Sweden has the highest gender equality index in the EU, followed by Finland and Denmark. The index is presented by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) on behalf of the European Commission. The Nordic member states score well above the EU average in several areas.
‘Just because the Nordic countries are topping the list doesn’t mean they are gender equal. Instead it should be taken to indicate poor progress in many other countries,’ says Lenita Freidenvall, researcher at Stockholm University and secretary of the Swedish government’s commission on gender equality policy.

Lower lifelong earnings for women

The Nordic countries receive high scores in political representation, as the gap between women and men is relatively small in this area. However, great inequalities can still be found in domains related to employment and the labour market, and these inequalities are in turn closely connected to differences in the economic conditions women and men face across the lifespan, says Freidenvall. Although women work more than in the past and on average have higher levels of education than men, the gender salary gap has changed only marginally, she points out. In addition, women are underemployed to a greater extent than men and also take out most of the parental leave.
‘All of this in combination gives women lower lifetime earnings and therefore also lower pensions. This seems to be a problem in all Nordic countries.’

Gender segregation in Nordic working life

The lack of gender equality in working life can partly be attributed to gender-segregated labour markets, says Freidenvall. To find out how segregated the European labour markets are, EIGE has compared the shares of women and men who work in education, healthcare and social work. In Sweden, 43.4 per cent of the surveyed women work in these areas. For men, the figure is 11 per cent.
‘We find that women have increasingly entered the male-dominated occupations, but not vice versa,’ says Freidenvall.

The gender-segregated labour markets reduce the total score for the Nordic countries. Another factor is underrepresentation of women on company boards. Great inequalities can also be found in the distribution of unpaid care and domestic work. In Finland, 72 per cent of the women say they spend at least one hour a day doing domestic work. For Finnish men, the figure is 39 per cent. 

Big differences across EU countries

EIGE’s index is based on sex-disaggregated statistics from the year 2012. The conditions faced by women and men have been assessed in domains such as work, money, knowledge, time, power and health. Each country has then been assigned a series of scores based on the gap between women and men in the respective domains. The scores have then been converted to a total gender equality index for each country. An index of 100 implies perfect gender equality. Sweden tops the list with an index of 74.2, followed by Finland at 72.7 and Denmark at 70.9. The EU average is 52.9 and Romania is found at the bottom of the list with an index of 33.7.
‘The index reveals major differences in gender equality across the EU countries, and it’s impossible to suggest a solution that would work in all countries,’ says Freidenvall.
She thinks the index may help put pressure on the European national governments.
‘The data reveals the development over time and points to some dark spots. This will help the governments see which areas they need to focus on,’ she says.

Small changes since last update

This is the second time EIGE presents the index. Overall, the EU countries have become slightly more gender equal since last time the index was presented two years ago. Finland’s index has gone up somewhat, while the opposite is true for Denmark and Sweden.
‘You can’t blindly trust that the progress will continue. That’s an important lesson to learn. Nothing will happen without active efforts and political prioritisations,’ says Freidenvall.
But she stresses the need to also look beyond the gender dimension.
‘We also need to pay attention to differences within the female and male populations. For example, we need to look at the situation of immigrant women and their access to full-time employment and an income,’ she says.

The need to explore more factors than gender was also pointed out last time EIGE’s gender equality index was released, in 2010. Intersecting factors are presented to some extent in EIGE’s index, but those figures do not affect each country’s total score. The next update of the Gender Equality Index, in 2017, will provide a more detailed assessment of intersecting inequalities, according to this year’s report.

The Nordic countries display similar migration patterns. Young women are more likely to leave their rural home communities to pursue post-secondary education elsewhere. Men are more likely to stay, and if they do leave they are more likely to return. Consequently, many sparsely populated areas are experiencing an imbalance between male and female inhabitants. In addition, the availability of traditionally male occupations is decreasing in these regions, causing widespread unemployment.
‘Men from sparsely populated areas are often portrayed as people stuck in old ways and unable to keep up with the times. And just like women’s migration away from these areas has been described as a problem, so too has men’s tendency notto move,’ says Stine Thideman Faber, gender researcher at EDGE – Centre for Equality, Diversity and Gender at Aalborg University.

She is one of about 50 participants from the entire Nordic region who met in Nuuk to discuss the rural migration issues from a gender equality perspective. Denmark, this year’s leader of the Nordic Council of Ministers, had taken the initiative to the event.

