Schyman, leader of the Swedish political party Feminist Initiatives, also criticised Finnish politicians for being too consensus-driven, saying it makes for toothless equality policy.

With reference to a panel discussion held earlier in the day, where representatives from eight parties participated, Schyman noted that the level of consensus was remarkably high. She also thought that the politicians on the panel had problems sticking to the core issue, which she said is typical when gender equality is discussed.

‘There’s a common notion that we all agree when it comes to gender equality and that we therefore don’t need to talk about it. At the same time it becomes evident how multifaceted the issue is. We need to rise up from the consensus soup!’

‘If the Finnish parties were as unanimous as they make it seem about the lack of gender equality being a problem, they would already have fixed it.’

Wants advanced discussion

According to Schyman, the Nordic countries should take advantage of their strong position and sophisticated welfare systems and instigate a more advanced discussion in the area of gender equality and equal treatment.

‘Politicising the gender equality issue is a way to move forward. Knowledge-transfer and organisation of effective opinion formation are also beneficial. The Nordic region needs more Feminist Initiatives,’ said Schyman, hoping that a Finnish party will take on the role as an explicitly feminist party in the parliamentary election this April.

‘The gender equality problem does not belong at the individual level. It has to do with social conflict. And the role of politics is to solve conflicts that are structural in nature, and not to create additional structures that cause problems,’ she said.

The resistance against true gender equality is according to Schyman related to coercive power patterns and structures in society that need to be made visible in all of our relationships, since they affect us from the cradle to the grave.

‘These key issues are often avoided. We need to ask ourselves who will benefit from things remaining as they are today.’

Violence against women – a disgrace

Several Finnish ministers attended Wednesday’s all-day seminar. Violence against women was described as a disgrace to the entire Nordic region.

‘The violence against women is an enormous problem. The money issue alone should be an incentive: It is estimated to cost Finland 90 million euro per year,’ said gender equality minister Susanna Huovinen.

She presented a final report of the current government’s gender equality policy 2012-2015. The report includes 66 measures to promote gender equality and eliminate gender-based discrimination in for example legislation, the labour market, education, citizen influence, economic matters, health and integration policy. The report also assesses the ministries’ success in reaching their targets. The assessment can be summarised as follows: Progress is being made. But far too slowly.

During her speech at the seminar, Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson proposed increased funding to crime victim support. She also proposed that a so-called crime victim fee be introduced. Such a fee would be mandatory for individuals found guilty of crimes that may result in jail time and would be used to fund support services for crime victims. She got the idea from the Crime Victim Fund in Sweden.

‘I cooperate a lot with my Nordic colleagues. Iceland and Sweden also have a model for parental leave that we need to look closer at and then try to create a flexible model that’s right for Finland,’ she said.

‘Gender equality – a matter of interpretation’

Finland differs from the other Nordic countries on several issues concerning the rights of same-sex couples and transgender persons. The country adopted a citizen initiative on gender-neutral marriage only last autumn. The final report on the Finnish government’s gender equality programme mentions increased equality for, among others, sexual and gender minorities as an important support measure to promote gender equality. Still, the Christian Democrats, one of the government parties, recently shot down a proposed new motherhood law that would have made it easier for same-sex female couples who would like to become parents.

The law would have made women in same-sex registered partnerships exempt from the internal adoption process. Also cohabiting two-mother couples would have been able to confirm the other parent’s motherhood when no father confirms fatherhood. Jouko Jääskeläinen, who represents the Christian Democrats in the parliament, thinks that the work to improve equality between women and men becomes more difficult when issues concerning sexual minorities and gender minorities are thrown into the equation.

‘As we see it, what to include in gender equality work is a matter of interpretation. Our opinion differs from the interpretation stipulated in the gender equality programme and in the proposed new motherhood and marriage legislations,’ he says.

Minister of Justice Henriksson regrets that the proposed new motherhood legislation did not go through. Now it is up to the next government to address the issue, ‘if there’s a will’.

