F!-english

Should men not have to ask if women want
to have sex?
Current legislation stipulates that for a man to be convicted
of rape, the victim must be able to prove she resisted him.
The application of the law builds on the masculinist assump-
tion that a woman does not have a sexuality of her own, but
exists as a readily available object for male satisfaction.
Do you want to join in the work of Feminist
Should women suffering from heart attacks
Initiative? We anticipate large amounts of sup-
port, which will grant us seats in Parliament.
be made to wait longer for an ambulance
Our efforts will be needed at all levels, so your than men?
skills and energy will come to great use. Sign up Women suffering from heart attacks wait longer than men on our website, www.feministisktinitiativ.se, or for the ambulance, get referrals to fewer medical examina- tions, and receive less, as well as less expensive medica-tion. (Source: The National Board of Health and Welfare) How do I become a member of
Should the monthly income differ by 3590
Feminist Initiative?
Sign up on our website, www.feministisktinitia-
SEK for industrial and health care jobs?
tiv.se, or call 0706-100 190. The membership The ten most male-dominated professions employ a total fee is 200 SEK. The money will be used toward of 387 000 men. The average salary is 20 890 SEK.
the continued work of Feminist Initiative. We 388 000 women work within the heath care sector, one also welcome monetary donations beyond the of the most female-dominated professions. Average sala- Should women take on 83% of the parental
leave, 79% of the part time employment,
60% of the unpaid work, and 64% of long
term medical leaves?
Women combine paid work with domestic responsibili-
ties. Men combine paid work with economic and political
power. Women’s life patterns increasingly result in long-
term medical leaves. (Sources: Statistics Sweden, Social
Insurance Administration, Karolinska Institute)
Should women persecuted for being women
receive less protection than other refugees?
When women seeking asylum are the victims of domestic
abuse, this is treated like a family problem rather than a
reason for asylum, even though gender-based persecution
constitutes grounds for asylum in Sweden since 1997.
This is just the beginning!These are only a few of the political issues that FeministInitiative is pursuing. We will spend the coming year for-mulating a strong, clear feminist political agenda contai-ning specific demands and suggestions. With enough sup-port, we will raise these issues in the 2006 elections, andeventually in Parliament. Do you want to join us in rene- wing Swedish politics? Let us know! You will find contactinformation on the back of this folder.
Feminist Initiative has a vision of a world in
Feminist Initiative continues the struggle and hard work
Many conversations have been held in many dif- which all humans have the same potential and undertaken by women throughout history to improve their ferent forums about the future of feminism in ability to live full and complete lives. This vision lives. Feminist Initiative puts feminist issues and concerns at
does not correspond to our lived reality. Women Several groups have joined forces and formed are systematically subordinated to men. This is Feminist Initiative does not believe that all women can agree
Feminist Initiative.
on everything. Women differ from one another. Our interests, Feminist Initiative is a collective of women
hopes, and wishes are different. Our circumstances, prospects, bring different kinds of experiences from diffe- who will no longer wait for the established politi- and resources divide us. We are ascribed different societal rent environments and contexts. Political and cal parties to pursue feminist political questions.
positions based on our economic conditions and our class iden- private, left and right. We have different sexual We welcome men who join our work in solidarity.
tity, our degree of education, our country of birth, our sexual orientations, different cultural identities.
The established political parties have failed to preference, our skin colour and our cultural belonging. We also However, we are united by our awareness that challenge the prevailing gender hierarchy.
differ in our values and our ways of constructing value systems.
men are put in positions of superiority to Report after report is commissioned while impor- Feminist Initiative makes demands from the point of view of a
women, and by our desire to change this fact.
tant decisions regarding gender equality are set feminist analysis, which shows that although women speak with different voices, are situated in different locations, have different There will be many of us!
Despite the rights that women have attained, experiences, and live different lives under different conditions, The most important thing is for women’s voices through tireless work and intense struggles, the we are all confronted by the power structure that puts men in to be heard. Through Feminist Initiative, you
current political system is unable to realize a positions of superiority and women in positions of inferiority. too can make a difference. The feminist discus- sion is enrichened when women with varied life Feminist Initiative sees the conditions under which women
We will bring a new dimension to politics.
experiences contribute their knowledge and live. Women are less able than men to take up space, make While the questions we bring to the table are not themselves heard and be taken seriously within the educatio- new, our political strategies are. For us, feminist nal, professional, corporate and judicial structures, as well as Feminist Initiative welcomes everyone who
issues will always be at the top of the political in the realms of culture, politics, and the media. We want to wants to work politically for a gender equal We believe the time has come for a feminist Feminist Initiative is devoted to the thought of freeing women
initiative in Swedish parliamentary politics.
from gender-based inequality and injustice. We turn to the patri- Therefore, Feminist Initiative now seeks support
archal order with our demands. We cannot permit decisions that to enter Parliament after the 2006 elections.
allow some women to liberate themselves from inequality at theexpense of others. We strive for the liberation of all women. Thisis how we create solidarity among women; this is how we conti-nue the feminist struggle.
Feminist Initiative sees international solidarity and an anti-
militaristic stance as fundamental aspects of its work.
Feminist Initiative sees that Swedish gender politics have
hitherto been based on a view of equality as a non-zero sum
game, meaning that women’s conditions can improve without
affecting those of men.
Feminist Initiative builds its politics upon an analysis, which
makes it clear that women’s subordination results from the
privileging of men. Therefore, men must agree to relinquish
their privileges.
Feminist Initiative formulates a politics, which in every area
and aspect of life poses a challenge to patriarchy. We anticipa-
te a large degree of resistance, but expect an even larger and
stronger feminist desire for change.

Source: http://feministisktinitiativ.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/fi_Information-Booklet_english.pdf