I am delighted to have an opportunity to speak at this distinguished
university. The subject of my speech today is "FEMINIST GOVERNANCE IN
PRACTICE The status of gender equality in Germany and Sweden"

I would like to begin by giving a picture of a society in which women
and men are real equal. What are the characteristics of such a society?
As I see it, it is a society in which both men and women have the same
right to a paid job - because a paid job gives money in your bag or in
your wallet. It is the bases of equality. It's a society where there
are no pay differentials between women and men performing the same
work. It is a society in which it is just as natural for a woman to
train to be a pilot as for a man to train to be a nurse. It is a
society in which at many levels we have broken through traditional
boundaries for what it means to be a woman and what it means to be a
man. A gender equal society is a society in which no violence against
or repression of women occurs.

A gender equal society is a society in which rape does not exist. To be
equal means meeting other people with respect. In an equal society
oppression has no place nor has valuing a person less on grounds of
gender.

There is a whole new world to be won in a gender equal society. There
is a greater chance of men being grown up and mature - when they grow
up in a liberal society in which they can show their feelings - when
they can wholeheartedly participate close to their children in the
family. The expectations associated with today's man's role force many
men to be the provider, they are forced to work continually and lose
time they could have spent with their children because their role as
men demands this. The most extreme male stereotype is for a man always
to be big and strong, however small and weak he feels.

Also women are getting a better life in a gender equal society. Women
would not have to perform two jobs which is the case today. Women would
not always have to look after and care for others. There is no genetic
evidence suggesting that women are more suited than men to care for
others.This is something we have chosen to include in the social
construct that we have drawn up in creating the concept of a "woman".

Today, women and men in Sweden have all formal rights - but that does
not mean we have a gender-equal society - we can see that in the
trafficking in women for purposes of prostitution, we see it in men's
violence against women, we see it in the fact that women's wages are
lower than men's. Just as in Germany, in Sweden it is possible to show
how women and men are treated differently in our society.In Sweden we
know- that men who are ill are more likely to be transported by
ambulance to hospital than women who are ill. It is also more likely
that the ambulance will use its sirens and flashing lights if the
patient being transported is a man as opposed to a woman.- that
medicines are tested on men despite being intended for women- that care
of the elderly is provided more often for men despite the fact that
women in Sweden live longer today.

As regards Germany, we know that the family-based social insurance
system strongly limits women's chances of working and earning an
income, and that Germany's Care Insurance Act introduced in 1995 has
preserved the caring profession as women's territory.

Neither Sweden nor Germany are gender equal countries. That is why it
is so important to work politically for change. It is a major task but
I think bringing about change is very exciting work.

Sweden has a feminist government today - the first in the world. I
suppose the government is feminist because we consider there is a power
structure based on gender and that it cuts through class. The power
structure applies to all social classes and we encounter it on a daily
basis - the superiority of men and inferiority of women. Men have more
options - men have more power over their lives and higher wages on the
labour market than women. We use feminism as a tool for understanding
the power structure. When we understand and have the will we can bring
about change.

The bases of Social Democratic ideology when it comes to equality as I
said, is the right to employment. This has meant that women in Sweden
today are active in the labour market almost to the same extent as
men.

The Swedish welfare state is based on a dual breadwinner model. Sweden
has, in other words, adopted a gender-neutral concept of social
citizenship. Apart from circumstances directly related to childbirth,
married women in Sweden are covered by the same labour, tax and social
security legislation as men. No entitlements are targeted at women in
their capacity as wives.

The state uses separate taxation, generous public day-care provision
for pre-school children, and extensive programmes of parental leave to
encourage married women/mothers to remain in gainful employment.

The Swedish dual breadwinner model contrasts sharply with Germany's
welfare state model, which is designed around the single (male)
breadwinner.

The Swedish model grew out of a distinctive national experience,
characterised by late industrialisation, widespread poverty and
dramatic demographic challenges: first mass emigration, then declining
fertility. In contrast to more affluent European societies, Sweden was
for a long time highly dependent on women's paid labour.

The consequent strain on the birth rate encouraged the belief that
extensive state intervention was needed to support families with
children. Social policies have long recognised women's dual role as
both mothers and breadwinners.

We are witnessing a process of female emancipation and a crisis of the
traditional male-breadwinner family. These dramatic changes in the
demographic and family patterns in Germany and in Europe as a whole are
a major challenge to us all.

It's interesting to behold all the leaders of Europe - most of them men
- joining in a common chorus of: "We must have more children! The
demographic trend is a threat to economic growth and prosperity!" But
we can't force people to have more children.People must have a decent
standard of living before they feel they can bring children into the
world. According to the German Ministry of Social Affairs, women in
eastern Germany have postponed having children in anticipation of more
favourable conditions on the labour market and improvements in the
social infrastructure. This is very interesting - because it is a
choice German women themselves are making.

And we can see that many women in Europe today are forced to making the
same choice -a paid job or children. Rather than having children, women
are giving priority to their work and independence. Many choose not to
go in for the double burden that comes with combining work and
children.

In Sweden, where the childcare system is well developed, women do not
need to choose between work and family at the same level as in Germany.
But let me highligt, there is still a lots to do in the families to
transform todays family into equal families.We also see that an
individualised social insurance system makes women more independent
since women's financial situation is not tied to that of their
husbands.

Family-based systems often disadvantage working women - since women
usually earn less than men and tax effects mean that women working is
not to their financial advantage. Consequently, many of them are
obliged to be housewives.

This is why we in Sweden believe it is important to give women the
opportunity to choose for themselves. Women no less than men must be
entitled to earn wages of their own - pay their own taxes - earn their
own pension. Swedish work on gender equality is strongly linked to the
right to work and to the premise that the individual as such is the
smallest unit in society.

To achieve a society in which women and men are equal, we need a tool.
At the Beijing Conference in 1995, all countries agreed that this tool
is Gender Mainstreaming. Gender Mainstreaming can highlight completely
new sides of reality, revealing differences in women's and men's
situations; it is, moreover, a fairly simple method to apply. What it
entails is simply that before any decision is taken, a question must be
answered: how will this decision affect women, and how will it affect
men?And now we educate all ministers, state-secretaries and managers in
the different ministries in using this method -to create a feministic
policy.Another tool we use is legislation. One example I would like to
mention is the Swedish Sexual Purchases Act. This unique law entered
into force in 1999. Its effect is to make the purchasing of sexual
services a criminal offence, while not making the prostitute a
criminal.

We have introduced this law because we see the phenomenon from a power
perspective - men have the possibility of not choosing to buy sexual
services - the prostitute who often comes from the most marginalised
groups in society does not have this choice.

In conclusion, there is much still to be done before we reach the goal
of a society where men do not hit women - where violence is not an
option. A society where girls too are allowed to roar like lions, play
with cars and kick balls. A society where boys too can take up ballet
dancing and bake or sew - without there being anything odd about it. We
want to work for a society that is free of prejudices and repression.
Our goal is a society in which women and men are equal.This is a
challenge for politicians and non-politicians both in Germany and in
Sweden.

Thank you.