Timeline, milestones for equality in the Nordic countries

Equal inheritance rights for women and men introduced

The organised women’s movement takes shape

Unmarried women come of age (at 25)

Women gain the right to take academic degrees

Married women come of age (at 25)

Universal and equal suffrage introduced

First female minister appointed

Homosexuality is decriminalised

Working women cannot be dismissed on grounds of pregnancy, childbirth or parental leave

The first LGBTI organisation is established,

Signing of the United Nations Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 100 on equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value

Possibility of individual taxation introduced

Birth control pills are authorised

Free abortion introduced

Transgender people are given the opportunity to change their legal gender, Sweden

Parents are given the right to share leave upon the birth of a child with the introduction of parental insurance

Act on equality between women and men adopted

The disease label for homosexuality is removed

World’s first democratically elected female president

Same-sex partnership legislation

All professions open to women – including in the military

Law banning the purchase of sexual services

Same-sex marriage legalised

Abolition of compulsory sterilisation in gender-confirming treatment

Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention (Istanbul Convention) on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence

Gender identity law based on self-identification introduced

Only country in the world with gender-neutral conscription

Psychiatric diagnosis of transsexualism removed

Law on equal pay standard for women and men introduced

Consent legislation introduced

The UN’s specialised body for employment and labour issues, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), adopts the Convention on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work