KvinnSam

Notable Years

Notable years regarding women's history and equality in Sweden

1773 - Anna Hammar-Rosén (1735-1805). One of Sweden's first female newspaper editor. She took over the paper "Hvad nytt? Hvad nytt?" ("Whats new?, Whats new?) from her husband who died in 1773.
1858 - According to judicial decision, legal majority can be attained by a married woman aged more than 35 years. Matrimony implies, however, a return to the former legal status as a minor.
1862 - Women (unmarried women and widows) and men get municipal franchise in relation to income level.
1863 - An unmarried woman attains legal majority at the age of 25. She may renounce her majority if she wishes.
1872 - Women are entitled to decide for themselves whom they will marry.
1873 - Föreningen för gift kvinnas äganderätt (‘The Association for Married Women’s Right of Property’) is established. It merges in 1895 with the Fredrika Bremer Association.
1884 - Fredrika Bremer-förbundet (The Fredrika-Bremer-Association) is founded.
1884 - Unmarried women attain legal majority at the age of 21.
1884 - Göteborgs kvinnoförening ('The Gothenburg Women's Association') is founded.
1889 - Women (unmarried women with property) become eligible within poor relief, health care at school, etc.
1892 - Stockholms Allmänna Kvinnoklubb (‘Women’s Club of Stockholm’) is founded and associated with SAP (the Social Democratic Party) in the same year.
1902 - Föreningen för kvinnans politiska rösträtt (‘The Association for Women’s Political Franchise’) is established in Stockholm and Göteborg.
1903 - The associations merge and Landsföreningen för kvinnans politiska rösträtt, LKPR, (‘The National Association for Women’s Political Franchise’) is established.
1907 - Frisinnade landsföreningen (‘Liberal National Association’) enters the issue of women’s franchise on its programme. The first Social Democratic Women’s conference is held.
1907-1909 - A franchise reform is accomplished that gives women the right to participate in municipal commissions under the condition that they are entitled to franchise in accordance with the new income-related 40-degree scale.
1909 - Universal suffrage for men aged 24.
1912 - The journal Rösträtt för kvinnor (‘Franchise for Women’) is initiated by LKPR and expires in 1919 when suffrage for women is introduced.
1919 - Women obtain franchise and eligibility from the age of 23.
1920 - Sveriges Socialdemokratiska kvinnoförbund [Social democratic women’s union] is founded.
1920 - Moderata kvinnoförbundet is established with the name Centrala kvinnorådet (Central Women's Council?).
1921 - The first election is held where women may vote. 47 % of the entitled women participate (the corresponding percentage of men is 60 %).
1921 - A married woman attains legal majority at the age of 21. Women are equal with men in the new Marriage Act. However, the father is appointed legal guardian over the child – in financial but not custody matters. It is determined for the first time that a woman must bear her husband’s family name.
1925 - Citizenship Act regarding married women.
1927 - Attempt to present a women’s list at elections held at the City Council of Stockholm.
1933 - Centerkvinnorna (The Centre Party’s Women’s Association) is established, with the name Svenska Landsbygdens Kvinnoförbund.
1944 - Homosexuality is no longer a crime according to Swedish law.
1951 - Women can remain Swedish citizens when married to citizens of other countries.
1958 - Kvinnohistoriskt arkiv (KvinnSam) is founded by Eva Pinéus, Rosa Malmström och Asta Ekenvall.
1960 - Gunnar Qvist publishes his thesis Kvinnofrågan i Sverige 1809-1846 : studier rörande kvinnans näringsfrihet inom de borgerliga yrkena. This is the first Swedish dissertation within the field of women's history.
1971 - Kvinnobulletinen is founded.
1972 - Grupp 8 arranges its first manifestation on March 8.
1975 - An International Women’s Year is declared by the UN.
1980 - The Equality Ombudsman is appointed.
1982 - Kristdemokratiska kvinnoförbundet, KdS-K, (Christian Democratic Women’s Association) is established.
1982 - Prohibition against pornographic performances in public space.
1982 - Government grants to women’s organizations.
1989 - Statement of intent on gender equality of the Nordic countries.
1994 - Sveriges riksdag becomes the most gender equal parliament in the world – 144 out of 349 members are women.
1997 - Kvinnomaktutredningen (Commission on the balance of economic power and financial resources between women and men) delivers its final report, “Ty makten är din …” (“For thine is the power …”), with suggestions of further clarification of certain paragraphs in the Act concerning Equality between Men and Women.
1999 - The Ombudsman against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, HomO, is appointed by the Swedish Government.
2005 - Feministiskt initiativ, ('Feminist Initiative') is established on 3 April. As candidate in the following year's general election, FI became the first political party in Sweden with a feminist platform.

