COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONSIDERS REPORT OF SWEDEN

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today considered the sixth and seventh periodic reports of Sweden on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Christer Hallerby, State Secretary at the Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality of Sweden, presenting the report, said all forms of discrimination were obstacles to democracy. The basic principle was simple: every person, regardless of sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability or cultural and religious traditions, was of equal value and dignity, and should be able to enjoy human rights. All people should have equal opportunities in all areas of society. The Government’s aim was to counteract and change systems that preserved the unequal distribution of power and resources between women and men. Even though considerable advances had been made in promoting equality between women and men in Sweden, there was still a lot to do; a gap between women’s and men’s opportunities to shape society and their own lives still persisted.

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were whether there was any case law that was evidence that the provisions of the Convention were used in the courts; whether the Government was considering measures to make the Constitution gender-sensitive; what was the Action Plan and priorities and punitive measures with regards to prostitution and trafficking for sexual purposes; what prevented women from reaching leading positions in public institutions such as universities; why there were so few women in higher education; whether all employers, including in the private sector, had to provide an Action Plan for equal pay; was health care offered in public services to elderly women, or was there a need for these women to have private services; and whether Sweden was engaged in research on the economic consequences of divorce.

In concluding remarks, Mr. Hallerby said he wished to thank the members of the Committee for a very interesting day and for the good discussion and remarks. There would be a good use of the discussion in the future, and it had been very interesting to share.

Dubravka Simonovic, Chairperson of the Committee, in preliminary concluding comments, said Sweden would receive concluding comments, and they would focus on certain issues on which there were concerns. The Committee hoped they would be widely distributed, and all parties and stakeholders would be involved in their implementation, as would be the case during the implementation of the new Anti-Discrimination Act.

Also among the delegation were representatives of the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Employment, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The next public session of the Committee will be on Friday, 1 February 2008, when it will release its concluding comments on the country reports which it reviewed during the session, adopt the provisional agenda for the forty-first session, and the report of the Committee on the fortieth session, following which it will conclude the session.

Report of Sweden

The combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of Sweden (C/CEDAW/SWE/7), presented in one document, takes into account the comments and recommendations received by Sweden from the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its review of Sweden’s fourth and fifth reports at the Committee’s twenty-fifth session on 1 July 2001. The Government’s objective is to draw attention to areas in which women and girls lack sufficient opportunities to enjoy human rights, in Sweden and in other countries. The promotion of women’s and girls’ enjoyment of human rights is a central part of the Government’s work in Sweden and in international arenas. In its work on women’s and girls’ enjoyment of human rights, the Government gives priority to issues related to violence against women as well as to the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, including the right to make decisions on sexuality and childbirth.

The objective of the Swedish gender equality policy is that women and men, girls and boys, are to have equal opportunities and equal rights. If women and men are to enjoy human rights on equal terms, it is necessary to be aware of and work against power structures that preserve the unequal distribution of power and resources between men and women. Special measures for women and girls are also necessary in pursuit of gender equality and in the work to eliminate discrimination against women and girls. In March 2006, the Government submitted a Bill to the Riksdag (Government Bill 2005/06:155). The Bill, which proposes new objectives for gender equality policy, was passed by the Riksdag on 16 May 2006. Its overarching objective is that women and men are to have equal power to shape society and their own lives. The Bill highlights the problem of violence against women, particularly men’s violence against women.

The Bill confirms that gender mainstreaming remains the strategy for achieving the gender equality objectives. Additionally, the Government sets out its intention to establish a public agency with responsibility for contributing to the development of an effective gender equality policy. The Government also declares its intention to strengthen gender equality work at local and regional level. The Government will study gender equality between different groups in society as part of its follow-up of the subsidiary objectives of the Bill. The Bill states that the overarching objective of the Government’s gender equality policy applies to everyone, in different situations and stages of life. It applies regardless of, for example, age, ethnic origin, disability or where people live in the country. There are to be no systematic differences in women’s and men’s opportunities to shape society and their own lives. Nor are there to be systematic differences in the conditions in which girls and boys grow up, either with regard to their share of society’s resources or their opportunities to grow up free from the limitations imposed by gender stereotypes.