Different expectations on women and men

A cross-Nordic research report produced by the researchers at EDGE was presented prior to the seminar. Thideman Faber has reviewed all available Nordic studies on the topic.
‘There is a clear link between migration and gender. Women and men face different expectations when it comes to education and migration patterns,’ she says.

According to the report, young men tend to have stronger ties to their home communities and often enjoy local leisure activities such as hunting and fishing. In contrast, women feel they have better opportunities in more densely populated areas and also tend to value the greater access to social and cultural events found in cities. In addition, many women feel that the gender roles are more modern in cities than in smaller communities.

Migration flows to the mainland

The seminar wasn’t held in Greenland by accident. Greenland has a population of 56 000 and in contrast to all other Nordic countries, this figure is expected to decrease over the next couple of decades. In fact, the island’s female population has been decreasing since the 1960s.
‘This used to be due to Danish men meeting Greenlandic women and bringing them back to Denmark,’ says Martha Lund Olsen, Greenland’s gender equality minister.

At present, two different migration flows can be noted. Many women are moving from the small coastal communities to larger ones, such as Nuuk. Also, both young men and women are leaving Greenland to study somewhere else, in many cases Denmark. The men are more likely than the women to eventually return to the island.

Lack of jobs and housing

Lund Olsen says that women are hesitant to return for several reasons, including a shortage of housing and skilled employment.
‘We’re trying to create new employment opportunities on the island by attracting mining and oil companies. This would make it easier for well-educated women to find jobs.’

She also says that foreign investors and new employment opportunities would make important contributions to the public finances, which are currently in poor shape. The new money could be used to build homes.
‘Housing is a major problem for people who want to move to Greenland. Many Greenlanders are waiting for a rental contract and there is a stubborn housing deficit,’ says Lund Olsen.

Few studies with a gender perspective

The seminar participants included representatives from universities, NGOs and political institutions. The discussions and workshops will hopefully result in a handbook with concrete advice for actors in all Nordic countries. More studies are needed, according to researcher Thideman Faber.
‘When reviewing the available studies, we had a hard time finding anything with a gender perspective, despite the fact that these issues are so clearly linked to gender. I would like to see more cross-Nordic research in this area,’ she says.

In connection with the opening of the Nordic conference on sexism and sexual harassment in the workplace, Eygló Harðardóttir, Iceland’s Minister of Social Affairs and Housing, said that the growing tourism in all Nordic countries is making sexism and sexual harassment in the hospitality industry an increasingly important issue.

Paula Mulinari, senior lecturer at Malmö University in Sweden, keynoted the conference. She pointed out that 30 years ago, the Nordic languages did not even have a term for harassment. She also said that sexual harassment is a problem at both individual and societal level, and added that there are both political and legal ways to change the situation.

Nordic research

The conference was financed by The Nordic Council of Ministers Funding Scheme for Gender Equality. Researchers from all Nordic countries presented their work. Steinunn Rögnvaldsdóttir, researcher from Iceland, said that 60 per cent of all restaurant workers are women and that the waiting staff experience the highest rates of harassment in the workplace. On average, 61.7 per cent say they have been harassed by customers, 32.1 per cent by co-workers and 21 per cent by managers and supervisors. Rögnvaldsdóttir said we need to find out whether the workers know their rights and who to contact for support.

Seija Virta from Finland said that many of those who experience sexual harassment think it is difficult to ask for support. She also said that it is particularly problematic when the perpetrator is a co-worker. In addition, Finnish research has shown that many managers and supervisors do not take the problem seriously. Only one-quarter of those who have reported sexual harassment feel that their manager or supervisor has reacted, said Virta.

A societal problem – but who is responsible?

Claus Jervell from the Norwegian Equality and Anti-discrimination Ombud said that sexual harassment in the hospitality industry is a serious and widespread problem. He pointed out that the root of the problem is that there is no consensus in society that it is indeed a problem. He also asked who is responsible to deal with the problem. Jervell called it a work environment problem that we must and can solve, and that doing so will be both easy and inexpensive.

Possible solutions

• Acknowledge the problem and listen to those who are affected.
• Talk about the problem with those who are not affected.
• Create routines based on a concrete risk assessment.
• Require managers and supervisors to act whenever cases of harassment are reported.
• Require everybody who is aware of harassment to report and/or stop the practice.

