Response to interpellation 2025/26:26 on Swedish gender equality policy
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L argues that the government prioritizes combating men's violence against women and honor-related violence 1, that the Gender Equality Authority shall be streamlined for increased efficiency 1 2 and that gender equality policy is based on the premise that men and women should have power over their own lives and the freedom to shape their future 3. L also considers that active gender equality work is necessary to counter unreasonable wage differences 3. S argues that social liberal values have made Sweden one of the world's most equal countries 4, that gender equality policy is about liberation 5 and that the party has worked to make women as free as men 5. SD argues that gender equality policy has lost its direction 6 7, that radical feminism prioritizes gender and identity politics over concrete measures 6 7 8 and that the work should be returned to its core, which is to protect women from violence and oppression 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Jämställdhetsministern Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Sara Gille has asked me how I intend to ensure that the Gender Equality Authority's work focuses on the reality of women and girls, if I intend to reform the authority so that it directs resources toward concrete measures to combat men's violence against women, honor-based oppression, and other forms of oppression, and how I and the government will follow up to ensure that the resources invested lead to results for women's freedom and safety throughout the country.
I would like to begin by thanking the interpellor for the question.
Preventing and combating men's violence against women, violence in close relationships and honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking, remains a high priority. In the budget bill for 2026 (prop. 2025/26:1), the government states that honor-related violence and oppression is a serious social problem and involves people being restricted in their lives and subjected to pressure and violence aimed at maintaining the family's or the collective's control over the individual. It contradicts fundamental values and must never be accepted.
From January 1, 2026, the Gender Equality Authority will take over the national tasks regarding honor-related violence and oppression from the National Centre against Honor-related Violence and Oppression at the County Administrative Board in Östergötland County. The transfer is a step toward streamlining the management and organization of the work against honor-related violence and oppression as well as increasing the efficiency of the public administration. At the same time, all County Administrative Boards are tasked with supporting and contributing to the development of regional resource centers against honor-related violence and oppression through an amendment to the ordinance (2021:995) on the County Administrative Boards' regional work against men's violence against women. The purpose of the regional resource centers is that everyone who is or risks being subjected to such violence shall receive specialized and equal support regardless of where in the country they live.
In the government's action program to prevent and combat men's violence against women, violence in close relationships and honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking 2024–2026, there is a large number of initiatives and measures being carried out on a broad front at national, regional, and local levels. The work has been strengthened within four particularly prioritized areas of development, including a leaving program with measures to leave destructive relationships and mobilization against honor-related violence and oppression. The government mandates also include requirements that results or effects of implemented interventions shall be reported back to the government.
When it comes to the follow-up of the work against men's violence against women and honor-related violence and oppression, the government continuously monitors the equality policy. The government also, every two years in the form of a communication to the Riksdag, performs an in-depth follow-up of the current sub-goal six that men's violence against women shall cease. The Gender Equality Authority's report Time to prioritize the violence prevention work (2024:9) forms the basis for the latest communication. Follow-up of high quality is a prerequisite for assessing implemented measures and the development of the policy area.
The Government has introduced a new seventh gender equality policy sub-goal to prevent and counter honor-related violence and oppression. The purpose is to give the area increased attention and visibility as well as improve knowledge so that this violence shall cease. For the continued work, the Government has announced that it will develop a long-term strategy for the work against men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking, along with associated action plans. Collectively, the Government takes a firm stand with these measures to increase efficiency and focus in the work moving forward.
Sara Gille (SD)
Madam Speaker! Thank you to the Minister for the answer!
We know that the Minister, as the Minister says, does a great deal together with the Sweden Democrats in the fight against prostitution, men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, and honor-related violence and oppression. It is a political will that has long been lacking under previous governments.
At the same time as the government is working very hard on these issues, we still see how equality policy in large has somewhat lost its direction. It has, in fact, been taken over by radical feminism. The policy has become more guided by gender-ideological perspectives. This has had consequences for the entire area. This applies in particular to the Gender Equality Authority, which has drifted away from its original mandate.
