The objectives and methods utilised in the national gender equality efforts have changed and evolved over the years. Gender mainstreaming has been a core strategy in Swedish gender equality policy since 1994. Gender mainstreaming means that all decisions in all policy areas and at all levels shall be characterised by a gender equality perspective.
In 2006, a number of gender equality objectives set out in a government bill titled Makt att forma samhället och sitt eget liv – nya mål i jämställdhetspolitiken [The Power to Shape Society and Your Own Life: Towards New Gender Equality Policy Objectives] (2005/06:155: only available in Swedish) were adopted with broad political consensus. In November 2016, the cabinet handed over a document titled Makt, mål och myndighet – en feministisk politik för en jämställd framtid [Power, Aims and Authority – Feminist Policy for a Gender-Equal Future] (2016/17:10; only available in Swedish) to the national parliament. The document set out the future direction of Swedish gender equality policy with an organisation for policy implementation, a system for follow-up, a 10-year national strategy for the prevention and elimination of men’s violence against women and two new policy sub-goals.
The overarching goal of the gender equality policy is that women and men are to have the same power to shape society and their own lives. To this end, six sub-goals have been specified:
“A feminist government ensures that a gender equality perspective is brought into policy-making on a broad front, both nationally and internationally.” Read more about the Swedish government’s view on feminist policy on the government’s webpage (opens in new window).