Work and economy

1845 - Equal right of inheritance for women and men.
1846 - Unmarried (widowed or divorced) women are allowed to work as artisans and tradeswomen.
1853 - Women are entitled to teach at small elementary schools.
1859 - Women can be appointed to certain lower-grade positions as teachers and civil servants.
1864 - Unmarried women have the same formal rights as men in private industry and commerce (after the introduction of new commercial, industrial, and handicraft statutes and regulations).
1874 - Married women are entitled to administer and manage their own property and estate, and to decide over their own wages, to be regulated by prenuptial agreements.
1886 - The first women’s professional society is formed: Sveriges barnmorskeförbund [Union of Swedish Midwives].
1886 - The first women’s trade union is formed: Home seamstresses in Lund.
1888 - Kvinnliga Arbetarförbundet [Women Worker’s Union] is formed, the first organisation in the proletarian women’s movement.
1900 - Legislation prohibiting underground work for women, in quarries or mines. It is further stated by this legislation, that a woman who has recently given birth may not work in industry for four weeks after delivery. In 1912 this period is extended to six weeks – always without payment.
1901 - Right to leave of absence without payment at childbirth.
1902 - Kvinnornas Fackförbund [Women’s Trade-Union League], chiefly consisting of seamstresses, is formed.
1904 - Kvinnornas Fackförbund joins LO (the Swedish trade union organization).
1907-1909 - A franchise reform gives women the right to participate in municipal commissions under the condition that they are entitled to franchise in accordance with the new income-related 40-degree scale.
1909 - Prohibition against night work for women is introduced.
1910 - Women are entitled to hold municipal appointments.
1913 - National pension insurance is introduced, for women and men.
1918 - Women may work as senior masters/headmasters in national grammar schools.
1923 - According to the law regulating formal competence, women are equal with men concerning the right to be appointed civil servants, with the exception of appointments associated with risk of violence (e.g. military service), or working as priests or judges.
1931 - Motherhood insurance is introduced, transacting a 30-42-day sickness benefit through the health insurance offices. There is a certain motherhood allowance for those not entitled to benefits from the health insurance offices. The allowance is revised in 1937 into an allowance based on a general means test.
1931 - Yrkeskvinnors klubb [Business and professional women’s club] is established in Stockholm.
1935 - Women are granted the same old-age pension as men.
1936 - Women civil servants are entitled to leave of absence, with sick pay, at pregnancy and childbirth. In 1939, female municipal employees in Malmö are entitled to leave of absence for 12 weeks, with sick pay.
1937 - Equal pay for female and male elementary school teachers.
1939 - Betrothal, marriage, pregnancy or childbirth can no longer be used as reasons for dismissal of women civil servants. The law excludes small firms (less than three employees) and is valid only in cases with a continuous period of employment of at least two years.
1945 - The above-mentioned law is revised to include also all employers, and the requirement of a two-year employment is reduced to one year.
1946 - The right to equal pay for all civil servants (with the exception of priests and military service) is established. Women members of the parliament agree on a bill: pay to be determined by performance, abolishment of women’s wages.
1955 -Nationalization of health insurance – right to 90 days of continuous maternity leave.
1958 - Women acquire the right to become priests. According to a so-called conscience clause, a bishop cannot be forced to ordain women priests.
1960 - Equal pay for equal work, for women and men.
1960 - LO and SAF decide to abolish separate wage rates for women.
1962 - The government adheres to the UN convention on equal pay for equal work.
1971 - Individual taxation is introduced.
1974 - Through the introduction of parents’ insurance, parents are entitled to share parental leaves when their children are born.
1976 - Statute on gender equality in government sectors.
1979 - Parents with small children acquire the right to six-hour workdays.
1979 - Law on gender equality in working life is accepted by the parliament.
1980 - Law against gender discrimination in working life is introduced.
1982 - ATP points are introduced for care at home of children less than three years of age. National allowances for women’s associations are introduced. Agreement on gender equality is signed between SAF and LO-PTK.
1983 - All professions are available for women – also in the Armed Forces.
1984 - Agreement on gender equality within the government sectors.
1991 - The law on gender equality is created, with the aim to equalize and prevent difference, in pay, and in other terms of employment. The employer shall work purposefully to promote equality in working life (replaces the Law of 1979).
1995 - Statute on positive discrimination is accepted, concerning appointments of professors and postdoctoral fellows.
1995 - Compulsory demand to map income disparities between women and men at all places of work.

Social and family policy

1864 - Men’s legal right to chastise their wives is abolished.
1910 - Legal prohibition against contraceptives.
1937-38 - Several Acts on motherhood and child care come into force. The prohibition against the use, information and sale of contraceptives is abolished.
1949 - Married mothers are entitled to become minors’ legal guardians. Joint regulations for children born in as well as out of wedlock.
1951 - Women can become the guardians over their own children.
1964 - Contraceptive pills approved for use in Sweden.
1965 - The Swedish penal code of 1962 in force, replacing the penal law of 1864. Sweden becomes then the first country in the world to legislate against rape in marriage. The law was, however, not put to the test until 1984.
1974 - A parental insurance is adopted and at childbirth parents can share the parental leave.
1975 - A new Abortion Act is passed. Women decide autonomously up to 18th week of pregnancy.
1982 - Violence and abuse against women under public prosecution.
1982 - Five Acts on women’s and children’s legal status at incest and other crimes of sexual assault are tightened up.
1982 - Women are free to choose their own or their husband’s family name when they marry.
1994 - Same-Sex Partnership Act 1994:1117 1994:1117.
1995 - The so-called paternity month is included in the parental insurance, implying that 30 days of the parental leave must be used by the father (a similar arrangement for the mother is included).
1998 - Lag om förbud mot köp av sexuella tjänster, (the Act concerning prohibition against the purchase of sexual services).
1998 - The Act concerning gross violation of a woman’s integrity comes into force.