Presentation of Report

CHRISTER HALLERBY, State Secretary at the Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality of Sweden, presenting the report, said all forms of discrimination were obstacles to democracy. The basic principle was simple: every person, regardless of sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability or cultural and religious traditions, was of equal value and dignity, and should be able to enjoy human rights. All people should have equal opportunities in all areas of society. Since the report had been submitted to the Committee, there had been elections in Sweden, and a new Government came into office in October 2006. A new ministry was formed: the Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality, which was responsible for issues such as gender equality, integration, human rights, democracy, and national minorities. The Government’s aim was to counteract and change systems that preserved the unequal distribution of power and resources between women and men. Even though considerable advances had been made in promoting equality between women and men in Sweden, there was still a lot to do; a gap between women’s and men’s opportunities to shape society and their own lives still persisted.

Gender mainstreaming was the Government’s main strategy for achieving gender equality, Mr. Hallerby said. Sustainable change of decision-making processes could only be achieved by long-term strategic work to integrate the gender perspective in all relevant policy areas, but this did not rule out the use of special measures or specific legislation to protect women and girls from discrimination. Having a vigorous and effective legal framework was of vital importance in combating discrimination against women. This spring, the Government would put forward an Anti-Discrimination Bill to the Parliament, which would include discrimination on the grounds of sex, and would propose a new more comprehensive and cohesive law against discrimination. In the new Act, the different laws would be merged into one single Anti-Discrimination Act, covering seven grounds of discrimination, and would apply to most areas of society. The Bill would also underline that there should be a cost for discriminating.

When discussing gender equality, there could not be silence about the most extreme forms of oppression: men’s violence against women and girls. Despite all the laws and programmes that Sweden had put in place, violence against women was still a severe problem, Mr. Hallerby said. Taking action against and preventing this form of criminality and improving ways of supporting victims was of high priority for the Government. An Action Plan was presented in this regard in November 2007, which gave attention to circumstances and situations that made women especially vulnerable to being subjected to violence. The Government also viewed prostitution and trafficking in human beings for sexual purposes as a serious obstacle to achieving equality between women and men, and was preparing actions to prevent and combat prostitution and trafficking in persons for sexual purposes. Promoting equal economic independence between women and men was a fundamental part of the gender equality policy, and in the coming year the Government would present a comprehensive strategy to further develop initiatives that promoted equality in employment entrepreneurship between women and men.

Questions by Experts on Articles One to Four

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were whether there was a mechanism at the level of the legislature to review draft legislation’s compatibility with the Convention and the State party’s obligations thereunder; whether there was any case law that was evidence that the provisions of the Convention were used in the courts; whether the Government was considering measures to make the Constitution gender-sensitive; whether the proposed Bill on gender equality would include the definition of discrimination as contained in the Convention, and whether it would include the possibility of applying temporary special measures; what plans did the Government have to address the under-representation of women on the boards of privately-directed companies; what was the last national instance for a woman that was to be exhausted before she could reach the Committee; whether there was any education for the judiciary and those involved in the protection of women’s rights on the Convention in general and the Optional Protocol in particular; and were the concerns expressed in previous concluding comments justified with regards to groups that might suffer from multiple forms of discrimination.

Response by Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, Mr. Hallerby shared the feeling that progress was slow, and this was why the first decision the new Government made was to put more money into the process, as without money for gender equality, it was very hard to carry out measures. The police were not trained for taking care of people with disabilities, and other issues. Most of the money was used for education, prevention and financing new measures. A main reason that Sweden had not been very good at combating violence against women was lack of money for training, and to bring more attention to the problem. Sweden hoped the process would now be speeded up. On the incorporation of the Convention, Sweden was a dualistic State, and this was of a more theoretical than practical importance. International treaties did not automatically part of Swedish law, and to become directly applicable, they had to either be transformed or incorporated into national law. None of the human rights Conventions had been incorporated into law, but their essence was reflected in existing law.

The delegation said if a treaty was transformed into national law and a court saw that there was a conflict between the treaty and the law, then the court would interpret the law in conformity with the treaty, and there was case law in this regard from the Supreme Court. Since there was no substantial conflict, Sweden had not felt the need to transform the Convention. With regards to women’s participation on boards of directors in the private sector, Mr. Hallerby said a quota would constitute a disproportionate interference in shareholders’ ownership. The issue was one of balance - how much should the Government intervene, and the present Government had taken the position that it should work with other measures, including information, debate, and dialogue, as well as with legalised quotas. With regards to national minorities, the delegation said minority women were covered in the Action Plan to combat violence against women, as a group that could be more vulnerable, and focus was placed on their immigrant or minority position. All the measures in the Plan were general, however, and applied to them equally, although their special problems were taken into account in developing methods for dealing with the general situation. The general approach was that specific measures for newly-arrived immigrants were time-limited for an introduction period, and thereafter general measures were taken into account. However, a package of reforms had been launched with regards to the labour market that could be used by women with a foreign background or who were newly arrived in Sweden.