Time to break the silence

Sonja Schwarzenberger led a panel debate at the conference. She is a writer and project manager and has authored the book Bryt tystnaden (break the silence) together with Naiti del Sante. According to Schwarzenberger, one problem is that feelings of shame keep many female victims from speaking up. She said that all Nordic countries should introduce minimum standards for preventive work and that we need to clearly communicate that sexual harassment is unacceptable.

The primary question asked in the panel debate was: What responsibility does the labour market have in the prevention of sexism and sexual harassment in the workplace? The panellists agreed that more action is needed. Statistics show that young women experience the highest rates of sexual harassment. It is important that they feel comfortable breaking the silence and asking for support.

The experts at the conference also agreed that one of the most important things to do is to make everybody involved aware of the problem. It’s about introducing new values and a new culture. It’s about providing handbooks and guidelines. Changing the law is not enough if managers and supervisors don’t know how to deal with sexual harassment when it happens, said the experts. They also emphasised the importance of the Nordic cooperation, as it enables the countries to find solutions to sexism and sexual harassments together.

In 2008, Iceland became the second country after Norway to introduce a gender quota law. The law provides that public committees, councils and boards must consist of at least 40% women and 40% men. In 2010, a similar requirement was imposed on private companies with at least 50 employees.

‘Time for men to stand up from their chairs’

Kristin Astgeirsdottir, director of the Centre for Gender Equality in Iceland, said at the conference that the issue had been discussed for a long time in Iceland before the law was adopted.

‘We tried to push change without legislation but weren’t successful, so the law was eventually adopted. Those who criticised the initiative have become silent. I’ve long supported gender quotas and like to say that men have enjoyed quota privileges for centuries – men have always been on boards just because they are men. So it’s about time they stand up from their chairs and invite women to the table.‘

Astgeirsdottir points to several reasons for the lack of women in leadership positions. Masculine traditions and a male-oriented work culture are important factors.

‘People prefer leaders who are like themselves. They often appoint friends and acquaintances to board members, and so on. New studies show this. Leadership is not appointed in a professional manner. Add to this that family life often keeps women from taking these jobs.’

Important to carry out the discussion in an international context

When asked about the reason for the conference, Astgeirsdottir said it is important to keep the debate alive.

‘We still need more women in leadership and management. It is important to convince people of the need for diverse leadership. The conference was part of this ambition. It is also very important to carry out the discussion in an international context. We can learn a lot from international research and the debates in other countries. You hear the same arguments for and against the quotas just about everywhere. So it’s a good idea to get together and talk about it, find out what they do elsewhere to increase the share of women in leadership, discuss obstacles and find ways forward.’

Astgeirsdottir hopes the conference will bring attention to the new research on the effects of the quota legislation and on how board members are appointed.

‘I also hope the debate will remind companies and other organisations of their legal obligations.’

The large European conference on gender and feminist research was arranged by ATGENDER at the University of Lapland – the farthest north university in the entire EU zone. This was the third time the European Feminist Research Conference was held at a Nordic higher education institution since the beginning in 1991.

‘European gender research is clearly full of life,’ says Liisa Husu, professor of gender studies at Örebro University.

‘There’s great diversity among the participants, both geographically and in age. Besides researchers and professors, there are a lot of young PhD and other students here, which bodes well for the future.’

However, the economic situation in Europe did not pass unnoticed.

‘Travelling to Rovaniemi is expensive for a lot of Europeans. The previous conference was held in Budapest, which made it easier for representatives from Eastern Europe to attend,’ says Husu.

‘Sex & Capital’

The theme of the conference was ‘Sex & Capital’ and the topics included the role of feminism in the economic crisis. The word ’sex’ can have several meanings, adding breadth to the theme, says Husu.

‘So far there has been a lot of focus on sexuality, or sex trade. I would have liked to see more keynotes on the societal and economic macro issues. That’s a focus I’d like to see more of.’

On the second day of the conference, Husu presented her own research on gender inequality in academia. Even though the Nordic countries are world leaders in both gender equality and research, Nordic academic institutions are full of weaknesses when it comes to gender equality and diversity, Husu tells us.

‘The Nordic countries have worked actively with these issues for several decades but still haven’t come much further than the rest of Europe, especially if you look at the share of female professors. The resistance against gender equality in academia is very strong.’