Challenges and opportunities within Nordic gender equality policy and in the practical gender equality work will be discussed at four seminars. Ulf Mellström, professor of gender studies at Karlstad University, is coordinating the network. He has witnessed the emergence of increasingly complex gender equality policy in the Nordic region.

In what way has it become more complex?
‘Gender equality used to be defined within a framework of state feminism and had close ties with the welfare state. What we see today is some type of market feminism, with new focus areas. In short, it can be described as a breakthrough for the more right-wing feminism. Today gender equality is embraced by more people and groups than in the past. Even far-right political parties are using gender equality in their defence of the nationalist project.’

What are the consequences of this?
‘That’s hard to say. It depends on your political perspective. Some people think it’s good that the analysis reaches new areas. Others say that the concept of gender equality loses its meaning when more and more groups, such as the far-right Sweden Democrats, want to be part of defining what it is. From now on I think we can expect an increasing presence of the nationalist movement in the gender equality debate. This change is already noticeable in other parts of the world. Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan for example believes that it is the responsibility of each patriotic woman to give birth to 3-4 kids. These types of ideas for gender policy are gaining ground and may grow stronger also in the Nordic countries.’

What other challenges can be noted in relation to Nordic gender equality policy?
‘Nordic gender equality policy has traditionally been tailored to a white, heteronormative, middle class. Many political reforms have targeted the nuclear family. For example, parental allowance reforms, the marriage legislation and the income taxation system have all been designed with hetero families in mind. Not everybody has been included in the development of gender equality policy, so there are indeed some big challenges. We need to broaden the perspectives and recognise that there may be needs out there that are not given enough attention today.’

What effects are you hoping your project will have?
‘We want our results to be policy relevant. It should be possible to use them immediately in policy work. The project will include four seminars and we will also publish one or two books. In a best-case scenario, our work will result in an application for a major EU project so we can involve researchers from other European countries as well.’

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

Detective inspector Berglind Eyjólfsdóttir is chairing the network, which gathers police women from across the region. The network’s project Gendered Violence – Nordic-Baltic Dialogue aims to develop new methods for the police work.  The seminar tomorrow is part of the project and Eyjólfsdóttir hopes it will be an eye-opener.
‘We need to compare and improve the methods we use to combat human trafficking and all forms of gender-based violence,’ she says.

What do the Nordic and Baltic police have to gain from the cooperation?
‘Since our countries are neighbours in such a small area, we depend on good cooperation. Our investigations become so much more effective if we know each other. This is important in the work against human trafficking in particular, but also in other areas. The work against violence in close relationships can for example benefit a great deal from sharing of strategies and experiences across national boundaries.’

What’s going on in the project at the moment?
‘We will meet in Copenhagen 3-4 February for a seminar on the work against gender based violence. We’re also planning next autumn’s final conference in Riga. It will gather police as well as other experts from the Nordic-Baltic region working daily to combat all forms of violence.’
How can the police work against human trafficking and violence in close relationships be improved?
‘Through more education. For a long time, violence within the family was considered a private matter, and the knowledge about it is still limited in many cases within the police. We need to understand the seriousness of these types of crimes and become better at identifying the victims.’

Shouldn’t this work be part of the regular police operations instead of a special project?
‘There is indeed ongoing police work in this area. Our project should be seen as a complement.  Nordic-Baltic Network of Policewomen helps emphasise issues that we believe should be given more attention. It may be about women’s situation within the police or, like in the case of this project, special issues that we feel should be addressed with greater force.’
What’s the biggest challenge in the work against gender-based violence?
‘There’re a great number of challenges. It’s particularly important to improve the cooperation between the police and other relevant actors, such as social services and healthcare. Our ability to discover these crimes at an early stage depends on co-operation with all actors combating gender-based violence including NGOs.’