Education

1632 - A girls’ school is founded by Johannes Rudbeckius in Västerås.
1842 - Compulsory elementary school for women and men is introduced.
1853 - Women are entitled to teach at the elementary school.
1861 - Higher training college for women is founded.
1864 - National normal school for girls is established.
1870 - Women allowed passing a higher school examination (“matriculation examination”) as private candidates.
1873 - Women are admitted to universities and to graduate, except in theology and higher law.
1888 - The first female licentiate in medicine – Karolina Widerström.
1892 - The first women students’ union is founded in Uppsala, with Lydia Wahlström as chairwoman.
1904 - Graduate Women’s Society is founded, initiated by Anna Ahlström.
1909 - Junior secondary school, open to both sexes and providing a lower school certificate (“realexamen”), is established.
1918 - Women are given the right to become lecturers and headmasters at secondary schools.
1919 - IFUW, International Federation of University Women, is established.
1923 - The law which regulates formal competence and admits women to civil service positions is approved.
1925 - The law regulating formal competence comes into force on 1 July.
1927 - National secondary schools available for girls under the same conditions as for boys.
1947 - ABKF changes its name to KAF (Women Graduates’ Society).
1958 - Women can be ordained as ministers.
1970 - Gender equality prescribed in curricula.
1980 - Tests for student finance against the income of the student’s husband or wife are abolished.
1983 - All professions available for women (including the Swedish Armed Forces).
1995 Lag om positiv särbehandling vad gäller tillsättandet av professorer (Act on positive action/discrimination in the appointment of professors).
2001 - Lag om likabehandling av studenter i högskolan (Act concerning university college students) to promote equal rights for students and applicants and withstand all gender, ethnic, sexual or disability discrimination.

First women

1748 - Eva de la Gardie, Countess, becomes the first woman in The Royal Swedish Academy for the Sciences (Vetenskapsakademin).
1773 - Ulrika Pasch becomes the first woman in The Royal Swedish Academy of Arts (Konstakademin).
1872 - Betty Pettersson is the first woman student at a Swedish university (Uppsala).
1883 - Ellen Fries defenses her thesis in history and becomes Doctor of Philosophy.
1886 - Sonja Kovalevsky becomes the first female university professor (in Mathematics).
1888 - Karolina Widerström becomes the first female med.lic. in Sweden.
1897 - Elsa Eschelson receives a Doctor of Laws degree and is appointed Docent (Associate Professor).
1900 - Kata Dalström becomes the first woman on the board of the Social Democratic Party.
1913 - Anna Herslow and Kristina Frank become the first women in Malmö stadsfullmäktige.
1914 - Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first Swedish member of The Swedish Academy.
1921 - Kerstin Hesselgren becomes the first woman Member of Parliament (First Chamber) in Sweden (5 women become MP:s in this election).
1937 - Nanna Svartz becomes the first permanent woman professor in Sweden, in Medicine.
1945 - Lise Meitner becomes the first female foreign member of The Royal Swedish Academy for the Sciences (becomes a Swedish member in 1951).
1947 - Karin Kock becomes Sweden’s first female minister.
1960-talet - Mona Lidman Valdemarsson becomes the first female meteorologist on Swedish television.
1961 - Maja Britta Oldin, the first district court judge at the Stockholm City Court.
1976 - Anna Christensen is appointed Professor in Law.
1978 - Birgitta Ulvhammar is appointed Sweden's first female Director General, for Skolöverstyrelsen.
1984 - Gunhild Kyle gets the first professorship in Women's History in the Nordic countries, at Gothenburg University.
1985 - Karin Söder (The Centre Party) becomes the first leader for a political party represented in the Swedish Parliament.
1989 - Lillemor Arvidson becomes the first trade-union chairwoman in Sweden (Kommunalarbetareförbundet [Union of municipal workers]).
1992 - Boel Flodgren is appointed the first woman vice-chancellor of Sweden and Europe.
1997 - Christina Odenberg is appointed bishop.
2000 - Wanja Lundby-Wedin becomes the first chairwoman of LO, Landsorganisationen (The Swedish Trade Union Confederation).

EU Directives

1975 - Equal pay, 75/117/EEC.
1976 - Equal treatment as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, 76/207/EEC. Changes 2002/73/EC.
1978 - Social security, 79/7/EEC.
1986 - Occupational pension schemes
1986 - Self-employed activity, including agricultural work, 86/613/EEC. Gender-equal treatment directives about the national insurance system and the self-employed.
1992 - Protection of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding
1996 - Parental leave and leave for family reasons. Changes 97/75/EC.
1997 - Burden of proof in cases of discrimination based on sex, 97/80/EC.