Female genital mutilation

The plan states that Sweden shall increase aid and strengthen the UN, and that society shall take strong action against honor-based oppression and sexual abuse against women and girls. The counter-proposal's requirement for aid aimed at long-term norm-changing work against female genital mutilation is directly in line with the feminist and solidary aid perspective the plan expresses. The plan provides no support for the notion that the current level is already sufficient.

• increased aid and UN supportdecisive»Sverige ska öka biståndet, stärka FN och skriva under kärnvapenkonventionen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall increase aid, strengthen the UN, and sign the nuclear weapons convention.”
• strong action against honor-based oppression»I ett tryggt samhälle tar vi krafttag mot våld, hedersförtryck och sexuella kränkningar mot kvinnor, barn och hbtqi-personer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“In a secure society we take strong action against violence, honor-based oppression, and sexual abuse against women, children, and LGBTQI people.”
• sexual and reproductive rights»sexuella och reproduktiva rättigheter är avgörande för människors« (party programme ↗)“sexual and reproductive rights are crucial for people's”
• global justice»I en rättvis värld måste den globala ojämlikheten kraftigt minskas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“In a just world, global inequality must be significantly reduced.”

The plan states that girls' and women's rights must be strengthened globally and pursues a feminist foreign policy with a focus on women's rights, representation and resources. Aid should put women's and children's rights at the centre and combat poverty and oppression long-term. Directing efforts toward actors who change norms among local leaders responds to this, even though the method choice is not addressed in the plan.

• strengthened women's rights globallydecisive»Flickors och kvinnors rättigheter måste stärkas globalt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Girls' and women's rights must be strengthened globally.”
• feminist foreign policy»Feministisk utrikespolitik med fokus på kvinnors rättigheter, representation och« (party programme ↗)“Feminist foreign policy with a focus on women's rights, representation and”
• women's rights in aid»Fattiga människors perspektiv och kvinnor och barns rättigheter ska vara i centrum.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Poor people's perspective and women's and children's rights shall be at the centre.”
• solidarity aid policy»Solidarisk biståndspolitik för att bekämpa fattigdom, minska klyftor, stärka demokratin« (party programme ↗)“Solidarity aid policy to combat poverty, reduce gaps, strengthen democracy”

The election manifesto commits the party to developing and strengthening the feminist foreign and development policy and to aid that strengthens girls' and women's right over their own bodies. The counter-proposal's demand to direct aid to actors that change norms among local leaders is directly in line with that commitment and with the requirement that aid shall be governed by effectiveness. The plan does not explicitly mention female genital mutilation, so this is derived.

• feminist foreign policydecisive»utveckla och förstärka Sveriges feministiska utrikes- och utvecklingspolitik« (2022 manifesto ↗)“develop and strengthen Sweden's feminist foreign and development policy”
• aid for girls' bodily self-determination»Svenskt bistånd har gjort stor skillnad i många länder och ger flickor och kvinnor bättre förutsättningar att få bestämma över sina liv och sina kroppar« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish aid has made a big difference in many countries and gives girls and women better conditions to determine over their own lives and their bodies”
• effectiveness-driven aid»att biståndet ska styras av principer om effektivitet och fattigdomsbekämpning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“that aid shall be guided by principles of effectiveness and poverty reduction”
• women as agents of change»stärker kvinnors och flickors ekonomiska egenmakt och roll som förändringsaktörer« (party programme ↗)“strengthens women's and girls' economic empowerment and role as agents of change”

The party programme establishes that honour-related violence and violations of bodily integrity can never be accepted, and that this applies regardless of where in the world it occurs. The election manifesto makes the fight against honour-based abuse and virginity testing an explicit priority. Targeting aid towards local actors that build trust with leaders and decision-makers also aligns with the party's view of civil society's independent role. The plan therefore supports the counter-proposal's demand.

• violence against women unacceptable globallydecisive»Det gäller oavsett om det sker i Sverige eller i andra länder« (party programme ↗)“It applies regardless of whether it occurs in Sweden or in other countries”
• counter honour-based abuse»Ingen ska utsättas för hedersförtryck i Sverige.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“No one shall be subjected to honour-based abuse in Sweden.”
• civil society's independent role»Det civila samhället måste ha en självständig roll« (party programme ↗)“Civil society must have an independent role”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan establishes that aid shall be reformed with focus on democracy and equality and that equality as well as sexual and reproductive health shall be prioritized. Directing measures towards actors who change norms locally aligns with that prioritization and with the plan's demands to combat honour oppression and gender-related violence. The plan argues for a more targeted direction, not that current broad initiatives suffice.