The authority is an example of how radical feminism has taken control of the gender equality field and turned it into an ideological tool where gender and identity politics are prioritized over the fight against violence, oppression, and women's actual vulnerability.
Madam Speaker! What once was about women's right to safety, freedom, and self-determination has gradually been transformed into an ideological project where theories on gender and power are allowed to take precedence over the needs of reality.
We see that more and more resources are being allocated and more and more focus is being directed towards gender, gender power theories, and norm criticism at the expense of the concrete measures that make a difference in people's and women's lives. Women living under threat, girls who are hindered by honor norms, and families seeking help are met with theories instead of action.
Madam Speaker! That development has made gender equality policy abstract, removed from reality, and difficult to recognize by those for whom it is actually intended.
There are women in our country who every day live with threats, fear and control. There are girls who are never allowed to participate in sports and who are forced to wear items of clothing for religious reasons against their will. They are controlled by their families and are expected to marry the person the family has decided on. It is their reality that should fully be at the center of Swedish equality policy.
At the same time, Sweden continues to be the country in the Nordic region with the lowest proportion of convictions for sexual offenses, despite that the legislation has been tightened. Men's violence against women is increasing, honor-related violence continues to occur, and women are forced time and again to flee from their homes.
Madam Speaker! When tax money is used to finance gender training for authorities, gender-neutral toilet projects and linguistic guidelines while women's shelters are fighting for their survival, something has gone seriously wrong. Sweden should not have an equality policy that primarily benefits activists, researchers or ideologues.
I want to ask the Minister for Equality: How does the Minister intend to ensure that the equality policy returns to its fundamental purpose of protecting women from violence and oppression and does not continue to be driven by gender-ideological perspectives that distance the policy from reality?
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for a proper, detailed, and objective answer to the interpellation. I think the Minister could also have afforded to criticize the rather out of touch interpellation that the interpellator has initiated.
Madam Speaker! If one reads the interpellation, one sees that it begins by describing how gender equality policy in Sweden has for a long time been hijacked by a radical feminist movement. First and foremost, I wonder in what way it is argued that it has been hijacked and how that has affected gender equality policy in Sweden.
As far as I know, it is social-liberal values that have characterized Swedish equality policy for many decades. It has also made Sweden one of the world's most equal countries. Reform after reform has liberated women in this country.
It is values that, as far as I know, the Sweden Democrats like to take into account when they define Swedish values that we must safeguard. It is Swedish values created by the equality reforms that people very often must adapt to. Here, it is described as if politics has been hijacked by a radical feminist movement.
Madam Speaker! I am very alarmed when I read the interpellation. It describes a reality that I do not see. Sometimes I hear that the Sweden Democrats do not describe it that way. It is the reforms that have created the Swedish values that we must defend and uphold. In this case, it is described as if that is not the case. I wonder if the Sweden Democrats mean that it is not the social-liberal values for equality that for decades have gained ground in Swedish politics.
If the Sweden Democrats' ideological force with strong right-wing conservatism had characterized this country, we probably would not even have had the right to vote. We probably would not have had a parental insurance, would not have removed the joint taxation, and would not have had a consent law. I do not believe either that we would have had an abortion right if it had been that ideology that had prevailed.
My question to the interpellator is: Which values are it that we are to defend? Is it the social-liberal reforms that have created the equal Sweden that we are so proud to be? What is it that has characterized Swedish equality policy in recent decades? It is not the Sweden Democrats' policy. Which policy is it that is to shape what?
I still want to point out that here, gender ideology is described as an experiment that the Gender Equality Authority is carrying out. Gender is science. It is an authority that is supposed to increase knowledge in all other authorities.
What does the interpellor actually mean by the interpellation at all? It is an answer that needs to be given. Even the Minister should ask that question to the interpellor.
Jämställdhetsministern Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank Sara Gille and also member Sofia Amloh for the questions and the remarks.
I truly welcome the debate, which is a very exciting one. I believe we need to establish that equality policy is about values. We cannot have a Sweden or a state that stands neutral towards constant pressure from all possible forms of anti-democratic counterforces that affect us. For me as a libertarian liberal and as a citizen engaged in Sweden, it must be the democratic open values that we safeguard, nurture, and develop.