The Government was aware that the Roma minority faced certain problems, Mr. Hallerby said, and a delegation had been appointed for Roma issues, with the task of improving the situation. It had ten members, half of whom were of Roma origin, and there were a number of Experts, including representation from Roma organizations. One of the delegation’s first tasks was to gather experience and knowledge, and submit plans as to how Roma living conditions could be improved. Together with the European Council, Sweden had organised a special conference on Roma women’s rights. Gender mainstreaming was not about policy - it was about strategy for formulating policy. Gender mainstreaming implied taking into account the gender issue at all levels and steps in formulating policy, and stating what needed to be achieved in terms of equality between men and women. Gender policy was about what to be achieved - gender mainstreaming was about how this could be achieved.

The Government had a general plan for gender mainstreaming, the delegation said, and every Ministry was obliged to outline their own Action Plan in this regard. There was a general plan with targets for the effects to be achieved by each Ministry. On training, Government officials were not primarily responsible for gender equality, but they were supposed to be able to make gender-sensitive analysis, and thus were educated and trained on how to incorporate the gender dimension in their work. They were also provided with methods as to how to do this. An Enquiry had been held as to how support for gender mainstreaming could be applied at the national institution level.

The municipalities in Sweden had a responsibility to ensure that everyone living in the municipality received the assistance and support they needed, including disabled women and other vulnerable groups, the delegation said. In addition to this general responsibility, social services also had the specific responsibility to consider that women victims of violence needed support and assistance. Municipalities had a strong independence, and the Government could not interfere too much in how they chose to implement their responsibilities, but could give guidance or assignments, and had done this specifically with regards to women victims of violence. Vulnerable groups including disabled women and women with foreign backgrounds were highlighted in this regard. It would be desirable for there to be shelters in every municipality which were specifically accessible for disabled groups, but it was up to the municipalities to ensure women got the help they need, even if this required their referral to a neighbouring municipality which did provide the appropriate services.

On whether the Constitution was gender-neutral or not, there was a cross-party committee considering this issue, among others. When existing Acts were amended or changed, any gender-specific legislation was amended to make it gender-blind, the delegation said. On Sami women, the Sami Parliament had decided on a Plan of Action for Gender Equality in 2004, and had since achieved some of the goals set out within it, including gender representation both within the Parliament and within the Secretariat working with the Parliament.

Questions by Experts on Articles Five and Six

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were questions related to the low conviction for rape and the low level of punishment; why criminal statistics were not broken down in a gender-sensitive way; what were the results of the review and what had been done to implement its conclusions with regards to the various issues of child marriage and trafficking; what was the Action Plan and priorities and punitive measures with regards to prostitution and trafficking for sexual purposes; whether there was a mechanism to provide an alternative employment option to those women in the sex trade who wished to obtain another job; what was the treatment of those who were trafficked into the country illegally and did not report this; what was done with regards to the underaged who were trafficked; whether there were any separate mechanisms to deal with domestic violence and spousal rape; whether experience of violence in the family would qualify an immigrant woman to seek an independent residence permit; what mechanisms existed to deal with violence in the workplace; and whether the content of the Palermo Protocol was used in the Action Plan against trafficking.


Response by Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said with regards to violence against women, trafficking and prostitution, there were six areas in which the Government had measures, including prevention, support to victims, and focus on perpetrators. On violence and sexual violence in the home, there were many measures to counteract this. The sexualisation of the public sphere had been a focus area of the policy of 2002-2006, which focused on the trend of mainstreaming pornography into the public sphere and into society in general. The object of the action was to change attitudes and to counteract sexualisation of the public sphere, in particular through the media, providing tools for critical media analysis and faulty interpretations. There were also preventive measures through the Media Council, a Government authority, which had worked also on safe Internet use for children and youth. The task of the Media Council to examine gender equality continued, with no deadline.

