Five Words I Never Thought I’d Hear

There are some words I thought I’d never hear spoken outside of a dream. Like, “we represent a feminist government.”  But I heard them, wide awake, in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 7, when the Swedish government was reviewed by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

“Sweden’s government is a feminist government,” proclaimed Pernilla Baralt, the Swedish State Minister leading the review. Even the members of the Committee were unsure what to make of it.  “What is a feminist government?” one of them asked.  The State Minister explained:  “We conduct impact studies of every government policy to determine its impact from a gender perspective.” 

It makes a difference. For example, Sweden has long been known for its generous family leave policy, and the incentives built into the policy to encourage fathers to take leaves.  But government research has shown that it is still women who take a disproportionate share of parental leave.  In an effort to even things out, the government has increased the incentives for families to designate fathers as caretakers for at least three months of the parental leave.

In formulating government policies affecting Roma and other minority women, the government pledged to abide by the motto, “nothing about me without me.” Women affected by policies would be at the table to inform the policymaking process, the delegation said.

And all Swedish ministries and heads of government budget divisions must engage in “gender budgeting.” With each new reform, according to the State Minister, they need to evaluate the consequences based on gender and reallocate funds as needed to promote gender equality. 

Sweden believes that it is the first feminist government in the world. Is it breaking a path that others will follow?  Of course, it doesn’t take a female leader to make a feminist government, and Sweden’s Prime Minister, Stefan Löfvén, is male.  Still, with Hillary Clinton now the first ever female presidential nominee representing a major political party, it’s hard not to wonder whether the US might ever join Sweden in declaring that we have a feminist government, too.  With Sweden doing the groundbreaking work to fill out the contours of a feminist government, we can at least dream.