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

‘The public space’ and ‘welfare and innovation’ are two central themes for the Nordic gender equality cooperation. Denmark is  heading the Nordic Council of Ministers during 2015 and will lead the work this year. The Danish Presidency has already planned a number of activities. For the theme welfare and innovation, one key objective is to reduce the strong gender patterns in adolescents’ educational and occupational choices. The plan is to find and share positive examples of how to encourage more young women to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and math.

‘Most Nordic boys and girls are still making educational choices along traditional gender lines. It is very unfortunate, both for the individuals themselves and for society at large, that their potential is not fully utilised,’ says Manu Sareen, Denmark’s minister for gender equality and social affairs.

Good examples in new handbook

Nordic higher education institutions are already trying to make more girls interested in the natural sciences. For example, Denmark has been successful with Girls’ Day in Science, an education fair targeting teenage girls who are about to decide which track to pursue at the upper secondary level. The fair enables the girls to meet representatives from different companies and learn about their work. They are also offered internships.

‘Our experience is that the girls’ attitudes often change when they discover what the companies really do. They become more prone to breaking away from traditional, gender-based expectations,’ says Sareen.

He emphasises that more educational institutions and actors need to address this problem. Denmark wants to carry out a larger research project where good examples are identified and documented. The plan is to ultimately publish a handbook in all Nordic languages.

Women are leaving the countryside

Another issue that falls under the welfare theme is the urbanisation trend, where a high proportion of young Nordic women leave rural areas to study at a university in a larger city. By contrast, men are less likely to move to the cities and if they do, they are more likely to return home after they get their degree. At the same time, however, the traditionally male-oriented job opportunities are becoming increasingly scarce in rural areas, leaving many men destined for unemployment.

‘This can lead to depopulation of some communities. Birth rates go down, homes deteriorate and the local life just kind of fades away. As there’s a clear connection between population flows and gender equality issues, we want to focus on this and discuss how the problems can be solved,’ says Sareen.

The Danish Presidency has appointed a research project to assess the challenges. Since the problem is substantial in the Faroe Islands and Greenland, a seminar for various actors will be held in Greenland in the summer. The results from the seminar, together with useful advice and positive experiences, will be documented and disbursed across the Nordic region.

Sexist remarks– a democracy problem

‘Gender equality in the public space’ is another key theme in the Nordic cooperation. 2015 marks the 100-year anniversary of women’s suffrage in Denmark and Iceland. In Finland, women were allowed to vote already in 1906. This means that the Nordic countries have a long tradition of female representation in politics. However, the representation in the public space remains unequal. One example of this, according to Sareen, is the way women are discussed and treated in media and social networks.

‘We can see a growing trend where women who participate in the public debate increasingly have to endure sexist remarks, trash talk and direct threats. It’s totally unacceptable. Women and men should be able to participate in the public debate on equal terms. If they can’t, we have a serious democracy problem.’

‘Gender equality in the public space’ is a broad theme that covers both representation, sexism in everyday life, anti-feminism and gender equality in media. The exact focus issues will be decided at the meeting of the Nordic Council of Ministers in May. The selected issues will then be addressed through expert seminars, which may result in the formulation of potential solutions.

‘There’s so much that can be done. I’m looking forward to talking to my Nordic colleagues about how we can improve gender equality in the public sphere,’ says Sareen.

Throughout the four decades of Nordic gender equality cooperation, there has been a continuous focus on equal rights and equal status for women and men in the labour market. Attention has been given to the gender pay gap and elimination of traditional gender roles in the labour market. The possibility to combine paid work and family life has been of critical importance in this work. Today equal sharing of parental responsibilities between mums and dads is increasingly taken for granted, and the high employment rate among Nordic women is contributing largely to the Nordic welfare model.

Many steps remain for the Nordic countries to achieve gender equality in the business sector. Their parliaments, however, have come farther. The Nordic countries share many views and objectives, but often choose different methods to get the work done. That is why they can learn so much from each other.

