Swedish law – not so equal after all

It is a common misconception that men and women are treated more equally in Sweden than anywhere else in the world.
This myth probably stems from the incredibly strong influence of feminism on Swedish politics. Sure, the official propaganda keeps telling people that Sweden is the most equal country in the world. And the Swedish press (which is often state controlled, state subsidized, or subject to state enforced censorship) will keep perpetuating this lie.

In fact in many instances in the law, men are basically treated as second class citizens. I took the liberty to look through the Swedish laws and translate some of them in order to make the readers get an idea of how it is to be a man in Sweden.


Social services act (Socialtjänstlag) reads as follows:

Chapter 5

11 § The social services duties include working for the victims of crime and see that their family receive support and help.

Social services shall give special consideration to women who are, or have been victims of violence or other abuse by people close to them and may be in need of support and help change their situation.


So, what this means is that male victims of domestic violence and abuse are a priori deemed as being unworthy of protection, help and support, regardless of whether they might indeed be in dire need of assistance.


Let’s move on to Registration act (folkbokföringslagen):

2 § A child born alive in this country is registred if the mother is registered, or if the father is registered and legal guardian. A child born abroad by a woman shall also be registered in the population register. Act (1997:989).

Before discussing this further, let's read this passage from Parental act (Föräldrabalken):

Chapter 1. Fatherhood and motherhood for children

1 § If at childbirth the mother is married to a man, he shall be regarded as the child’s father, unless other facts applies from § 2. The same applies if the mother is a widow and the child is born within such time after the death of the child to have been conceived before. Act (2009:254).

If the husband Approves in writing another man’s acknowledgment of paternity, with the provisions of § 4, shall thus be concluded that the husband is not the child’s father. Confirmation, however in this case must always be approved in writing by the mother. Act (1990:1526).

4 § Acknowledgement of paternity shall be in writing and shall be witnessed by two people. The confirmation shall be approved in writing by the family court and by the mother or a specially appointed guardian for the child. If the child is of age, or is it under Chapter 6. § 2 is not in anyone’s custody, the confirmation shall instead be authorized by the child itself.

So, what this means is that a woman automatically becomes a mother and a custodian for the child or children resulted from birth, whilst a man becomes a father and a custodian only if the mother approves it.

Basically, from a judicial point of view, in Sweden, children literally belong to the woman and the state.

The same goes with citizenship. The law says the following:

Acquisition of Swedish citizenship at birth
1 § A child acquires Swedish citizenship at birth, if

1st – The mother is a Swedish citizen,
2nd – father is a Swedish citizen and the child is born in Sweden,
3rd – father is a Swedish citizen and married to the child’s mother,
4th – father is deceased but at his death was a Swedish citizen and the child is born in Sweden, or
5th – father is deceased but at his death was a Swedish citizen and married to the child’s mother.

This means that if a woman gives birth abroad, the child is automatically Swedish. But if a Swedish man has a child abroad, he has to be married with the child’s mother and his marriage be recognized by the Swedish state in order for the child to enjoy the rights of being a Swedish citizen.

This is basically state enforced matrilineal lineage. Not even the State of Israel has a law like this.

Things get worse when we read Brottsbalk, which is the Swedish Criminal Code:

Chapter 4
4 a § A person who commits a crime under 3, 4 or 6. against a relative or former associated person shall be convicted, if each of the acts form part of a repeated violation of the person’s integrity and is suited to severely damage the person’s self-esteem, for gross violation of integrity to imprisonment for at least six months up to six years.

If the acts described in the first paragraph are committed by a man against a woman with whom he is, or has been, married or with whom he resides, or has resided with in a marriage-like relationship, shall be supplementary sentenced for gross violations of women’s peace for the same act.

And yes, the Swedes have a "women’s peace" law. Do they have an equivalent "men’s peace" law? Or a broadened "people’s peace" law? Of course they don’t, because women are the only people worthy of rights and protection in Sweden.

One repercussion of this article in the Criminal Code, in conjunction with the fact that you, as a man, cannot and will not be a father unless the woman approves it, is that you can basically be sent to prison for up to 6 years based on the simple fact that you wanted to have a phone conversation with your own child. This, in judicial terms, could be interpreted to mean "gross violation of women’s peace".


