Overall assessment

• Author: Jenny Julen Votinius
• Pages: 59-60

59

12Overall assessment

The following transposition problems were mentioned in this report:

1.There is no explicit reference to pregnancy and maternity in the Discrimination Act

(2008:567). Pregnancy discrimination falls under direct sex discrimination, but the

legislation lacks transparency on this point.

2.A decision to interrupt a probationary employment does not have to be motivated.

In relation to pregnant employees, this means that the obligation of Article 10 of

Directive 92/85 to cite duly substantiated grounds for dismissal in writing is not

upheld in Swedish law.

3.It should be noted that the Equality Ombudsman has gradually shifted its focus away

from individual complaints towards opinion forming and communication activities,

often addressing the theme of discriminatory structures in society. Of the individual

complaints received by the authority, only a small proportion are being investigated,

and the role of the authority appears to be somewhat unclear. This could mean that

legitimate expectations of redress in individual cases are not met.

Sweden has a strong record when it comes to gender equality. In 2017, Sweden scored

the highest result for the EU-28 in the Gender Equality Index of the European Institute for

Gender Equality, making Sweden the most gender-equal society throughout the 10-year

period of 2005 to 2015.74

A similar result can be found in the 2019 report of the World Bank Group, Women, Business

and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform, comparing the legal conditions for women’s

employment and entrepreneurship in OECD countries.75 Here, Sweden was one of a total

of six countries that scored the maximum of 100 in the gender equality index.

Still, the matter of gender equality remains high on the national policy agenda. In 2014,

the Gender Equality Inquiry was appointed to study and evaluate gender equality policies

2007-2014. The mission of the inquiry did not include the provisions on sex discrimination

in the Discrimination Act or the activities of the Discrimination Ombudsman in relation to

these provisions. In 2015, the inquiry delivered its report (Government Report SOU

2015:86).76 The report showed that gender equality had increased in several areas, while,

in other areas, more needed to be done. For instance, men's violence against women has

not diminished during the investigated period, and the labour market is still largely gender-

segregated. The inquiry stressed the need for a newauthority specifically addressing

gender equality, as well as new goals for gender equality policy. Following the report, the

Swedish Gender Equality Agency was established in 2018.

Generally speaking, the 2008 Discrimination Act implements most of the directives

covered by this report, including the Recast Directive. Directives 92/85/EC and

2010/18/EU are mainly implemented through the Parental Leave Act. The Swedish

legislator has taken a rather keen interest in the implementation of Community

discrimination regulation in recent years and has even preceded EU law on occasion, such

as introducing prohibitions on discrimination in areas and on grounds not yet covered by

EU law. The implementation of gender law in general sufficiently meets the requirements

of Community law. This also holds true for the implementation of central concepts.

74 EIGE, Gender Equality Index 2017: Measuring gender equality in the European Union 2005-2015 – Report,

available at: https://eige.europa.eu/publications/gender-equality-index-2017-measuring-gender-equality-

european-union-2005-2015-report.

75 World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform, available at:

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/31327/WBL2019.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowe

d=y.

76 Government Report 2015:86 Mål och myndighet En effektiv styrning av jämställdhetspolitiken, available at:

https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/fd7240295cab45df8130384abdb600fa/mal-och-myndighet---en-

effektiv-styrning-av-jamstalldhetspolitiken-sou-2015_86.pdf.