The gender equality policy becomes particularly illuminating in this regard many times, and it is extremely important and extremely good.
In Sara Gill's question, there is substance insofar as Statskontoret conducted an agency analysis of Jämställdhetsmyndigheten in 2023. It is important to review the governance so that the goals we, from the government's side, but also the Riksdag set, are followed. Jämställdhetsmyndigheten has, according to its instructions, a mandate to be the administrative agency for gender equality policy and shall work with monitoring, analysis, coordination, knowledge, and support for the purpose that the gender equality policy goals, which have been decided in this chamber, shall be reached.
Since 4 November 2024 – that is less than a year ago – the Gender Equality Authority has been led by Director General Lise Tamm. She has previously been chief prosecutor at the National Anti-Corruption Unit and head of the National Unit against International and Organized Crime in the Swedish Prosecution Authority, as well as worked at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. I have full confidence in and am convinced that she, with the instructions, regulations, and goals that have been set, leads and steers the Gender Equality Authority in a correct and high-quality manner.
It was pleasing that Sofia Amloh highlighted the various liberal reforms that have characterized equality policy over the years. I am proud to be able to continue with this. I can state that this government, together with the Tidö party Sverigedemokraterna, has now presented the largest equality budget ever. When it comes to expenditure area 13, it is the largest budget ever presented by a government in this country.
Sara Gille (SD)
Madam Speaker! I want to start by saying that I am not surprised that Member Sofia Amloh criticizes my interpellation. She belongs to the party that has contributed to the fact that this society looks the way it does.
It is a structure that has emerged over decades with a left-feminist influence, quite simply. Theory and ideology often push out practical work. Gender and norm criticism have become slogans, while safety and results have been sidelined. Radical feminism has gained an all-too-great influence, and it affects everything from agency language to political priorities.
Madam Speaker! For a long time, equality policy has been transformed into an area where gender rhetoric and power theories rule more than common sense and reality. It is noticeable in schools and in authorities, which for example prefer to speak about gender identity rather than women's safety. It is noticeable in the public sector, where the word gender is mentioned more often than the word justice. It is noticeable in schools, where gender pedagogy has been given more space than teaching about respect and responsibility.
But equality policy should be about protecting people from violence and oppression. It should be about women who need protection, about girls who want to live free, and about the right to live without violence and fear, not about pursuing ideological projects. But unfortunately, Madam Speaker, the area has for a long time been shaped by radical feminism, which has transformed equality into a platform for theoretical and identity politics experiments instead of being a matter of freedom, safety, and responsibility.
Gender equality policy should be about safety and not so much about gender – it has become far too much about gender here. It should be about rights. It should protect the vulnerable, but it gets stuck in academic discussions about gender and power.
It has become an arena for left-wing activism where power dynamics, norms, and gender take focus away from the vulnerability of girls and women. It risks undermining the entire work for gender equality.
Madam Speaker! I am very happy that we have a government that, together with the Sweden Democrats, is doing very much in this area.
We simply believe that the work on equality must be returned to its core – it is about women's safety and freedom and the right to live without violence. That is the focus it should be on, not gender.
Every krona that is invested shall be measured in how much safer women become, not in how well it fits into the theories of radical feminism.
Madam Speaker! I would like to ask the Minister: Does the Minister intend to review the overall direction of the gender equality policy to ensure that state resources are used for concrete measures for women's safety and not to maintain ideological structures that distance the work from reality?
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! Equality policy for me and for the Social Democrats is about all people being allowed to be free. It is about liberation, about being able to make one's own choices, about being able to live the life one wants – regardless of who one is and what kind of life one wants. One shall be free. It is about freedom.
In this case, it is women who have always been forced to step back when it comes to freedoms. That is why we have existed as a force for decades. We have changed Swedish society to make women more free, as free as, for example, men.
It is because we have also had a strong sister in the Liberal Party in this work that we have made these shifts. I think, however, that it is incredibly unfortunate that the Liberals are seeking out an extremely right-conservative party to push through equality reforms. It is perhaps a debate we can have some other time, but it is noteworthy.