Husu also sees a precarisation of academic positions. For example, the number of temporary and more insecure jobs has increased, and a disproportionate share of them are held by women. This reinforces the gender-biased structures, she says.

‘When I entered this research field in the 1980s, I really didn’t think these issues would last this long. It’s 2015 and I’m still talking about basically the same things. We feminists need to take action, and feminist researchers need to keep questioning the gender patterns in academia. But what’s even more important is that the unions and politicians work actively to put these issues on the political agenda.’

The political situation in Finland

Another, perhaps more unexpected, issue discussed at the conference is the current political situation in Finland. The Centre Party won the parliamentary election in April, and the centre-right government programme was presented last week.

‘Unfortunately, the Finnish government is the opposite of the Swedish, which calls itself a feminist government. In contrast, the new Finnish government’s programme holds that Finland is a gender-equal country – an attitude my colleagues and I are very critical of. The only other references to gender equality in the programme concern the integration of immigrant women in Finnish society and a focus on women and girls in development aid policy. This is very problematic and has given us good reason to discuss with foreign colleagues where Finland is headed.

The participants’ engagement in society was a common thread through the conference, according to Husu. Gender research is sometimes criticised for being too introverted, but the event showed strong evidence of widespread social engagement and that many researchers want to use their work as a driver of change. Husu feels that conferences like the one in Rovaniemi are of great value to European gender research.

‘We’re witnessing major cutbacks across European universities, and gender research is a fairly new academic discipline across the board. Institutionally, this implies a vulnerability. Because of this, European forums of this type are important, since they allow us to compare experiences, create alliances and networks as well as discuss new survival strategies.’

Many Nordic municipalities and county councils work with gender mainstreaming, but their results are not widely known. Last week, representatives from eleven municipalities met to discuss strategies for how to reach out and engage more people in the gender equality work. Marit Tovsen from the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities helped arrange the conference.

In what way can it be difficult to reach out to people with the gender equality issues?
‘The challenges vary across the Nordic region. The Danes tend to think they have already achieved gender equality, so it’s difficult to make people understand why these issues remain important. Sweden is different in that the municipalities have worked systematically with gender mainstreaming for many years and there is a stronger awareness that the gender equality objectives have not been fulfilled. Norway falls somewhere in between. Fairness and equality issues are receiving a lot of attention, but the municipalities are more interested in ethnicity and integration. Some municipalities apply a gender perspective on these issues.’

What’s your advice to other gender mainstreaming workers? How can you reach out?
‘It’s important to adapt the argumentation to the target group. When talking to politicians, show them facts and statistics. You should also explain the core of gender mainstreaming work: that it increases the quality of the services provided to citizens. For example, viewing preschool services through gender equality lenses or thinking gender in urban planning can improve the lives of both women and men. Not everybody understands what the concept of ”gender mainstreaming” means, so it’s important to explain it clearly.’

What strategies did you talk about at the conference?

‘We talked a lot about the importance of working systematically and over a long period of time. That’s important if you want to achieve change. One issue that has been addressed is how to gain political approval for the gender equality work and how to get the resources you need. It is also important to spread awareness of the gender issues among leaders and key persons in the organisation. It might for example be beneficial to get the HR manager on board.

What are the biggest challenges in the work with gender mainstreaming in the Nordic region?
‘The biggest challenge is to never sit down, but to always keep working. Successful gender mainstreaming is not possible without continuity and a long-term approach.’

What are you gaining from the Nordic cooperation around these issues?
‘Gender equality is a central element of our Nordic model. We think the same things but do things differently. We can learn from and inspire each other.’

The seminar was arranged within the project Gender Mainstreaming at the Local Level. The project is a collaboration among the Nordic national associations of municipalities.

This is an article about one of the projects granted funding through the Nordic Gender Equality Fund.

The event was arranged by the Norwegian Centre for Equality, the Swedish Minerva Foundation and KVINFO’s Mentor Network in Denmark, who together established a Nordic mentor network in 2014 to gather the Nordic expertise and create a forum for cooperation around the many challenges mentors and mentoring programmes face.

Gender perspective cornerstone of mentoring projects

There are plenty of mentoring programmes across the Nordic region, but one thing the three collaborating organisations have in common is their focus on the gender perspective.

