Paulina Brandberg

The Government met with more than 50 heads of government agencies to follow up these agencies’ efforts to promote gender equality in the frame of the Swedish Government’s development programme on gender mainstreaming in government agencies, which have been underway for over a decade. The focus of the meeting was to both take stock of the results of these efforts and have a dialogue about the future direction.

Gender-based violence and honour-based violence and oppression were central themes as Nordic and Baltic gender equality ministers met in Stockholm on 27 November. The meeting took place in connection with a meeting in the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI earlier in the day.

In its 2025 Budget Bill, the Government is presenting a range of initiatives to tackle men’s violence against women. The Government intends to propose strengthening support to victims of prostitution, and to allocate SEK 10 million for this purpose in 2025. The Government also intends to propose reinforcements to national telephone help lines for victims of violence, with the aim of preventing and combating men’s violence against women, intimate partner violence, honour-based violence and oppression, and prostitution and human trafficking. It is therefore proposed that the National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women (NCK) at Uppsala University receive an additional SEK 7 million in 2025. The aim is to increase the national help lines’ response rate.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas committed the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was joined by other ministers in a ceremony at Stockholm’s Great Synagogue on the evening of 7 October 2024 to honour the memory of the victims of the attack.

In the Budget Bill for 2025, the Government proposes allocated funds to the Swedish Work Environment Authority for stricter and more effective supervision to prevent fatal accidents and other work environment risks. It also includes developing the selection of workplaces for inspection to ensure that the supervision is directed to a greater extent at the workplaces where the risk is greatest. To this end, the proposal is that the Swedish Work Environment Authority’s administrative appropriation be increased by SEK 50 million for 2025. The appropriation is then expected to increase by SEK 75 million in 2026 and permanently by SEK 100 million in 2027.

Swedish and Finnish ministers will undertake a number of joint visits on the afternoon of 16 September. Media representatives are welcome to take part in the visits. Contact the relevant press contacts for more information, see below. Note that the list is subject to change.

Everyone has the right to be themselves without risking violence, harassment or discrimination. LGBTIQ people’s equal rights and opportunities are a priority issue for the Government, and development of a new action plan is under way. The Government is also implementing a large number of other initiatives in this area.

The Government’s new action programme to prevent and combat men’s violence against women, domestic violence, honour-based violence and oppression, and prostitution and human trafficking, for the period 2024–2026, contatins over 130 initiatives and measures. This is a short version of the action programme.

The Government is working tirelessly to prevent and combat men’s violence against women, domestic violence, honour-based violence and oppression, and prostitution and human trafficking. The Government´s new action programme for the period 2024–2026 helps reinforce these efforts.

The Government is now presenting an action programme to prevent and combat men’s violence against women, domestic violence, honour-based violence and oppression, and prostitution and human trafficking for the period 2024–2026. The programme contains over 130 initiatives and measures to be undertaken on a broad front at national, regional and local level. The efforts will also be strengthened in four special priority areas for development.

National Statement delivered by Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life Paulina Brandberg, at the 68th Session of the Commission on Status of Women, New York, 12 March 2024. Check against delivery.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency has been tasked with sharing knowledge about honour-based violence and oppression in connection with stays abroad. The Government has now also tasked the Agency with analyzing and presenting proposals for a national reporting and follow-up system for cases where a child or adult has been taken abroad. This involves determining the scope of the problem and establishing an approach to systematic follow-up.

On 10–16 March, Minister for Gender Equality Paulina Brandberg is taking part in the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), also known as the UN women’s commission, in New York. The theme of this year’s session is combating poverty and how institutions and financing can be strengthened from a gender equality perspective. Ms Brandberg is also hosting the activities arranged by the Nordic Council of Ministers, of which Sweden is holding the Presidency in 2024. Ms Brandberg will hold two policy speeches: Sweden’s policy speech and a policy speech for an LGBTI Core Group that includes Sweden.

Statement by Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life Paulina Brandberg, at the 68th Session of the Commission on Status of Women, New York, 11 March 2024. Check against delivery.

The Government has approved SEK 3 million in additional funding for 2024 to the National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women at Uppsala University. The aim is to increase staffing of the help line for people subjected to violence, particularly in the evening and at night, to enable more callers to get through and receive support.

Preventing and combating men’s violence against women, other types of intimate partner violence, and honour-based violence and oppression is a high priority for the Government. More than SEK 600 million will be invested in gender equality in 2024 and government agencies have been assigned several new assignments. The Government is now further strengthening the work towards gender equality and presents investment in women’s economic empowerment and to increase knowledge about national minorities’ exposure to violence.

Preventing and combating men’s violence against women and honour-based violence and oppression is a highly prioritised issue in action for gender equality. Through its gender equality policy, the Government is investing over SEK 600 million in this area in 2024. The appropriation directions given to several government agencies have given them important mandates to strengthen these efforts, which require long-term sustainability and persistence.

The Government prioritises efforts to combat work-related crime, which in its most serious forms can involve human trafficking and human exploitation and is often a source of income for the criminal economy. Several regional centres for preventing work-related crime have opened in Sweden in late 2023. Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life and Deputy Minister for Employment Paulina Brandberg attended the opening of the Stockholm centre in mid-November.

On 26 October, the Government submitted its thematic report to the Council of Europe on how Sweden is implementing the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). Civil society organisations can submit shadow reports on their view of Sweden’s implementation of the Convention.

Yesterday evening, the Government received the alarming news that two Swedes were killed in a terrorist attack in Brussels. The attack appears to have been aimed at Sweden and Swedish interests. Our thoughts are with the deceased and their relatives.