I still want to say that what the interpellator Sara Gille points out here, that I belong to a party that has made these changes, is completely correct. We Social Democrats have been part of this liberation and in making equality reforms.
We are a force when it comes to how equal we are in Sweden. That is something the Sverigedemokraterna have not been. To move the entire equality debate back so that it stops at security and not liberation is a strong and severe shortcoming – that one does not have higher goals for equality than that and that, in that way, one is to roll back what we have fought for for many years.
Jämställdhetsministern Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Gender equality policy is based on the premise that men and women should have power over their own lives and the freedom to shape their future as they themselves choose.
To relegate gender equality policy to only being about safety would be an incredible failure and an incredibly dangerous path to take. Therefore, I wonder a bit how Member of Parliament Sara Gille thinks regarding unreasonable wage differences between women and men.
The life incomes for women and men differ by several million kronor. Is it reasonable that it is so? Far too few women become CEOs and can drive their companies to higher profits and to successes both in Sweden and internationally. Is it reasonable? Is it reasonable that so few women even dare to try their wings as entrepreneurs in order to further strengthen the freedom over their work situation and their choices ahead?
We are all affected by the situation in which we live. We are affected by traditions and by history. Member Sara Gille herself often highlights honor-related violence and oppression and the individuals who live under the honor culture's terrible oppression and are affected by it. However, we can never believe that we are free from external influence, and therefore an active equality work is needed.
Active equality work on different levels and with the perspectives that Member Sara Gille opposes is necessary to actually produce concrete measures and accurate interventions that make a difference. We must not have unreasonable wage differences between women and men that cause the lifetime income to differ by several million kronor. We need active work against this, because it is fundamentally a very strong issue of freedom.
As Member of Parliament Sara Gille is in, it is also important that we are clear about which values shall apply. Linked to honor culture and honor-related violence and oppression, the perspective of coming from a certain situation or family must never excuse the abuses and the lack of freedom that, in many cases, women but also boys are forced to live under.
There is more to be done here. In that, I can agree with Member Sara Gille.
Sara Gille (SD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by answering Member Sofia Amloh. I believe she has simply misunderstood me completely; I did not mean in a positive way that the previous government has contributed. Yes, the previous government did a lot but not enough.
I would also like to take the opportunity to answer the Minister: No, I do not mean only safety. What I am referring to is that gender has taken all too much focus away from the violence. That is what I am talking about. Far too much focus is placed on ideology and too little on women who actually need protection. It is noticeable in schools that receive gender-pedagogical guidelines but lack knowledge on how to actually detect honor oppression. Schools simply need to develop this. We also have authorities that talk about gender identity but lack resources for women's shelters.
Madam Speaker! It is good that the current government is doing very much. We have done a huge amount in the fight against the oppression of women, against men's violence against women, against honor-related violence and oppression and everything, but we have a long way to go. That is the case. Radical feminism has gained an excessively large influence, and it is visible in the entire society. That is what this interpellation is about.
I would like to thank the Minister for the debate and also say thank you to Member of Parliament Sofia Amloh for trying in her own way.
Jämställdhetsministern Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Many thanks to Sara Gille and Sofia Amloh for this debate!
Equality is under attack in many ways. Regarding the claim that there are some kind of radical feminists who threaten Swedish democracy or our freedom, I can criticize much in these parts as well, but the important thing is that we stand up for open, liberal and equal Swedish values. It is politics, and it is also ideology.
We must see that the way we want to live in Sweden, where we want to give men and women the freedom to shape their lives as they themselves wish, is not something we can take for granted. We must have an active equality work to ensure that that freedom can continue to increase, not decrease. We see patriarchal macho ideals spreading from Russian disinformation campaigns from the right and left, and we see the Islamist propaganda that also makes its way into the Swedish consciousness, of which the most concrete example is the so-called LVU campaign. But we also see right-wing conservative forces from the American side with completely horrible consequences worldwide, not least within the aid sector.
We need to navigate our way through this. We need to stand up and move forward the positions for Swedish gender equality policy.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.