The World Economic Forum recently released its Gender Gap Index report where it shows that Sweden has dropped its predominant lead position to third place after Norway and Finland. The investigative reporting started in 2006 and Sweden had been at the top of then list as the most gender equal in the world until this year.
However, Sweden still rates high in several areas such as the number of women in the parliament, literacy and education. That it fell to third place has been attributed to the number of women ministers and the estimated income of women. "Equal wage for equal work" finds Sweden on the 35th rank, and especially the fact that there has never been any female head of government. Some 39 countries have or has women presidents/prime ministers and rank better than Sweden.
The following countries rank high in the Gender Gap Index: Iceland (4th); New Zealand (5th); Philippines(6th); Denmark (8th); Netherlands(12th); and Lithuania(13th).
Swedish gender Equality Minister Nyamko Sabuni-who refused to be interviewed by Dagens Nyheter, stated that " exactly as it was last year, the Nordic countries rank at the top with small variations, indicating that Sweden's gender equality work is stable. She alluded to gender quotas being used in companies in Norway.
" Here in Sweden, we have used another way through reforms in order to create better conditions for women instead of legislation." In the case of Finland, the improvement in its gender equalisation is credited to the positive development in education and health, and that it has a woman president, Tarja Halonen.# (Edited and translated from Dagens Nyheter.)
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In n interview with Svenska Dagbladet, Nyamko Sabuni stated that, corporate quotas for gender equalisation ( as in the case of Norway) is not the method she thinks for Sweden. "It is unfair to men, as well as to women to be in quotas. One cannot exchange one form of discrimination with another," she was quoted as saying.
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