Human rights

Chapter 7 is the material’s second-largest chapter, pages 22–26, and it generates many practice questions. It covers human rights from the UN level down to Swedish legislation and the groups that have special protection.

The starting point in the Constitution

The Instrument of Government states that the public sector shall work to ensure that all people can achieve participation and equality in society, and that children’s rights are safeguarded. It also states that the public sector shall counteract discrimination based on sex, skin color, national or ethnic origin, language or religious affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, age, or other personal circumstances.

The UN and the 1948 declaration

After World War II in 1945, 51 countries decided to form the United Nations (UN) — to prevent future wars and to protect every person’s rights.

One of the UN’s first tasks was to agree on what rights all people have. The result was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, presented in 1948, with 30 articles.

The declaration establishes that all people are born free and equal in dignity and rights and have the right to a life free from violence. Among the rights are the right to state one’s opinion and share it with others, to work, rest, and have vacation, to attend school, to flee to and seek asylum in another country if life is in danger, to believe in any religion or none at all, to not be discriminated against, and the right to a nationality.

One provision with particular relevance in this context: no one may be deprived of their citizenship without an approved and factual reason under the law.

The Discrimination Act

Discrimination means that certain people are treated worse than others, and it is a violation of human rights.

Sweden’s Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination based on sex, age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.

Gender equality

Sweden’s gender equality policy means that women and men should have the same rights and obligations and equal power to influence society and their own lives.

Concretely, this can involve changing discriminatory rules, countering sexual violence, and increasing the proportion of female managers. The policy is applied in several areas:

• Politics: Sweden wants equal numbers of women and men, and parties are encouraged to nominate both women and men for elections.
• Wages: there are laws on equal pay for equal work. Workplaces are inspected, and unions and authorities work for fair wages.
• Education: schools and authorities work for equal opportunities for education and personal development.
• Parenthood: parental benefit makes it possible for both women and men to stay home with small children, and the state encourages parents to share the leave.

Domestic violence and honor-related violence

Both intimate partner violence and honor-related violence and oppression are criminal under Swedish law.

Sweden has a consent law: a person who wants to have sex with someone must make sure the other person participates voluntarily. The requirement applies even when the people are married to each other.

Honor-related violence means that a family or group tries to control how people within the family or group behave. It can involve physical violence, psychological pressure, or social threats — and strict control, for example being forced to marry against one’s will. When someone is subjected to violence for breaking the family’s or clan’s rules, it is called honor-related violence or oppression.

Two things are worth noting: it is directed not only at women and girls — boys, men, and LGBTQI people can also be affected — and child marriage, meaning someone under 18 getting married, is prohibited under Swedish law.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten) is responsible for the national effort against honor-related violence and oppression. The state funds support services, shelters, and organizations that work with affected individuals.

The Sex Purchase Act

In Sweden, it is illegal to buy sex. The buyer can be punished, but not the seller. By directing the penalty at the buyer, the law signals that it is not acceptable to sexually exploit someone in exchange for payment.

Children’s rights

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is meant to protect all children’s human rights. Since 2020, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is law in Sweden.

This means that authorities, courts, municipalities, and regions must apply it, and the state has the ultimate responsibility for ensuring all Swedish laws support it. In practice, this means among other things that politicians and authorities must ask children what they think before deciding something that affects them, that courts must ask the child in a custody dispute, and that municipalities must consider children’s best interests when building housing, playgrounds, or schools.

According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is the parents or other guardians who are responsible for the child’s upbringing and development — and guardians have the right to support from society.

All violence against children is prohibited, both under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Swedish law, and the offense can result in imprisonment. The prohibition applies to everyone and everywhere, both at home and elsewhere in society. Violence against children can involve assault, psychological violence, sexual abuse, or female genital mutilation.

A date that often recurs: Sweden was the first country in the world, in 1979, to ban hitting children. About 70 countries today have such a ban.

National minorities and indigenous people

In 2000, Sweden recognized five national minorities: Jews, Roma, Sami, Sweden Finns, and Tornedalians. They have the right to use the minority languages Yiddish, Romani Chib, Sami, Finnish, and Meänkieli in dealings with authorities, in preschool, and in elder care.

The Sami are also a recognized indigenous people. They have a long-standing and strong relationship to an area that stretches across Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia, called Sápmi. As an indigenous people, the Sami have special rights connected to land and natural resources in the Swedish part of Sápmi, and members of Sami villages (samebyar) have the right to practice reindeer herding within designated grazing areas.

The Sami have their own elected parliament, the Sámi Parliament (Sametinget), which represents the Sami population on matters of language, culture, and identity. It is an advisory body that also has certain administrative duties.

LGBTQI people

LGBTQI is an umbrella term for gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people.

Discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression is prohibited under the Discrimination Act. The right to live with whomever one chooses is protected by law, and it is permitted to marry a person of the same sex.

Three dates from the material:

• 1944 it became legal to be homosexual in Sweden
• 2003 same-sex couples gained the right to adopt children
• 2009 the Church of Sweden allowed same-sex couples to marry in church

The Pride parade is a demonstration for rights and against discrimination of LGBTQI people.

People with disabilities

People with disabilities can face obstacles or risk discrimination in society. That is why laws exist to protect them against discrimination — the same Discrimination Act that covers the other grounds.