• aid with equality focusdecisive»Den svenska biståndspolitiken måste genomgå stora reformer med fokus på demokrati, jämställdhet och minskad korruption.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish aid policy must undergo major reforms with focus on democracy, equality and reduced corruption.”
• SRHR prioritized in aid»samt jämställdhet och sexuell och reproduktiv hälsa och rättigheter samt hbtqipersoners rättigheter prioriteras.« (party programme ↗)“and equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights and LGBTQIA+ persons' rights are prioritized.”
• combat honour oppression»Samtidigt ska stöden till offren byggas ut, kunskapen hos yrkesverksamma öka, straffen för hedersrelaterade brott skärpas och kriminaliseringen breddas till uttryck för hederstänkande såsom oskuldskontroller och uppfostringsresor.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“At the same time, support for victims shall be expanded, knowledge among professionals shall increase, penalties for honour-related crimes shall be strengthened and criminalization shall be broadened to expressions of honour thinking such as virginity tests and 'corrective trips'.”
• democracy as aid goal»Demokrati ska vara det övergripande målet för utvecklingsbiståndet.« (party programme ↗)“Democracy shall be the overarching goal for development aid.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The party programme establishes that violence against women is the ultimate expression of lack of equality and that women's conditions are both a goal and means in development cooperation. Aid shall moreover above all be aimed at changing the rules and structures that keep people in vulnerability, which is precisely what norm-changing efforts through local leaders aim at. The counter-proposal's requirement for a more specific focus against female genital mutilation is therefore in line with the plan.

• counter violence against womendecisive»Mäns våld mot kvinnor är det yttersta uttrycket för brist på jämställdhet.« (party programme ↗)“Men's violence against women is the ultimate expression of lack of equality.”
• women's conditions in aid»kvinnor och män samt att förbättra kvinnors villkor är både mål och medel i detta arbete« (party programme ↗)“women and men and improving women's conditions are both goals and means in this work”
• aid shall change structures»inriktas på att överföra kunskap, och att ändra regler och strukturer som hindrar fattiga« (party programme ↗)“aimed at transferring knowledge, and changing rules and structures that hinder the poor”
• steerable and monitored aid»Det måste finnas tydliga instrument för styrning, samordning och uppföljning av biståndet.« (party programme ↗)“There must be clear instruments for steering, coordination and monitoring of aid.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The counter-proposal wants to target aid against female genital mutilation more specifically to actors that change norms among local leaders. The plan demands precisely narrower and smarter aid focused where it does the most good and prioritizes measures for democracy and human rights. Combating misogynistic traditions is moreover an explicit commitment, and the ideology programme never accepts oppression based on gender.

• focused aiddecisive»Fokusera det svenska biståndet till de länder, organisationer och tematiska områden där det gör störst nytta« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Focus Swedish aid to countries, organizations and thematic areas where it does the most good”
• human rights in aid»Prioritera insatser som stödjer arbetet för demokrati och mänskliga rättigheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Prioritize measures that support work for democracy and human rights”
• against misogynistic traditions»Kvinnofientliga traditioner och strukturer kan aldrig accepteras i ett fritt, öppet och jämställt samhälle.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Misogynistic traditions and structures can never be accepted in a free, open and equal society.”
• zero tolerance for gender oppression»acceptera förtryck på grund av kön« (party programme ↗)“accept oppression based on gender”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan states that aid shall be focused on direct measures that improve the life situation of vulnerable children and women, and that appropriations shall be distributed based on concrete results and predetermined aims. The counter-proposal's demand to direct aid toward actors who actually change norms locally is precisely such results-driven focusing ahead of broad strategies. The party's documents furthermore point to female genital mutilation as a serious form of women's oppression that shall be combated. The plan thus speaks for the counter-proposal's demands.

• aid directed toward vulnerable womendecisive»Sverigedemokraterna vill att biståndet fokuseras kring direkta insatser för att tillgodose grundläggande behov och insatser vid katastrofer och krig och i övrigt för att förbättra utsatta barn och ansatta kvinnors livssituation i fattiga eller förtryckta delar av världen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Sweden Democrats want aid to be focused around direct measures to meet basic needs and measures in disasters and war and otherwise to improve the life situation of vulnerable children and exposed women in poor or oppressed parts of the world.”
• results-driven aid»Men biståndsanslag måste bättre kunna följas ända till slutmottagaren och fördelas utifrån konkreta resultat utifrån i förväg fastställda mål.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“But aid appropriations must better be able to be followed all the way to the final recipient and distributed based on concrete results based on predetermined aims.”
• combat female genital mutilation»Könsstympning och oskuldskontroller är mycket vanliga i segregerade områden och bland stora invandrargrupper.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Female genital mutilation and virginity checks are very common in segregated areas and among large immigrant groups.”
• efficient and evaluated aid»Effektivisera och utvärdera det svenska biståndet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Make efficient and evaluate Swedish aid”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.