‘Mentoring can be useful at many levels, with many groups and in many contexts. The work can be tailored to the group you’re working with, and to its specific challenges. But what’s unique about what we do is the gender angle. That’s what brings us together,’ says Ree-Lindstad.

All three organisations have implemented mentoring programmes specifically targeting women. But today the programmes often also include men.

‘When we train mentors, we try to make them aware that gender can play a role in how you work and how you relate to your mentee. They need to be aware of the structures in society,’ she explains.

A special Nordic approach

‘The Nordic cooperation gives us a professional environment where we can learn from each other. Instead of learning by doing, we can learn from each other’s experiences,’ says Ree-Lindstad.
‘The Nordic mentoring model differs from how it’s usually done in the rest of Europe and in the U.S. We want it to be voluntary and free, and it should be a win-win situation for both the mentor and the mentee. The mutual learning experience, where the mentors use the mentoring work for their own development, is of central importance. In the rest of Europe, mentors are often paid and have a role resembling that of a social worker. In the Nordic countries, that type of work is already taken care of by other actors in the welfare systems,’ says Ree-Lindstad.

Professional development and quality are important

The whole point is to develop the quality of the mentoring work, says Ree-Lindstad. To this end, the network seminar, which gathered directors of 12 Norwegian, 13 Danish and seven Swedish mentoring projects, included a presentation of Swedish and Danish best practice cases as well as discussions on how high quality can be ensured. The quality factor is a central aspect of Ree-Lindstad’s vision for the Nordic cooperation.

‘We need to find opportunities to meet. We will prioritise professional development so we can develop the mentoring as a method and thus increase the quality of the work. Admittedly, there is some variation in the quality of the mentoring. If we can build up the competence of those who are involved in these programmes, the quality will go up and more people can be offered good mentoring services. In the future, we will also look closer at how we can evaluate the mentoring and its effects,’ says Ree-Lindstad.

This is an article about one of the projects granted funding through the Nordic Gender Equality Fund.

‘We tend to think of gender equality as a one-dimensional phenomenon,’ says Mari Teigen, research director at the Norwegian Institute for Social Research and director of the Centre for Research on Gender Equality.

Around 20 researchers and scholars from universities across Scandinavia gathered during May 7-8 at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo to discuss comparative studies of the Nordic gender equality model. The network is putting a difficult welfare challenge on the agenda. How can we explain that we still have gender-segregated labour markets in the Nordic countries?

‘Segregation breeds segregation,’ says Teigen.

She has studied gender segregation in education and the labour market for many years, and last year she was the editor of a new book on the topic (Kjönnsdeling og etniske skiller på arbeidsmarkedet). Her work shows that the conflict between the gender equality-oriented welfare state and vast gender segregation in the labour market persists.

‘Gender segregation in education and the labour market makes it problematic for people who want to make non-traditional choices,’ says Teigen and points to discrimination as an ultimate consequence.

‘We have identified clear cases of gender-driven exclusion processes in some gender-segregated fields,’ she says.

Women moving into male-dominated occupations

The gender segregation is a challenge to society for several reasons.
‘There are big differences between the private and public sectors. The private sector is much more male dominated,’ says Teigen.

But what do the differences mean in practice?
‘What we see in the labour market is that women are moving into the male-dominated field, but not vice versa.’

There are obvious reasons for this.
‘Male-dominated jobs have higher status and better pay. But we also know that the occupations that are at a standstill, and that are female dominated, are characterised by low pay, high demands and unattractive work schedules.’

‘As a result, men don’t want to move into female-dominated occupations,’ says Teigen, who believes that this tendency may help explain the persisting gender segregation.

A healthy family life

However, there are also other reasons the labour market remains gender segregated. One has to do with workers’ ability to combine work and family life.
‘Male-dominated occupations in the private sector offer less room for a satisfactory family life, since the culture in those fields expects you to work a lot of hours and make a lot of money,’ says Teigen.

But the career-family life equation is a challenge also in other fields. Teigen points to the health and care sector.
‘The extent of weekend work that’s necessary if you want to work full time in the health sector keeps many women from working full time,’ she says.

So, are women sacrificing more working time than men to make family life work? Yes, says Teigen.
‘You could say that the women are paying for a healthy family life.’

Nordic platform

The seminar in Oslo is one of four meetings arranged by the network.

