Swedish minister: Gender equality under
Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

Swedish minister: Gender equality under attack

According to Minister for Gender Equality Nina Larsson (L), the internet is flooded with hatred and threats against women and platforms are doing far too little. At the UN Women's Summit in New York, she wants to make contact with other countries to increase pressure. "The values we are inundated with online shape our behavior in the physical world," Larsson says.

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The UN Commission on the Status of Women, which meets annually, has primary responsibility for policy development on gender equality. It is also responsible for monitoring the implementation of women's rights in member states.

“Unequal values”

This year's meeting, which begins on Sunday, is being held at a time when "gender equality is under attack," says Nina Larsson, who represents Sweden's delegation of around 30 people from the Riksdag, the Government Offices, authorities and civil society.

Not least online, where we are daily, every minute and every second, flooded with unequal values on social media that flow freely, even straight into the pockets of children and young people.

She also mentions the U.S.'s decline in support for work on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Sweden is one of the world's largest donors in terms of aid, and that work becomes even more important when others withdraw.

Hate and threats online

Nina Larsson will primarily focus on the development of online hate and threats, where too little is being done by the platforms, she says.

The commercial interests represented by these relatively few but enormous tech giants are not something we can regulate on our own. We need to find alliances to be able to resist them and their advances.

The hope is to forge closer ties with other countries and be able to invite them to a meeting in Stockholm in the fall.

The Swedish delegation will also discuss commercial sexual exploitation online, after Sweden criminalized purchasing sex online last summer. Several other countries are interested in the law, according to Larsson.

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AuthorTT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers
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