With regards to statistics on violence against women, it was difficult to read these and analyse them, however, they were available, in particular with regards to restraining orders, the delegation said. With regards to prosecutions of rape and sexual crimes, there was a clear-up rate of 18 per cent. On honour crimes, it was difficult to obtain statistics, as when the crime was reported, it was not classified specifically as an honour-related crime, and it was therefore merged into the other statistics of violence against women. However, Mr. Hallerby said, work was being done to identify cases of honour-related violence, and to investigate the amount of this. This problem would be handled with debate, discussion, and dialogue, as it should be in a democratic country. The delegation said all resident permits in Sweden were individual, except for when they were received for family ties, and the main rule was that the permit was only prolonged if the relationship continued. However, there was a provision to prolong this if the relationship had ended primarily because there was violence within the relationship. The new refugee definition had been expanded to cover those who feared discrimination or violence in their country of origin due to their gender or sexual orientation.

The National Board of Health and Welfare had been commissioned to investigate a system to determine when women had died as a result of crime in close relationships, the delegation said, and the purpose of this was to create a system that would avoid deaths. The definition of rape had been extended to cover, among other points, the threat of force. It was not necessary for the victim to physically resist the rape - the lack of consent was essential when the Court considered the act. Violence or coercion was proof that the act had not been based on consent.

On trafficking in human beings, the number of the victims depended to a large extent on the resources spent on identifying cases, and therefore they varied from region to region and year to year, the delegation said. Victims were mostly women and girls from Eastern European and Baltic countries, as well as South-East Asia. The age of the women and girls ranged from 16 to 35 years, and perpetrators were mostly from the Baltic States. So far, there were no judgements on trafficking for other purposes than sexual exploitation, but there were indications that trafficking for forced labour took place, mainly in agriculture, domestic work, and other areas. Investigations were taking place into this. Swedish penal legislation on trafficking in human beings was currently under review. Victims of trafficking could apply for a residence permit. Social services in municipalities covered the needs of victims of trafficking, and they were reimbursed as to costs of housing etc.

On the law prohibiting the buying of sexual services, Mr. Hallerby said the Government did not yet know about the impact of this, and was carrying out an evaluation of the law during 2008. One thing was obvious - prostitution in public areas had decreased markedly, and there had been a substantial effect on trafficking. Work was being done to make proposals to the Government to reduce trafficking for employment purposes, the delegation said. With regards to the punishment for rape, Sweden had a tradition with quite low time for imprisonment, and four years was quite high. There was a complex correlation between penalties and crime rates, and an increase in crime rates could reflect that people were more willing to report crimes, rather than that the punishment was too low.

In response to brief follow-up questions, Mr. Hallerby said the Ministry of Social Affairs had regular contacts with other organizations on people with disabilities, and there was a Ministerial Group which met six to eight times a year to discuss this. The Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality had the responsibility for the Discrimination Act. The Government was discussing with Swedish enterprises measures and actions, and it was very important for the State sector to set an example, and therefore in State-owned companies, gender equality was considered during recruitment and nomination to the Board. Due to the nature of the problem of clandestine prostitution, it was difficult to estimate the extent of the issue. On referring to the Convention in the courts, nobody in the delegation had any memory of such a case. There would not be a gender-equality agency - the Government had determined that, and a range of institutions and authorities were being used in this regard.

Questions by Experts on Articles Seven to Nine

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were the shortcomings with regards to the participation of men and women in public life, including the lack of women heads of public agencies, the lack of gender balance in the judiciary, and others and what efforts were being made to remedy this; how the measure to give specific consideration during recruitment to a candidate of the under-represented sex during 2005-2006 had been implemented; had the Government developed any further measures to reach gender balance in the diplomatic service; what prevented women from reaching leading positions in public institutions such as universities; what was being done to encourage women to run for office at the local level; and whether there were any Roma women Parliamentarians, and any women Parliamentarians who were naturalised Swedes.

Response by Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, Mr. Hallerby said the Swedish Government had a decision-making process that meant that all decisions were made collectively, and every Minister had to approve. With regards to Roma women and immigrant women in Parliament, the delegation said that Sweden did not compile statistics on ethnic origin, other than place of birth, and could therefore not provide these. There were 5.5 per cent women of immigrant background in Parliament. Under legislation, a passport could be refused or withdrawn if a person was convicted of a crime with a minimum imprisonment penalty of one year, which had not yet been served. Sweden valued the reports of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, and the recommendations on her visit to Sweden were incorporated in the Action Plan to fight this issue.

On women and men in decision-making posts, there was a need for updated statistics, the delegation said. An inquiry had been mandated in 2006 to map distribution of power in Sweden from a gender basis. The report had been issued in January 2008, and concluded that visibility was very important - highly visible and politically-influenced positions were characterised by almost equal gender distribution. The high number of women in political positions was not due to quotas, it was due to the responsibility taken on by political parties in this respect. Women’s representation was higher on municipal councils where there were a large number of political appointments. Fifty per cent of prosecutors were women. The Supreme Court, made up of 16 judges, contained seven women. The Supreme Administrative Court contained nine women, out of 19 judges as a whole. Thirty-four per cent of Parliament Judges were women. The Government had given more importance to naming women heads of missions abroad.