Now let’s take a look on another two laws regarding body searches: Act on shipping protection (Lagen om sjöfartsskydd) says:

14 § Body searches that are of a more extensive scope is to be performed in a separate space. Such inspection shall be made in the presence of witnesses, if the person to be examined so requests and it can be done without major disturbance. Body search of the woman must be performed and witnessed only by another woman, if the investigation is not done through the metal detector or similar device. Body searches which are limited to the object that a woman carries with her may be conducted and witnessed by a man.

Act concerning the treatment of detainees and arrestees, etc.

2 b § Body searches or body examination may not be more detailed than the purpose of the action requires. All the respect as circumstances permit shall be observed. If possible, a witness shall be present. A detained must be kept separate from other detainees, if it is necessary to execute a decision on physical examination.

Body searches or body examination of a woman can not be performed or witnessed by anyone other than a woman, a doctor or a registered nurse. The following actions may be executed and witnessed by a man, namely,

1 body search referred to in § 2, third paragraph, and
2 body search that occurs with metal detector or similar technical device.

In other words, men can be subjected to humiliating strip searches by women while the other way around would be illegal.

Got that?

The laws are exactly the same for the illegal aliens and those suspected to have committed a criminal offense. Let’s see them too:

Criminal procedure act (Rättegångsbalk) says:

Chapter 28

13 § Body searches or body examination of a woman can not be performed or witnessed by anyone other than a woman, a doctor or registered nurse. Body searches which only means that the object that a woman has with her investigation and physical examination alone means that blood, breath or saliva sample for DNA analysis may be executed and witnessed by a man.

Aliens Act (Utlänningslagen):

Chapter 9

2 § A woman may not searched by or in the presence of men other than physicians or registered nurses. If a search involves only an object that a woman has with her investigation, must visitation be conducted and witnessed by a man.

Then things get better when we read Förundersökningskunggörelse[9] which is the law that sets the terms for those that have to come and testify in court. The law reads as follows:

7 § When questioning witnesses a citizen witness support person should be engaged by the Act (1981:324) on citizens witness support, if such is available.

When questioning a woman, a female interrogation witness must be hired, if the detainee requests it and it can conveniently be done

In other words, when a woman has to testify in court, regardless if she’s a criminal testifying to lower her sentence or get away with it, she has the legal right to conduct gender discrimination in employment in order to accommodate her emotional needs on taxpayers’ money.

The anti-male bias is also present in the laws that establish state handouts. The law on income based pension reads:

Chapter 3

13 § If no notification under the first paragraph is made, the amount shall be credited to the parent whom, for the year that the amount relates, have the lowest pension base under Chapter 4. § 2. If none of the parents have any pension base for that year or have the same base, the amount shall be credited the mother or if the parents are of the same sex, the elder of them.

The state pension system in Sweden is rather complicated but basically, a person contributes to his or her parents’ pension based on a complicated formula. This paragraph from the law says that if one’s parents did not work in their lives and have a small or no pension, the mother shall get all the money, regardless of what the mother did for the person in question. Basically, if my mother raped me when I was 10 and I grew up with my father who protected me, when I start working, my mother will get part of what I earn. That is Sweden! The same goes on “Lag om allmänna barnbidrag” which is the law that regulates child allowances:

4 § A parent who has sole custody of a child has the right to collect general child support for the child. In cases of joint custody, the following applies. The right to collect child support allowance generally belongs to the parent who is registered as beneficiary. Notification shall be made to the Social Insurance by the parents jointly. If no such notification is made, the mother has the right to receive the amount

What this means is that the father never has the right to get the state child allowance as long as the mother refuses to sign it over to him. This also applies in the cases when the father is the full time parent and the single custodian.

In other words, this money belongs by law to the women that gave birth to children.

Of course, by "Lag om omskärelse av pojkar", circumcision on males is legal because by law, in Sweden, everyone has the right to their own body except boys under the age of 18.

Of course, the same Swedish state, has "Förbud mot kvinnlig könnstympning", which is the law that prohibits female genital mutilation.

The family law in Sweden (Föräldrabalken) still holds a provision that is actually illegal to hold within the EU:

Chapter 6

3 § The child is from birth in the custody of both parents, if they are married to each other, and in other cases of mother alone. if the parents later marry each other, the child from that time will be in in the care of both of them, unless the Court has previously entrusted custody to one or two specially appointed custodians.

