would strengthen women’s positions in the labour market and thus pave the
way for women’s economic independence. It would also result in a more gender
equal division of child care and domestic work, as well as strengthen the
child’s right to connect with both parents.
Article 6 – Prostitution
The support to identify and
support women and girls who experience prostitution and trafficking, has to be
strengthened. There is a need for increased resources, better coordination and
knowledge among stakeholders in social work, health care, police, courts and
the civil society. Special attention has to be given to particularly vulnerable
groups within prostitution, such as girls and women with mental illnesses,
girls that use sex as self-inflicted injury and girls and women with addictive
behavior.
The existing penalty scale is
not applied in cases of sex purchase. Despite that the Government increased the
penalty scale, no one has yet been sentenced to prison. Resources have to be
allocated in order to discover sex purchases and the Police should prioritize
these crimes. There is a tendency to lump together trafficking in women with
pimping, which has to be avoided. Women in prostitution are turned into
witnesses rather than victims of crime, whereby they are not granted the same
support and security. The Sex Purchase Act also has to be extended to include
Swedes who buy sex abroad.
Commercial surrogacy
motherhood is a trade with women bodies and reproductive organs as well as with
children. The practice is incompatible with human rights. The Government has to
ban commercial surrogacy and combat the growing international trade with women
and children that surrogacy motherhood has become.
Article 7 – Political and Public Life
Boards
and management teams have to reach a gender equal representation within a given
timetable. The number of women in state owned enterprises has improved through
goal oriented and active corporate governance. The same approach should be
implemented in boards and management groups in municipal enterprises. To reach
gender equality in publically owned enterprises a quota system should be
considered. The Government should also be obliged to monitor and report on
gender representation within public corporations.
Until 2013, the private
sector experienced stagnation in the number of women within their boards. All
stock exchange listed companies are obliged to apply the Swedish Corporate
Governance Code managed by the Swedish Corporate Governance Board. During 2014,
more far-reaching demands on gender representation and time frames were stated
in the Code; by year 2020, women shall constitute at least 40 per cent of the
board members. The Government is requested to carefully follow and report on
the development.
The Sami Parliament is both a
publically-elected parliament and a State agency. The tasks are regulated by
the Swedish Sami Parliament Act. One of their main areas of activity is to
manage the Reindeer Husbandry Act and issues concerning hunting and fishing
rights, which form the basis of the economic survival of the Samí and regulates
access to land. The rights of women are seriously limited by the present
Reindeer Husbandry Act. Samí women often have to resort to multiple jobs in order
to sustain a living for their family, resulting in unsustainable family
conditions where women and men are separated for longer periods, due to
reindeers moving between grazing lands. To safeguard the rights of the Samí,
Sweden have to ratify ILO Convention 169, which would pave the way for
reforming present Samí authorities and institutions.
Article 8 – Representation
Two Swedish citizens have been given top positions
within the UN since 2012; Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (July
2012) and Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD (April 2015). Both have been men.
The Swedish Government has to promote and actively support that more women are
nominated to high positions within the UN and the EU and report how the work
proceeds. The Government’s CEDAW report from 2014 is sparse when it comes to
information on the number of women and men within international organizations.
The UN and its organs are not even mentioned. Sweden should strongly advocate
for equal career opportunities for women and men within all fields of the UN
system.
Article 9 – Nationality
Women without Swedish citizenship living
in the country should be able to report abuse and get health care when
subjected to violence – without risking deportation.
The
two-year rule, which can
be found in the Swedish Aliens Act, has to be abolished and the rules to protect
immigrant women subjected to violence have to be strengthened. The rule makes
it possible for immigrants who live together with a Swedish citizen in Sweden
to get a temporarily resident permit for two years. If the relation ends during
this period, the person without Swedish citizenship has to leave the country.
The rule makes it hard for women to leave abusive partners, report the violence or contact a
women’s shelter. Exceptions to the two-year rule can
be made for victims of domestic violence, but they are too strict. Not many
women meet the criterion since it requires that the woman must have been
exposed to severe and repeated violence, and that she left the man in
connection with the violence.