On what prevented women in Sweden from achieving high-level positions, Mr. Hallerby said this was for a complex pattern of different reasons. These included that it was expensive to hire help for childcare and household related services. There was a well-developed system of daycare in municipalities, but they had limited opening hours, and to reach high-level positions, there was a need for more work than in ordinary jobs. A tax credit had been introduced for purchase of household-related services, but this was not enough, as the pattern was very complex.

Questions by Experts on Article Ten

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were what was done with regards to Roma women, in particular their education; the need to take another look at what services were provided to immigrant women; what measures were used to guarantee policies and measures; whether immigrant and refugee women and their offspring were sensitised to their educational opportunities and what was done to ensure that they had the same opportunities as nationals; why there were so few women in higher education; and what was being done with regards to the recruitment of women teachers and professors.

Response by Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, Mr. Hallerby said there had been very good developments in political life, with better and better representation for women, and the next sector to reach these figures would probably be the university - today, more girls than boys began university studies. Sweden had more and more women in positions such as senior lecturers, the delegation said, and hopefully as Deans, as development went on. Still, this was happening too slowly, and this was why an inquiry had been held. On a mechanism to achieve the objectives set up by the Government, the higher education institutions enjoyed a great deal of freedom, and there was a decentralised system, however, they had to give reports as to whether they had met Government-set targets. With regards to the lack of women in high posts at university, this was considered to be a culture issue, and both the Government and universities were working actively in this field. With regards to immigrant women, work was done to help them in schools. Girls who had immigrated to Sweden had better grades than Swedish-born males. There was an Agency, the Swedish Natural Agency for School Improvement, which worked in segregated areas and helped municipalities to identify schools that had been successful with different pupils of ethnic backgrounds, working to spread good practices.

Questions by Experts on Article Eleven

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were a request for an update on the situation of migrant workers; whether there was any information for women victims of discrimination as to where to file their complaints; how did the various offices deal with and coordinate a multi-disciplinary case of discrimination; what was the success rate of the Office of the Ombudsperson following complaints of discrimination; what were the deterrents to employers to avoid discrimination, and were these sufficient; what was the mechanism that adjudicated pay differentials; what was being done for the part-time unemployed; what was the success rate of initiatives to encourage part-time workers to move to full-time work; how had the new definition of equal pay for work of equal value contributed to a decrease in the pay gap; whether individual cases had translated into collective bargaining; and whether all employers, including in the private sector, had to provide an Action Plan for equal pay.

Response by Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, Mr. Hallerby said that the Government recognised the difficulty for immigrant women to find the possibilities of complaint for cases of discrimination, and was taking action to simplify the matter, and would reorganise the authority structure so that all different kinds of Ombudsman would merge into a single entity, making it easier for people to file complaints. On the definition of equal work, the delegation said this was introduced into legislation in 2001. There was not a huge difference from earlier, and the same definition had been used before in the travaux préparatoires. Issues on the pay gap were covered under the Labour Code.

On part-time work and how to encourage women to work more, the delegation said more women than men worked part-time, and this was typical. The amount of men and women in the labour market was almost equal, but a problem was that women worked shorter hours than men. However, they worked long part-time hours - six hours a day and not three hours, for example. People worked part-time for different reasons - according to the law, they were entitled to work part-time, both men and women, when they had children under the age of twelve. Many women were only offered part-time jobs, however, and this was a problem both in the public and private sector, and the Government was trying to counteract this, directing measures at both employers and employees. Incentives were given to both sides in this regard, and the In–Work Tax Credit was one of these.

The Action Plan on equal pay had been withdrawn by the new Government, the delegation said. The incoming Government wished to consider the issue further, and would develop a strategy on gender equality on the labour market and in the business sector, with more measures in this area. Wage formation was not a governmental issue, Mr. Hallerby said. There was minor legislation in this field, and there was collective bargaining between employers and trade unions. Today, 25 per cent of all companies in Sweden were run by women, and 35 per cent of the new businesses started up last year were run by women, which was an increase of 5 per cent on the previous year.

