Review of the Discrimination Act

The programme establishes that discrimination legislation is far too weak and needs to be strengthened, and that discrimination based on appearance or origin remains part of everyday life despite the prohibition. The plan also analyzes how racism and patriarchy interact, which is precisely the intersectional perspective the counter-proposal seeks. The demand for expanded possibility to use one's own language supports testing language as grounds for discrimination.

• strengthened discrimination legislationdecisive»Därför måste alla delar av samhället göras tillgängligt och den alltför svaga diskrimineringslagstiftningen stärkas.« (party programme ↗)“Therefore all parts of society must be made accessible and the far too weak discrimination legislation strengthened.”
• the prohibition is insufficient in practice»Diskriminering av människor på grund av utseende eller ursprung är förbjuden antingen den är medveten eller inte, men utgör trots det en del av det vardagliga samhällslivet.« (party programme ↗)“Discrimination of people based on appearance or origin is prohibited whether it is conscious or not, but nevertheless constitutes part of everyday social life.”
• interconnected power structures»Rasifierade kvinnor möts av rasistiska och patriarkala föreställningar från majoritetssamhället och skiktas längst ned i den ekonomisk-sociala hierarkin.« (party programme ↗)“Racialized women are met by racist and patriarchal views from the majority society and are placed at the bottom of the socio-economic hierarchy.”
• linguistic rights»Möjligheten att använda det egna språket i kontakt med myndigheter bör utökas och gälla alla talare av ett nationellt minoritetsspråk oavsett var i landet de bor.« (party programme ↗)“The opportunity to use one's own language in contact with authorities should be expanded and apply to all speakers of a national minority language regardless of where in the country they live.”

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 requires that equality policy be directed at all forms of superordination and subordination seen in a holistic perspective where oppressive structures reinforce each other - that is precisely the intersectional perspective the counter-proposal wants to investigate. The party defines itself as anti-racist and strives for equality regardless of skin color, ethnicity, or religion, and the election manifesto promises to counteract discrimination in the labor market. Language as its own ground for discrimination is not addressed.

• intersectional equality policydecisive»Jämlikhetspolitik måste riktas mot alla former av över- och underordning, och dessa måste« (party programme ↗)“Equality policy must be directed at all forms of superordination and subordination, and these must”
• equality regardless of skin color and religion»efter jämlikhet oavsett hudfärg, etnisk och kulturell tillhörighet eller religion.« (party programme ↗)“for equality regardless of skin color, ethnic and cultural belonging, or religion.”
• anti-racist party»Socialdemokraterna är ett antirasistiskt parti, som strävar« (party programme ↗)“The Social Democrats are an anti-racist party that strives”
• counteracted discrimination»Diskrimineringen på arbetsmarknaden ska motarbetas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Discrimination in the labor market shall be counteracted.”

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 election manifesto requires that legislation against discrimination be strengthened, and the party programme points particularly to discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, name or accent and that power structures interact. It bears both the investigation into skin colour, language and religion and the intersectional perspective. The plan also responds to the committee's reasoning by requiring strong legislation, that is, that existing protection is not deemed sufficient.

• stronger discrimination lawdecisive»stärka lagstiftningen mot diskriminering och se över rätten till rättshjälp i diskrimineringsfall.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen legislation against discrimination and review the right to legal aid in discrimination cases.”
• discrimination on the basis of language»Människor diskrimineras på grund av sin etnicitet, sitt namn eller sin brytning. Det vill vi motverka. Strukturell diskriminering och rasism ska upphöra.« (party programme ↗)“People are discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity, their name or their accent. We want to counteract this. Structural discrimination and racism shall cease.”
• intersectional perspective»Vi ser att maktordningar som etnicitet, sexuell läggning, klass, och ålder samverkar med den samhällsgenomgående könsmaktsordningen.« (party programme ↗)“We see that power structures such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, class and age interact with the society-wide gender power structure.”
• strong legislation is needed»Det krävs också en stark lagstiftning och en stark diskrimineringsombudsman.« (party programme ↗)“Strong legislation and a strong discrimination ombudsman are also required.”

The election manifesto establishes that more must be done against discrimination and wants both to strengthen government agencies' work and add new grounds to hate crime legislation, and strengthen the discrimination ban and the status of minority languages. The party programme commits the party to combat all structures that discriminate, regardless of ground. An investigation into how the law can be developed for skin colour, language, and religion, and for intersecting grounds, is thus in the plan's direction.