Article 10 – Education
The number of women within higher positions of
academia is low. At lower and post graduate levels, the gender balance is good,
but the higher up in the hierarchy, the fewer are the women. Only one out of
four professors in Sweden is a woman. The Government has to create equal career
opportunities at universities by making sure objective selection criteria are
applied, with due consideration to gender equality. We urge the Government to
use the already existing sections of law on affirmative action to promote gender equality within academia.
Research investments and financing are
to a higher degree given to men than to women. The so called Excellence
Investments (investments on strategically important research environments)
have had negative
effects on gender equality. Large amounts of funding have been reallocated from
women to men. The system of Excellence Investments should
be abolished and transparent and objective
selection criteria should be applied to ensure women are treated fairly.
Article 11 – Employment
Part time work is common within sectors dominated by women and an important
explanation to women’s lower income and pension. The right to full-time employment
should be guaranteed by law. Full-time employment will improve women’s economic
independence.
Previous efforts to improve the situation for
immigrant women on the labour market have not been monitored. There is a need
for evaluating which actions have been effective and which not. The Government
then has to take appropriate measures for increasing immigrant women’s
employment rate. Social benefits which keep immigrant women out of the labour
market have to be removed, for example the so called “vårdnadsbidrag”.
There are large differences between women and men as well as between
different municipalities when it comes to support and actions related to
education and employment for persons with disabilities. Actions such as
guidance, complementary education and support to find the right assistance,
needs to be specifically directed towards women with disabilities.
Sweden has not taken enough action to close the gender pay gap. Instead,
the legislation has been weakened. Current regulation establishes that
companies with more than 24 employees have to do salary mappings every third
year. The previous regulation on yearly mappings for companies with more than
10 employees should be reintroduced, and the same regulations should be used
for gender equality plans.
Article 12 – Health
The economic reimbursement
system of health-care has to be examined from a gender perspective. Several
examples show a systematic economic discrimination when it comes to so called
“women diseases”. This indicates that the illnesses of women are of lower priority.
The previous investigation of the economic reimbursement system, carried out by
the National Board of Health and Welfare, was done without regard to gender as a factor. To avoid gender
discrimination it is necessary to examine the system from a gender perspective.
Young women experience more
mental illnesses than young men. Preventive measures and increased resources
are needed to counteract mental illnesses and to meet the need for early
detection and health-care. Young women are also overrepresented among those
exposed to coercive measures. The Government ought to follow and initiate
research within this area, specifically on how potential gender biases are
expressed within the mental health care. Women and girls smoke more and consume
more medical products than men and boys, and the use of alcohol among elderly
women is increasing. The Government has to draw attention to and prevent the
health effects on women and girls from alcohol, tobacco and addictive
substances.
Article 13 – Economic and Social Benefits
The
number of poor pensioners is growing in Sweden. Women and people who have
immigrated to Sweden in adulthood constitute specific risk groups. Women work
more part-time, earn less than men and are more often at home with sick
children and relatives. Furthermore, early retirement is more common among
women. According to forecasts from the Swedish Pensions Agency, the group with
the lowest pensions will grow with 20 percent within the next four years. To
create a fair and sustainable pension system, with pensions possible to live
on, the guarantee
pension (a supplement to the income pension for those who have a low or no
income) needs to
be increased.
The Governmental funding of women organizations has been at a constant
level of 28 million SEK annually during the period of 2006-2014. At the same
time, organizations applying for funding have multiplied. The funding has to be
increased in order for women organizations in Sweden to carry out their
important work.
Article 14 – Rural Women
Access
to services such as health care, addiction treatment, internet, transportation
and education, vary depending on where in the country you live, and often on
the basis of gender. The sustainable gender equality programs carried out by
the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions have had varied
success in different parts of the country. It is the Government’s
responsibility to ensure that gender equal social services reach all citizens.
In order for the Government to follow up on this work, the access to data
disaggregated by sex is crucial.
Article 16 – Marriage and Family Life
The Government has strengthened the
protection against forced and child marriage and introduced the new crime forced marriage
(“äktenskapstvång”). The law still allows exceptions to be made. Forced and
child marriages still exists and few cases are prosecuted. The Government has
to put more effort into preventative actions and to ensure that the law is
followed. Marriage shall only be allowed between individuals of 18 years or
older who give their full consent.