New institutions with gender equality on the agenda

It is no coincidence that Nordic co-operation on gender equality policy began officially in 1974. During the 1970s, gender equality issues were increasingly prioritised in the Nordic countries and institutions were established to further this work.

Hannele Varsa, Equality Council, Finland

Finland, for example, established the Council for Gender Equality (TANE) in 1972. It brought together representatives from various political parties as well as actors from other areas of society, including researchers, civil servants and civil society representatives. Their task was to gather and disseminate knowledge about gender equality.

“We often worked by identifying topical issues and gathering politicians and other actors to discuss them,” says Hannele Varsa, who worked for the Council’s secretariat from 1986 to 1995 and served as its Secretary General from 2003 to 2022.

Despite the tailwind behind gender equality, she recalls that the Council also faced resistance. Gender equality issues were not welcomed by everyone and many were simply uninterested.

For example, when the delegation raised the need for new measures to combat gender-based violence, the response was initially lukewarm.

“As experts, we recognised that it was a widespread societal problem, but many people didn’t understand that,” says Hannele Varsa.

She says that gender-based violence was an issue that the Finnish Council for Gender Equality started working on at an early stage. The issue was also on the agenda in the other Nordic countries in the 1970s and 1980s, and work to combat gender-based violence also characterised early Nordic co-operation on gender equality. Over the years, knowledge and experience have been exchanged through many different projects and conferences.

Hannele Varsa believes that developing knowledge has had an important impact in work against gender-based violence. She mentions in particular the report ‘The Price of Violence. The Cost of Men’s Violence against Women in Finland’. It was published in 2000 and was one of several reports produced after the Council for Gender Equality initiated a study on violence. Bringing visibility to the direct economic costs proved important.

“It woke up some politicians who had previously not been interested at all. It’s sad that it had to become about money, but the inquiry succeeded in showing the scale of the problem, which made it an important report.”

The Council for Gender Equality still exists, but its role has changed compared to the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. At the same time, new institutions have been established. Responsibility for the implementation of Finnish gender equality policy lies mainly with the Gender Equality Unit of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

Another organisation that has been important in the formulation and implementation of Finnish gender equality policy is the Centre for Gender Equality Information, at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. The Centre provided research-backed information on gender equality, but its operations were ceased in August 2024 for cost-saving reasons, a decision that sparked debate.

“Finland is now the only country in the Nordic region without a national information centre for gender equality. The decision will make research-backed decision-making in the field of gender equality more difficult,” says Hannele Varsa.

Looking back on her years working at the Council for Gender Equality, Hannele Varsa recognises that the Council was often ahead of its time, initiating political discussions on issues that only led to reforms decades later. For example, she recalls that the issue of paternity leave was discussed long before the first paternity month was introduced in Finland in 2003.

“You are struck by how slow the processes of politics can be,” she says.

Something that made a particular impression on her during her years at the Council for Gender Equality was the discussions within the Council’s men’s section, in which she was involved.

“It was the most interesting period of my professional life. We gathered representatives from many sides and explored the issues together. We had very fruitful conversations, for example about what it really means growing up as a boy in Finland.”

Hannele Varsa recalls that those on the Council for Gender Equality followed developments in the field of gender equality in the other Nordic countries closely.

Gender mainstreaming in the Nordic countries

Over the years, gender equality legislation in the Nordic countries has evolved. At the same time, new institutions have been established, tasked with providing a basis for gender equality policy and ensuring that political decisions are implemented. How this work is organised differs from country to country. Since 2018, Sweden has had a Gender Equality Agency tasked with promoting the effective implementation of gender equality policy. In Norway, the work is carried out by the Bufdir agency, under the Ministry of Children and Equality. In Iceland, it is done through the Directorate of Equality, Jafnréttistofa, which is administered under the Minister of Social Affairs and Housing. In Greenland, the administrative body is the Greenland Gender Equality Council.

Over the past 50 years, gender equality has become a policy area that every Nordic government needs to respond to and provide policy for. In all the countries, there is now a clear path for how gender equality policy should be developed and implemented.

In the 1970s and 1980s, legislation was seen as the main tool for achieving gender equality, but in the 1990s gender mainstreaming was introduced as a new strategy. Gender mainstreaming means that all decisions taken, at both the national and local level, should be analysed in terms of their impact on women and men. In this way, gender equality work is conducted on an ongoing basis in all organisations, by all those involved in decision-making.

Gender mainstreaming as a strategy has been an important part of the Nordic countries’ gender equality work, and the strategy has also come to characterise co-operation on gender equality in the Nordic Council.

“In particular, we looked at Sweden, which we felt had come further than us. For example, we pointed to the Swedish childcare system and said that we could do the same in Finland. We also had contact with Sweden on men’s issues. The Swedish idea group for issues related to men’s roles came to Finland in 1990 as guests of the men’s section, so there was active interaction.”

The Swedish idea group for issues related to male roles was linked to the Gender Equality Council, which served an advisory role for the Swedish government.

Varsa is convinced that Nordic co-operation has accelerated gender equality work in the respective countries. She also recognises that international bodies such as the UN and the EU have helped to put pressure on the Nordic governments.

“We often talk about how we in the Nordic countries have led the way, but in fact, reforms have often been implemented in our countries only after external pressure.”

She points to CEDAW, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, adopted by the UN in 1979, as an example.

“It was instrumental in bringing about the Gender Equality Act in Finland,” she says.

The Finnish Gender Equality Act was passed by Parliament in 1986 and prohibited discrimination in the labour market. The following year, the Ombudsman for Equality was also established, tasked with combating gender discrimination. Similar laws and institutions were introduced in several other Nordic countries in the 1970s and 1980s. For example, Sweden’s first Gender Equality Act came into force in 1980 and the Gender Equality Ombudsman was established in the same year.

In the 1970s and 1980s, legislation was seen as the main tool for achieving gender equality, but in the 1990s gender mainstreaming was introduced as a new strategy.

Gender mainstreaming means that all decisions, both at the national and the local level, should be analysed in terms of their impact on women and men. In this way, gender equality work is carried out on an ongoing basis in all organisations, by all those involved in decision-making.

Gender mainstreaming as a strategy has been highly significant to the Nordic countries’ gender equality work, and the strategy has also come to characterise co-operation on gender equality in the Nordic Council of Ministers. Over the past 50 years, Nordic co-operation programmes in the field of gender equality have tackled common challenges in many different areas, such as working life, health care and politics. Varsa recognises that many problems remain and that new gender equality issues will require politicians’ attention in the future. She mentions, for example, gender equality linked to climate change as an important future issue. The topic was raised by the Council for Gender Equality as far back as the 1990s, and the issue has since become increasingly urgent.

“We recognise that men generally contribute more to climate change than women, while women are more affected globally.”

She is convinced that Nordic co-operation on gender equality will deepen in the future.

“In parts of Europe, there is growing opposition to gender equality issues, and I think this backlash will make Nordic co-operation more important. Our similarities may become more apparent, because even though we see this resistance in our countries too, I think there is fairly solid support here for us to work towards gender equality. By working together, we can also better reach out internationally and continue to be an important global voice on these issues.”

She cites as an example the tradition within the Nordic Council of Ministers of participating in joint Nordic programme items during the annual meeting of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York.