In the next few years, the Nordic gender equality cooperation will change gears somewhat. In the cooperation programme for 2015–2018, we want to give particular focus to gender equality in the public space – because democracy is not just a matter of having the right to vote, it’s also about being able to participate in the public debate.

Words contribute to form our reality, and when we begin to allow the use of belittling and disrespectful rhetoric and remarks, the practice soon becomes generally accepted. We simply don’t want to be part of such development, but instead work against it, in the same way as we have worked against for example domestic violence for many years. As we also know that gender equality contributes to sustainable growth, we want to give increased attention to gender equality as a driver of welfare and innovation in the Nordic countries.

Nordic gender equality policy has so far focused mostly on the situation of women in society, politics and the labour market. In order to eliminate the stubborn boundaries between so-called male- and female-oriented occupations and educational choices, the male perspective has to be included in the work. We need to find more methods to combat the stereotypical preconceptions that keep affecting the lives and life choices of women and men, boys and girls. In the coming years, we will therefore work hard to facilitate men’s and boys’ active participation in the gender equality work and the gender equality debate

The new programme for the gender equality sector in the Nordic governmental cooperation does not imply a change of direction of Nordic gender equality policy. It is our way to concretise the cooperation between the Nordic governments in the area of gender equality. The programme has been developed with the assistance of both theparliamentarians in the Nordic Council and gender equality actors from around the Nordic region, and is therefore broadly supported. Backed by this support, we are also sharing our experiences in the UN and other international arenas.

Gender equality themes addressed by the Nordic countries tend to spread and find their way to national agendas also outside the Nordic region. However, the good experiences and examples need to be spread in our own sphere as well – in politics, in the workplace and in people’s homes. By together letting the principles of gender equality guide the way we think and act, we – politicians and citizens – can bring our countries even closer to the ultimate goal of a just and democratic Nordic region.

Women’s economic conditions have changed fundamentally in just a few decades, but the goal remains to be reached in the Nordic countries.
‘Economic equality is not some fringe problem. It’s actually a key factor if we want to get somewhere with the gender equality work,’ says Louise Lindfors, chair of the Fredrika-Bremer-Association.

Why did you start the project?
‘The economic issues are critical to the Nordic gender equality work. When the World Economic Forum measures gender equality in different countries (in the annual Global Gender Gap Report) the Nordic ones end up at the top of the list, but serious problems are also revealed. Our score for representation, for example in politics, is high, but when it comes to the economic domain our ranking is not nearly as high.’

Why are we ranked lower in that area?
‘In a nutshell, men tend to have more money to spend than women. There’re several reasons for this. One in three women work part time; for men it’s one in ten. Women take out 74 per cent of the parental leave and are also more likely to stay home from work with sick kids. And then of course there are the pay differentials – men’s work is assigned a higher value than women’s.’

What will it take for the Nordic countries to achieve economic equality?
‘We need to close the pay gap and reach a more gender equal distribution of family and household responsibilities. The introduction of a daddy month (one month of the total parental leave reserved for the father) is the single most important gender equality measure in Sweden. Everybody knows this, so it should be easy to realise that more work in this area can have a major impact. The politicians are afraid of telling people what to do, but it’s really a matter of communicating what’s expected. A shared parental leave policy would signal that equal sharing is the default way of doing it.’

You talk about economic vulnerability. Do the weaknesses in gender equality really have such serious economic consequences?

‘Yes. Look at our older people and you’ll find a particularly good example. In Sweden, about 225 000 senior citizens live below the EU poverty level. Most of them are women. The limit is set at a gross income of SEK 10 400 kronor and there are a large number of older people in Sweden who don’t come close to this level. A person’s economic situation depends on many factors, and gender is a big one. Sometimes we’re told the Nordic countries are close enough to perfect gender equality. We disagree, to say the least.’
Do you feel it’s difficult to reach out with these issues?
‘This is complex stuff so, yes, it’s a communicative challenge. We have some wild plans for how to explain things without coming across as dictating to people how they should live their lives. To reach out broadly I think we need to find ambassadors. At the Fredrika-Bremer-Association, we have for example worked together with the comedian Bianca Kronlöf. She can obviously reach out to people in a way that we at the Association simply can’t.’