Questions by Experts on Articles Twelve to Fourteen

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were whether the issues of health were linked to a certain vision of gender, as there was apparently even influence on the treatment of certain diseases, and in certain cases a man would be given priority over a woman; what was being done with regards to female genital mutilation, as this was a very serious problem, and related to the health conditions of immigrants; was health care offered in public services to elderly women, or was there a need for these women to have private insurance; what was being done with regards to the psychological situation of young girls with regards to drug abuse and suicide; how gender perspectives were mainstreamed into healthcare delivery; whether there was any evolution with regards to indicators related to abortion; and what was being done to hear the voices of rural women in decision-making.

Response by Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, Mr. Hallerby said the apparent inequality between men and women with regards to health services was not as large as it appeared. Sweden was still in a premature phase in recognising this kind of problem. The answer was two-fold: first, research and development and to map women’s particular needs in healthcare, and this process had been done; second was gender mainstreaming of the health sector, which was one of the Government’s main foci at the moment. It was necessary for there to be more competition in the health sector in Sweden, and this was a possibility for a new base for women’s entrepreneurship to develop. The delegation said with regards to women’s life expectancy, women’s health and all the factors affecting this needed further research. The Government had been allocated 30 million Swedish kronas to investigate this further.

On inequalities in health, the delegation said the Government had a clear objective to improve accessibility and information, and enhance the experience of the patient. There was a system of transparent quality comparisons, and this had proved to be very successful. On the health care of the elderly, this was also provided through the public sector, and there was no need for private health insurance in this regard. Access to health care was based on residency status, and not on citizenships - immigrants who had been in the country for a year had the right to health care. Asylum seekers had the right to emergency health and dental care. Other forms of care were provided, such as contraception, abortion, and information on contagious diseases. Asylum-seeking children had the same rights to healthcare as Swedish children.

With regards to healthcare in schools, the delegation said this would not be reduced. On sexual education, there was mandatory sexual education in Swedish compulsory schools. Last year, a book had been published on good examples in how to teach this. The rate of abortion amongst teenagers had decreased over last years.

Questions by Experts on Articles Fifteen to Sixteen

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were whether there was a regulation that a foreign person could only receive an identification document when accompanied by a close relative, as this could cause problems with regards to abused women; whether Sweden was engaged in research on the economic consequences of divorce; whether divorce agreements took into account non-tangible benefits of the marriage; whether there had been any research on the reasons for the high divorce rate, and whether any efforts were being made to encourage reconciliation; what support there was for divorced parents, in particular women; whether common-law spouses had different rights in relation to those who were officially married, in particular with regards to assets, child maintenance and custody in the case of separation; and whether there were polygamous marriages in relation to the migrant and national population, whether these were recognised under Swedish laws, and whether the State provided any aid to women seeking to escape such a marriage.

Response by Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said with regards to divorce, the economic consequences of divorce were harder for women than for men, but the Government knew that it was usually women who took the initiative to divorce, and they had less money after the divorce. On the other hand, men did not feel well after divorce, they got psychological problems. Women were poorer after divorce, but they were happier. The ideal of the Government was to promote full-time employment and economic independence for women. The majority of children in Sweden, over 70 per cent, grew up with both their parents, and this meant that most divorces happened after the children had grown up. Mediation was available from municipalities, free of charge. Polygamous marriages were not recognised in Sweden, nor were they recognised as a problem, Mr. Hallerby said.


In response to brief follow-up questions, the delegation said that Sweden had reached the goal of devoting 1 per cent of GDP to foreign assistance, and the main priorities in this regard included women’s rights and human rights. Unmarried couples did not have the same rights as to assets, but there were some rights if the couple lived together, such as the right to half of the home on separation, but not to the rest of assets. Children had the same rights with regards to custody and maintenance as the children of married parents. Entrepreneurs were covered by the healthcare system. There could be some exceptions in this regard, however. The Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs was responsible for issues concerning disabled persons that did not come under discrimination.

Concluding Remarks

CHRISTER HALLERBY, State Secretary at the Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality of Sweden, said he wished to thank the members of the Committee for a very interesting day and for the good discussion and remarks. There would be a good use of the discussion in the future, and it had been very interesting to share.

DUBRAVKA SIMONOVIC, Chairperson of the Committee, in preliminary concluding comments, said Sweden would receive concluding comments, and they would focus on certain issues on which there were concerns. The Committee hoped they would be widely distributed, and all parties and stakeholders would be involved in their implementation, as would be the case during the implementation of the new Anti-Discrimination Act.

For use of the information media; not an official record

CEDAW08012E