Sweden Says #MeToo

Sweden is one of the world’s most gender-equal countries. It topped the European Union’s gender-equality index in 2017 and ranked fifth on this year’s Global Gender Gap Index from the World Economic Forum. When adjusted for differences in jobs, sectors, education, age, and working time, the wage gap is just 4.5 percent. This is largely the result of policies instituted since the 1970s designed to foster greater gender equality, which includes that fathers take at least 90 of the allotted 480 days’ paid parental leave. That helps ensure dads share in child rearing and that moms stay in the workplace.

And yet Sweden has been in the grip of its own #MeToo movement, raising questions about whether the nation’s policies are actually creating a gender-equal society. Under the hashtag #silenceaction (a reference to what Swedish directors say before filming), hundreds of actors, including Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and Noomi Rapace, star of the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, said they will no longer stay quiet. Similar campaigns have been undertaken by women in law (#withwhatright), music (#whenthemusicends), politics (#inthecorridorsofpower), the clergy (#lettherebelight), sports (#timeout), unions (#nonnegotiable), and even archaeology (#diggingisunderway), to name a few.