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

The Nordic welfare model, where society actively supports gender-equal participation in both parenting and the labour market, continues to attract international attention. The five Nordic countries are generally considered to be rather homogenous and advanced in the area of social and family policy. However, new research presented in the book Fatherhood in the Nordic Welfare States shows that although the countries do share many features, there are also important differences. Professor Tine Rostgaard from Aalborg University wrote several chapters of the book and also edited the entire work together with Professor Gudný Björk Eydal, University of Iceland.

‘One thing that all Nordic countries have in common is that they have tried to make it easier for fathers to participate actively in family life. Denmark and Sweden are at opposite ends of the Nordic continuum. In some of the countries – Denmark in particular – the concept of gender equality is mostly of symbolic importance and not something that’s concretely implemented in national policy. By contrast, Sweden has worked actively for many years to promote gender equality and active fatherhood through policy and legislation. Iceland, in turn, has been extremely progressive when it comes to parental leave. In 2013, Iceland passed a law reserving 5 months for the mother, 5 months for the father and 2 months to share any way they want, putting them at the forefront in this area,’ says Rostgaard.

A new government has, however, reverted back to the previous policy of 3 months for each parent and 3 months to share. Finland and Norway place somewhere in the middle of the field, Rostgaard explains. Finland has a high share of women working full time in the labour market, while Norway has a more traditional model where a series of family policies give women opportunities to stay home with their children.

Daddy quotas: An effective policy instrument

Fathers’ access to paid parental leave, the so-called daddy quota, is one of the central areas addressed in the book. In all Nordic countries except Denmark, fathers are legally entitled to shorter or longer periods of the total parental leave granted for a child. Against the background of the extensive research results presented in the book, Rostgaard has no doubts: The daddy quota can strengthen fathers’ access to parental leave and also their paternal role.

‘If the goal is to get men to take out more parental leave, the daddy quota is the most effective policy instrument. A quota helps institutionalise important rights and affects all levels, including the workplace and family life,’ Rostgaard adds.

Groundbreaking fertility research among men

Men’s role in relation to fertility and the falling birth rates is one of the groundbreaking areas that the book explores by looking at men’s attitudes to family life and their view of when it is appropriate to have children.

‘The study shows that Nordic men are more tolerant regarding other men’s choice to postpone having children or to not have them at all. Based on the data we have access to, we can’t firmly say that tolerance means that people choose not to have kids. But our data does point in that direction. We therefore conclude that the greater tolerance affects whether you choose to have kids,’ Rostgaard explains.

At a time with a strong political focus on the falling birth rates, the book therefore underscores the importance of men’s attitudes when attempting to understand what determines fertility rates.

Family legislation treats mothers and fathers differently

Other topics covered in the over 400 page book include men’s use of time at home, the paternal role in different family constellations and how policies in the five countries support the possibility for fathers to care for their children, as well as whether the results correspond to the Nordic countries’ aims in the areas of gender equality and family life. An article by Hrefna Fridriksdóttir, associate professor at the University of Iceland, shows that there are significant differences in how mothers and fathers are treated in Nordic family legislation.

‘We’re doing this big “daddy project” in the Nordic countries, but the family legislation doesn’t support the project to the same extent in all countries. Hrefna Fridriksdóttir concludes that greater efforts should be made to ensure that the family legislation is at par with the progressive thoughts that the Nordic countries demonstrate in the area of equality between mothers and fathers,’ says Rostgaard.

