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Demokratiskolan
The Sexual politics card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 93 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaPeople & belonging
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionRiksdagsvalet
People & belonging

Sexual politics

Abortions, birth control, consent & sex work

Few areas show more clearly how legislation, healthcare and values hang together. The right to abortion, contraceptives, the consent law and the law against buying sex are central government decisions, but the encounter happens in the region's healthcare: at the youth clinic, the midwife clinic and the gynaecologist's room.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · sex education in school · approx 5 %
  • Region · care, abortion & clinics · approx 30 %
  • State · the laws & supervision · approx 65 %

The Riksdag enacts the laws but healthcare is the regions'. The general election shapes the rights, the regional election how close and accessible the care is.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe school's remit
The regionThe rooms of healthcare
Central governmentThe laws & the limits · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipality (kommun) as the responsible authority for schools, principals and the school health service.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige) and the health and medical care committee.
The Riksdag, the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen), the Public Health Agency and the justice system.
What do they decide?
Teaching in sexuality, consent and relationships under the curriculum, and the school health service's preventive work.
Youth clinics, maternity care, abortion care, contraceptive counselling and testing for sexually transmitted infections.
The Abortion Act, the consent legislation, the law against buying sex and rules on contraceptives. The National Board of Health and Welfare decides on late abortions.
Where are decisions made?
In the classroom and at the school health service. The syllabuses are central government, the implementation local.
In the regional council and the healthcare committees.
In the Riksdag and at the agencies. Crimes are investigated by the police and tried in court.
Who pays?
The municipal tax: the school and the school health service.
The regional tax. Contraceptives are free of charge for young people, and the youth clinic is free.
The central government budget: the justice system and the national agencies.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Parent councils and pupil councils can raise how the teaching works.
Regional election The regional election shapes the clinics' opening hours and waiting times. Views through 1177.
General election The general election shapes the legislation. Bills go out for open referral (remiss).
EUThe EU has no formal power over Swedish abortion or sexual legislation: healthcare and criminal law are national. But the conversation about the rights is increasingly European.

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 The consent law comes into being and starts to work
  1. Your everyday life

    The debate moves the line

    Testimonies, court cases and a growing opinion change the view on where the line lies: sex is to be built on willingness, not on the absence of a no. The shift in norms comes before the law.

  2. State

    The inquiry and the referral

    A government inquiry proposes that the Criminal Code should start from willingness. The proposal goes out for referral to courts, agencies and organisations, which examine both principle and legal certainty.

    Point of influence

    The referral responses are public and even individuals can respond. Civil society's organisations drove the issue for years.

  3. State

    The Riksdag decides

    The Riksdag adopts the consent legislation, in force since 2018. Sex with someone who does not take part willingly is rape, even without violence or threats. A negligence offence is introduced at the same time.

    Point of influence

    The general election decides who enacts the laws. The members can be contacted directly.

  4. State

    Police, prosecutor and court apply it

    The justice system turns the law into investigations and judgments. The Supreme Court's rulings draw the lines in practice, and convictions for negligent rape have followed.

  5. MunicipalityRegion

    The school and the clinics take over

    The curriculum gives the school the task of teaching about sexuality, consent and relationships, and the youth clinics talk consent in every encounter. The law becomes culture only when it lands here.

    Point of influence

    Pupil councils and parent councils can influence the school's work. The youth clinic is open to questions.

  6. Your everyday life

    A question that is asked

    The lasting effect is not seen in the court statistics but in everyday life: a generation that has learned that willingness is the starting point, not the exception.

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. How was sex and boundaries talked about when you were at school, and what has changed since then?

  2. What role should legislation play in matters that are also about morality and private life?

  3. What in the Swedish model for abortion and contraceptives do you take for granted that is not a matter of course in other countries?

  4. How do healthcare and teaching reach those who are not reached today?

  5. Where is the line between the state's responsibility and the individual's freedom in this area?

Glossary

Samtyckeslagstiftning
The rules in the Criminal Code that make willingness the line for what is a sexual offence.
Abortlagen
The law that gives the right to free abortion up to and including week 18, after which a permit from the National Board of Health and Welfare is required.
Sexköpslagen
The ban on buying sexual services. Selling is not a punishable offence.
Ungdomsmottagning
A free clinic for young people, run by the region and often the municipality together.
Oaktsam våldtäkt
An offence where the perpetrator was grossly negligent as to whether the participation was willing.

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.