The theme of the meetings is gender equality in a Nordic perspective. Ulf Mellström at Karlstad University, who helped pull the meeting together, hopes that increased awareness and sharing of knowledge will yield positive results.

‘I hope we can promote funding of this type of research through a publication platform. We are much stronger together than individually,’ he says.

Mellström stresses the political importance. He hopes that the unique gathering of sociologists, political scientists and gender researchers will serve as a source of competence in Nordic policy making. Because there is no doubt that we still have a long way to go in the Nordic gender equality work. Not least when it comes to gender segregation in the labour market.

‘I think many people believe that politicians are working hard with the segregation issue, but there is little evidence pointing in that direction,’ says Teigen.

‘It is well documented that gender equality makes society qualitatively better for both women and men in terms of quality of life. Gender equality brings dignity to individuals and a greater sense of community to society,’ says Mellström

The purpose of the special transport services is to increase the autonomy and independence of individuals with a norm-deviating functional variation, but applicants are subject to close scrutiny.‘You have to reveal everything about yourself; how your body works and what relationships you are engaged in. You have to prove you are worthy of the assistance,’ says Andreas Pettersson, researcher at the Forum for Studies on Law and Society, Umeå University.

Pettersson’s doctoral thesis, titled Out and About in the Welfare State – the Right to Transport in Everyday Life for People with Disabilities in Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Law,  brings attention to the legal relationship between the public and the individual. The thesis discusses three types of transport solutions for eligible individuals: special transport services, car allowances, and cash reimbursing of transport costs. The thesis’ methodology and theories are based on gender research.

One of the most serious weaknesses identified in the thesis is that economic arguments are allowed to affect the legal decisions surrounding the granting of assistance. This finding is particularly evident for Sweden and Norway. Denmark specifies a minimum level of support, which provides some protection against politicians’ budget decisions. The rather intimate assessments of applicants are standard practice in all three countries. Pettersson warns that this level of scrutiny may run contrary to the very purpose of the service.
‘The objective is to facilitate equality and participation, but the system works in the opposite direction,’ he says.

The view of the state as good is typical for the Nordic countries, and Pettersson believes that this contributes to an acceptance of this type of elaborate control mechanism. He feels that the government should respond to the citizens’ high trust by showing stronger trust in them.
‘If somebody for example uses a wheelchair, I think it ought to be enough if that person says he or she needs this service,’ he says.

The conference in Umeå 5–6 May included 30 paper presentations on a wide range of topics. Daniela Alaattinoglu talked about her research on forced sterilisation in Sweden. Her study compares the sterilisations performed on racial-biological grounds from the 1930s to the 1970s with the sterilisations of transsexuals performed until 2012. In the former cases, the Swedish government has issued an official apology and paid out large amounts of money in compensation. However, no such initiatives have been made in relation to the latter cases.
‘The groups are categorised differently and I wonder what that says about their different positions in society,’ said Alaattinoglu during her presentation.

Ninety-three per cent of the 63 000 individuals who were sterilised on racial-biological grounds were women. Daniela Alaattinoglu can only speculate about the reason for this.
‘It could be because women were more accessible to the health care sector for example in connection with pregnancies, but that’s probably not the whole truth. It might also have to do with a desire to control women’s sexuality.’

Louise Langevin, professor at Laval University in Quebec, was one of the guests who had travelled the furthest to attend the conference. She talked about her research concerning surrogate motherhood, where she studies the tension between different feminist analyses. Surrogate mothers are viewed either as vulnerable and in need of legal protection, or as actors acting based on self-interest.
‘Do they have enough information and opportunities to be able to negotiate? Do they have real power over the situation? That’s a core issue,’ she said.

Daniela Cutas and Elin Jonsson from Umeå University participated in a session focusing on the family and the welfare state. Their partly overlapping projects concern norms in relation to family and parenthood.

Cutas is leading a project analysing the ethical and political issues surrounding assisted reproduction. The project looks closer at the arguments regarding who should be granted parenthood in an era with increasing availability of assisted reproductive technology. Sexual relations are rewarded despite the fact that the reproduction does not have anything to do with sex in these cases, she concluded.
‘Friends and siblings who want to have a child are not approved, but why?’

Jonsson’s research makes it evident that a child is supposed to have two and only two parents. This summer, Sweden will start allowing women without a partner to get inseminated, and no Nordic country currently allows a child to have more than two legal guardians.