Thursday, June 16, 2005
Feminists poised to create own political party in Sweden
STOCKHOLM (AFP) May, 2005 - A new women's political party is set to emerge in Sweden, a country already considered a world-leader in women's rights.
Rumors of the planned feminist party have been circulating ever since one of Sweden's most high-profile feminists, Gudrun Schyman, resigned as head of the previously communist Left Party last year to focus on making gender equality the main theme of the upcoming 2006 general elections.
"There are networks and there are groups, and feminist questions have been raised within political parties that exist today. But at the same time the reality we are living in shows us that this is not enough," Schyman said in a radio interview on Sunday, declining to reveal whether she intended to unveil a feminist party this week.
The speculation was that the party would see the light on international women's day Tuesday.
Despite Sweden's exemplary track record when it comes to gender equality in politics (45 percent of Swedish parliamentarians are women), there is much anger against what is perceived as society's lackluster response to increased violence against women.
"Men's violence against women exists both in the fancy parlors and in the shabby suburbs. This (topic) does not fit into the traditional right-left scale," said Schyman, an independent member of parliament.
Unequal pay is another cause for complaint. Even six years ago, a study on the subject showed women on average were getting only 82 percent as much as their male counterparts, and that trend has continued. Also, few women break through the glass ceiling into the upper income brackets.
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