Germany has been condemned by the EU court of human rights for having the exact same law a few years ago and the German Parliament was forced to change it. However, nobody bothered to criticize Sweden for the same problem.

This is not the first, nor the last time, when Sweden is in gross violation of EU’s discrimination act and nobody says anything.

Therefore, in the most "equal" country in the world, Swedish men and fathers are, by law, second class citizens and parents and are less worthy of protection when they suffer from domestic violence.

There is no shelter for abused men in Sweden. There are however more than 250 shelters for women which are run by various branches of the mammoth organization called Riksorganisationen för kvinnojourer Och tjejjourer i Sverige (ROKS), an organization that has thoroughly been infiltrated in the Swedish government and all political parties through which they get close to unlimited state funds. One can read a great article about this here.


Just like in any other country in Europe, fathers have no say when it comes to abortions or adoptions. But in Sweden, by law, fathers have no say when it comes to being a father.

One additional thing to mention is that women who give birth get extra money from the state simply for giving birth, regardless of whether they choose to keep the child.

 

interesting post

The swedish feminist party tried to create a law forcing men to pee sitting down. I'm not kidding.

 

Democrats/Progressives/Liberals in the United States can't control themselves when it comes to Canada and Sweden. They love those countries so much

 

That's a long OP and I don't particularly feel like commenting verbosely on everything, but I'll jot down a few thoughts.

I have comments on a few of the points, most suggesting that the reason for the laws in question are not a female superiority thing as much as practical. Religious and traditional considerations for circumcision, guard demographics for the body search thing, proof of fatherhood issues for most parental considerations and so on. That being said, I would support a rephrasing of them, but that does not mean I have to assume that its source has to be regarding men as second class citizens. Similarly, the women's peace law is mimicked in the peace law (they're only separate for historic reasons, they have the same numbers) for men. I can't find the relevant law about the pension thing, the references are not very consistent.

But that's all details, my main point would be picking on the main argument of the post. The OP claims to give "an idea of how it is to be a man in Sweden", yet having been a man in Sweden for a long while, these considerations have never had an impact on me or, to the best of my knowledge, anyone I know. I'm not saying a few of these things shouldn't be fixed or that Sweden is perfect, but some of these considerations seem very nit picky when it comes to global comparisons. That brings me to my next point, the arguments the OP seems to try to make are all about how Sweden compares to the rest of the world, however, no comparison is made, leaving the reader with no information to make the distinction.

That being said, there are still a bunch of the above things I would support change to. However, for some reason, most people who display an interest in those issues tend spend their time picking a fight with feminism instead of, let's say opening a shelter for abused men.

 

You missed a very important law, the law of discrimination. It lines up a long list of things you may not do, except if you do it in the name of gender equality.

1§ An employer may not discriminate...

5§ Educational institutions may not discriminate...

and so on, but nearly every "may not discriminate" is followed by one of these:

2§ The prohibition in 1§ does not hinder:
2. Measures that are taken as part of the endeavour to further equality between women and men...

So discimination is bad, except if you do it for gender equality.

 

The US Repub/ConservativeReligiousFreak party want to create laws forcing women to give birth. I'm not kidding.

 

If you don't want to give birth, there's a pretty simple solution, don't have sex.

But women are not held accountable for the consequences of their actions and choices because their victims of the patriarchy, white male privilege, whatever-right????

 

Still grinding that old fallacy again I see.

 

Male representatives on the Sormland County Council in Sweden should sit rather than stand while urinating in office restrooms, according to a motion advanced by the local Left Party.

Known as a socialist and feminist organization, the party claims that seated urination is more hygienic for men -- the practice decreases the likelihood of puddles and other unwanted residue forming in the stall -- in addition to being better for a man's health by more effectively emptying one's bladder, The Local reported.

But not everyone agrees.
"Men scatter urine not so much during the actual urination as during the 'shaking off' that follows," John Gamel, a professor at the University of Louisville, wrote while addressing the issue in 2009. "As a result, forcing men to sit while emptying their bladders will serve little purpose, since no man wants to shake himself off while remaining seated on the toilet."

A representative from the party said he hopes to move toward sitting only bathrooms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1590572.html

 

- A local county council does not equate to a national advocating of such a law . .which is what you comment implies. The item was proposed at a local level to be debated, it was debated and the motion defeated in a vote .. democracy at work, wonderful isn't it.