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Demokratiskolan
The Discrimination card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 18 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaPeople & belonging
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionRiksdagsvalet
People & belonging

Discrimination

Discrimination in all its forms & how to counteract

The Discrimination Act prohibits people from being disadvantaged on grounds of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation or age. The protection applies at work, in school, in the shop and in healthcare. The law is central government, but the discrimination happens, and must be countered, in all the rooms of everyday life.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · active measures in school & work · approx 10 %
  • Region · care on equal terms · approx 5 %
  • State · law, supervision & courts · approx 75 %
  • EU · equal treatment directives · approx 10 %

The law and the supervision are central government: the Riksdag writes the Discrimination Act and DO watches over it. The general election decides the strength of the protection.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalitySchool & workplace
The regionCare on equal terms
Central governmentThe law & the supervision · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipality (kommun) as the responsible authority for schools and as an employer: committees, principals and administrations.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige) and the healthcare committees.
The Riksdag, DO, the Labour Court and the general courts. The Schools Inspectorate for the school's part.
What do they decide?
Active measures against discrimination in schools and preschools, equal treatment in its own activities and in recruitment.
Care on equal terms is the law's starting point: accessibility, interpreters and good treatment regardless of who you are.
The Discrimination Act with seven protected grounds, DO's supervision and discrimination compensation for those affected.
Where are decisions made?
In the schools' plans against degrading treatment and in staff policy.
In healthcare guidelines and the patients' advisory committee's cases.
In the Riksdag, at DO and in court when cases are taken further.
Who pays?
The municipal tax: the work is part of the school's and the administrations' remit.
The regional tax: accessibility adaptation and interpreter services.
The central government budget funds DO and the courts. Employers found liable pay compensation.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Report to the principal and the responsible authority, raise issues in parent councils and committees.
Regional election Complaints through the patients' advisory committee, views directly to the care provider.
General election Reporting to DO is free. The general election shapes the reach of the law.
EUThe EU's equal treatment directives oblige Sweden to ban discrimination in working life and in several other areas. The rules are shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A discrimination report is reviewed
  1. EU

    The directives require protection

    The EU's equal treatment directives oblige all member states to ban discrimination and to appoint an independent body that watches over the protection.

  2. State

    The Riksdag gathers the protection in one law

    The Discrimination Act gathers seven grounds of discrimination into a common protection and names DO as the supervisory agency. The law also requires preventive work, not just a prohibition.

    Point of influence

    The general election shapes the law. Reviews go out for referral (remiss), and civil society organisations often respond.

  3. MunicipalityState

    Something happens at work or in school

    An employee is disadvantaged after parental leave, a pupil is harassed without the school acting. The first step is to demand action from the employer or the responsible authority, which by law must investigate.

    Point of influence

    Report in writing to a manager, principal or responsible authority. The duty to investigate begins then.

  4. State

    DO or the union takes the case

    A report can be made to DO, which can open supervision and in some cases take the case to court. For those who are union members, working life cases often go through the federation to the Labour Court. Outside working life, action is brought in a general court, the district court (tingsrätt), and it is DO or the affected person who can bring it.

    Point of influence

    Reporting to DO is free and can be done digitally. Union members contact their representative.

  5. State

    The court awards compensation

    Anyone who has been discriminated against can receive discrimination compensation, a sum meant both to make amends and to deter. The judgment becomes guiding for other employers and schools.

  6. Your everyday life

    The routines change

    After the judgment, the employer rewrites its recruitment routines. The quiet result of a report is often that the next person is spared the same experience.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Where in your everyday life have you seen discrimination, and what did those around do?

  2. Which groups have the strongest protection in practice, and which fall through the cracks?

  3. What does it take for someone to dare to report, and what does it cost the person who does?

  4. How much responsibility do you yourself have when you see someone treated worse?

  5. The Discrimination Act protects seven grounds. Should another be added, or one be removed?

Glossary

Diskrimineringsgrund
One of the seven characteristics the law protects, for example sex, age or disability.
Direkt diskriminering
Being disadvantaged in a comparable situation because of a protected characteristic.
Diskrimineringsersättning
The sum an employer or activity found liable pays to the person affected.
Aktiva åtgärder
The preventive work the law requires of employers and education providers.
Tillsyn
An agency's review of whether laws are followed, here DO's review of employers and schools.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.