‘This is a hidden problem, but we want to start a debate about it,’ says Drífa Snædal, general secretary of the Federation of General and Special Workers in Iceland.
How is the sexism noticeable in your sectors?
‘Drunk customers groping staff is one example. Some guests think they have paid for the privilege of harassing the workers. Occupational groups that are dependent on tips, such as waitresses and cleaning staff, are particularly vulnerable. Studies show that harassment is a widespread problem in our sectors. We can’t just close our eyes to it.’ 
Why is sexual harassment so common?
‘Our sectors are characterised by strong hierarchies, both among workers and in relation to customers. Young women are often found at the bottom of the hierarchies. Then add alcohol to this. Many people think that these are problems that come with the territory, so to speak – as if it’s part of the job to take crap from customers and co-workers. That’s obviously not right.’

What will it take to stop the harassment?

‘The ultimate responsibility lies with the employers, but the unions also have a responsibility. We need to deal with this once and for all and spread information about it so that the victims feel they can come to us. It’s time for us to include this issue as a natural part of our work.’

What do Nordic trade unions have to gain from cooperating?
‘Good ideas often emerge in several places at the same time. This was definitely the case for us. Everybody who’s involved in the project sees a need to act, but we need better knowledge. The Nordic countries are known for their gender equality and like this role, but it takes a lot of work.’

What results are you expecting from the project?
‘We want to see a serious debate in the Nordic countries. In a long-term perspective, we hope that our project will lead to more and larger gender equality projects being formed.’

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

The project is the first collaboration ever between Sami and Greenlandic women’s organisations.
‘It’s really exciting. We share so many experiences,’ says Gudrun Eriksen Lindi from Sami Women’s Forum.

What do you think you can learn from each other?
‘Greenland has dealt differently with the violence and addictions problems than we have. Where we’re from, these issues are still taboo. The problems are by no means unique to our communities, but since we live in small communities it’s often hard to talk about them. There’s this idea that these problems should be solved in the family, but that’s wrong.’

What will it take to break these taboos?
‘We have to talk about the problems, not least with our adolescents. We need to teach them where the limits are. We can’t tolerate that boys harass girls in school, we have to give a clear message from the beginning. Both the authorities and our communities have a responsibility. They need to disperse information and be prepared to deal with the problems. Individuals who come to them and ask for help must be taken seriously.’

Being a woman and belonging to the indigenous population, does it imply any particular challenges? 

‘We have to fight for our rights both as women and as indigenous people. In our culture, women often have a special responsibility to take care of the family and to carry on traditions. That’s a rather heavy burden now when our communities are in crisis. We’re being exploited, for example through the opening of new mines. We’re fighting the mining companies at the same time as we’re fighting for our rights as women. This fight involves both the Sami parliaments and the states. One thing that makes it harder is that we don’t have access to all democratic arenas.’

In which way do you mean you’re excluded?
‘The Sami are sidelined in the Nordic work because we’re not recognised as an independent nation. We’re for example not represented in the work with the Nordic gender equality policy. Greenland gets to be part of it since they are recognised as independent, but not the Sami. I think that’s a big problem. There has got to be a way to give us some influence, too. Mankind has managed to put people on the moon, for heaven’s sake!’

What happens next in EAMI FEMI? 
‘We’re just now starting to meet via Skype, and next year we’ll meet in Oslo to talk about our themes violence and addiction. At the end of the project we’ll tell others about our work through an exhibition.’

This text is part of the article series Nordic Gender Equality Cooperation in Practice 2014, which presents the projects granted funding through the Nordic Funding Scheme 2014. SNF-Sámi NissonForum/Sami Women’s Forum received DKK 250 000 for the EAMI FEMI project. The project is administered in cooperation with a women’s organisation in Greenland and the organisation Samiska kvinnor i Norr in Sweden. The organisations will meet at a seminar in Oslo next year. The project will conclude with an exhibition that will be presented both physically and online.
EAMI is a Sami word that means original, indigenous etc.