• expanded discrimination protectiondecisive»Mer måste göras mot diskriminering. Vi vill stärka myndigheternas arbete mot diskriminering och höja ersättningen till dem som utsatts, samt lägga till kön och funktionsnedsättning som hatbrottsgrunder.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“More must be done against discrimination. We want to strengthen government agencies' work against discrimination and increase compensation for those who have been subjected to it, and add gender and disability as hate crime grounds.”
• strengthened discrimination ban»Vi vill stärka bland annat äganderätten, diskrimineringsförbudet, minoritetsskyddet och minoritetsspråkens ställning, och grundlagsskydda rätten till abort och reproduktiv hälsa.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to strengthen, among other things, property rights, the discrimination ban, minority protection, and the status of minority languages, and constitute-protect the right to abortion and reproductive health.”
• combat discriminatory structures»Alla människor har lika rätt och värde, alla har samma grundläggande rättigheter och skyldigheter. Vi bekämpar alla strukturer, formella och informella, som förtrycker eller diskriminerar människor.« (party programme ↗)“All people have equal rights and value, all have the same fundamental rights and responsibilities. We combat all structures, formal and informal, that oppress or discriminate against people.”
• combat structural racism»Diskriminering, strukturell rasism och intolerans, i alla dess former, ska motverkas.« (party programme ↗)“Discrimination, structural racism, and intolerance, in all its forms, must be combated.”

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 election manifesto explicitly requires that the Discrimination Act be modernized and that the state vigorously combat all forms of racism, discrimination and intolerance. An investigation of how the law can be better applied to discrimination based on skin colour, language or religion is precisely such modernization work. The plan also establishes that the person who is discriminated against shall receive help to obtain redress and that discrimination must have a price.

• modernized Discrimination Actdecisive»Vi vill modernisera diskrimineringslagen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to modernize the Discrimination Act”
• vigorous fight against discrimination»Därför ska staten med kraft bekämpa all slags rasism, diskriminering och intolerans.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore the state shall vigorously combat all forms of racism, discrimination and intolerance.”
• redress for discrimination»Den som drabbas av diskriminering ska kunna få hjälp att få upprättelse och det ska kosta att diskriminera.« (party programme ↗)“The person affected by discrimination shall be able to receive help to obtain redress and discrimination must have a price.”
• open and tolerant country»Sverige ska vara ett öppet och tolerant land. Fördomar och diskriminering ska bekämpas.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden shall be an open and tolerant country. Prejudice and discrimination shall be combated.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan requires that there be legislation against discrimination and that the constitution ensures that no one is discriminated against on grounds of, among other things, ethnic origin or religion. The status of minority languages shall be strengthened and the public shall support minorities' own efforts, which speaks for examining language as a grounds for discrimination. An investigation into how legislation can develop where it falls short thus lies in line with the plan.

• legislation against discriminationdecisive»Därför behöver det finnas en lagstiftning mot diskriminering.« (party programme ↗)“Therefore, there must be legislation against discrimination.”
• broad anti-discrimination»på grund av kön, ålder, funktionsvariationer, etniskt ursprung, religion, sexuell identitet, politisk eller« (party programme ↗)“on grounds of sex, age, functional variations, ethnic origin, religion, sexual identity, political or”
• support to minorities»Det är en central offentlig uppgift att stödja minoriteters egna insatser« (party programme ↗)“It is a central public task to support minorities' own efforts”
• effective anti-discrimination protection»Väl fungerande lagar mot all diskriminering i arbetslivet ska finnas.« (party programme ↗)“Well-functioning laws against all discrimination in working life shall exist.”

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 programme states that everyone has the right to be assessed based on their person and their actions and that freedoms and rights belong to individuals and never to collectives. It also explicitly opposes the collectivism of identity politics. An investigation that expands the grounds for discrimination and adds an intersectional group perspective to legislation goes against that line.

• assessment based on actionsdecisive»men också för allas rätt att bli bedömda utifrån sin person« (party programme ↗)“but also for everyone's right to be assessed based on their person”
• rights are individual»ett jämställt samhälle. Fri- och rättigheter tillhör individer och aldrig« (party programme ↗)“an equal society. Freedoms and rights belong to individuals and never”
• opposition to identity politics»Denna identitetspolitikens kollektivism strider mot« (party programme ↗)“This collectivism of identity politics goes against”

The plan's guiding principle is that equality is achieved through equality before the law and measures against what limits the individual, not through politics based on group membership. The counter-proposal's demand for expanded grounds for discrimination and an intersectional perspective is instead based on group categories, which the plan rejects together with identity-theoretical starting points. The plan opposes discrimination, but without expanding the regulatory framework in this way.

• individual before group membershipdecisive»Riktig jämställdhet nås inte genom att vidta politiska åtgärder för att på gruppnivå skapa samma utfall mellan män och kvinnor, utan genom att ta krafttag mot samhällsfenomen som begränsar den enskilde.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“True equality is not achieved by taking political measures to create the same outcome at the group level between men and women, but by taking forceful action against social phenomena that limit the individual.”
• equality before the law»Sverigedemokraterna slår vakt om alla människors jämlikhet i den svenska kulturen och lagen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats stand guard over all people's equality in Swedish culture and law.”
• rejects identity theory»Vi tror på vetenskap och inser att förvirrande genusteorier får förödande konsekvenser när de omsätts i praktiken.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We believe in science and realize that confusing gender theories have devastating consequences when put into practice.”
• against differential treatment»Motverka diskriminering och särbehandling p.g.a. kön« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Counter discrimination and differential treatment because of sex”