On 4^th December in Vilnius, Nordicom, EIGE and Nordic Council of Ministers office in Lithuania hosted the final event of the project Nordic Gender & Media Forum: the launch of the anthology “Making Change. Nordic Examples of Working Towards Gender Equality in the Media”. The book presents good practices and a compilation of statistical data from Nordic private and public media companies and organisations. One of the editors of the book, Maria Edström, stressed that people in the media industry are aware of gender equality, they talk about it, but now it’s time to step up and make change. Experiences from the Nordic countries could therefore be one useful reference point about what has actually been done to address equality in the media. “The book is hopefully helpful and useful to a broad group of users. The media can promote gender equality or ridicule efforts towards gender equality. We have published it to create a dialogue and show that there are many ways to achieve gender equality. Both structural and individual initiatives can contribute to change. Sometimes you don’t even need money or funding, all you need is a good idea,” explained Maria Edström. “Our book will be available in the online archive of University of Gothenburg and on the Nordicom website, free of charge for everyone to get acquainted with and get inspired by the existing initiatives. It is divided into sections, so if you work in journalism, you will search for and read about the examples from that area. But the book can also be seen as a meeting point for a cross over discussion between different areas of the media sphere.”

The existence and quality of data varies

Ulrika Facht, analyst at Nordicom, who was responsible for data compilation, has gathered information from four types of media that are covered in the book: film, journalism, computer games and advertising. “The access to data on gender equality varies from industry to industry. We have found comparable data on film and journalism, whereas it has been difficult to find solid numbers on the balance between women and men in advertising and especially in the gaming industry. The gaming industry has not been so interested to say this is a problem. Although, with a few exceptions, the data compiled show that an industry can have as many women as men working within it, but men hold the majority of top level positions. Data from international studies on journalism show similar patterns between the Nordic and the Baltic countries.”

Industry best practice examples

The projects described in the book are there to promote various ways in which society and individuals can make a change towards more equality. Some initiatives have been successfully implemented in more than one country. “The example of the film industry from Sweden shows how a simple idea can spread rapidly”, said Maria Edström. “The A-rating is an initiative implemented by four Swedish cinemas based on three simple questions: Are there two or more women characters, do they have names? Do they talk to each other? Do they talk to each other about something besides men? If the answers are positive, the movie gets the A-rating (for Approved). Alison Bechdel formulated these three questions back in 1985 in the so called  Bechdel Test. Almost 30 years later, four Swedish cinemas created a huge debate about representation in film and got widespread media

coverage allover the world.” According to Anita Frank Goth, Head of Communications at KVINFO in Denmark, the society is not aware of the problem with women’s representation in media especially when it comes to journalism. It is a global problem which GMM’s report “Who Makes the News” also has showed since 1995. The first one from many extraordinary practices described in the book is KVINFO’s online expert database presenting 1178 profiles of Danish women. Here the journalists have an easy access to female experts from all areas of the society, including scientists and researchers, managers, politicians, and persons from the world of arts and culture.

Gender and age affect the gender of experts in media

“In 2013 a survey by EIGE shows that in Denmark 81 % of experts on television are men, and compared to 1982 where 86 % of the sources were men on the Danish news, you can conclude not much has happened in media,” said Anita Frank Goth. ”And with the gender problem follows also an age problem in media. Up to the age of 34, women and men are represented equally on television in Denmark. After 35, the number is decreasing. And after 50, only 23 percent of people appearing on television are women. And when it comes to experts people are often older than the age of 34, before they can call themselves an expert.” The Baltic countries were not included in the project. However, their good practices and ideas were given due attention at the seminar. Latvian children’s television analysis has revealed some worrying statistics. As it is the media that helps introduce kids to notions of gender, there is a great lack of representation of female characters (ratio 1:3). Estonia presented a promising commercial campaign mocking gender stereotypes. Inspired by Germany, the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs organizes non-typical career days for students to encourage uncommon career choices. Lithuanian representative Laima Kreivytė presented the feminist group “Cooltūristės” and their three-part exhibition “Postidea”. The concept of the initiative was not to complain, but to make a gesture using mainstream strategies. “Both radical feminist and political approaches are needed to achieve the objective,” Kreivytė, art critic and curator, said.