‘Gender equality brings more inclusiveness, less violence and lasting peace’

Former Swedish foreign minister Ann Linde said that gender equality can promote more inclusiveness, less violence, and lasting peace.

Ms. Linde was speaking to the media on Friday during the Bharat Summit, which saw several foreign delegates, academicians, and experts.

“There is less inter- and intra-state conflict [when there is gender equality]. If you have more gender equality in society, you use less violence to solve conflicts, and that is very important. Also, if you have peace negotiations involving women, there is 20% bigger sustainability for two years, and a 35% higher possibility for a peace agreement lasting for 15 years,” she said, adding that there was research available on the subject.

She pointed out that gender equality was not dichotomous as regards developed or developing countries. While some countries in Europe have more gender equality, others have less. “We had a feminist foreign policy in Sweden, which was the first in the world. And there were many countries following [the move]. Nearly 20 countries pursue a feminist foreign policy,” she said.

Touching upon women in the political arena, Ms. Linde said that India had many such political leaders, as is the case with other countries. “India has had many more female leaders than Sweden. We didn’t get our first woman Prime Minister until 2021, which was my party leader,” she said.

Ms. Linde said that 2024 was a “super election year” in which several countries elected their leaders but fewer women were elected as parliamentarians. The case in Germany was similar, with fewer women compared to men in Parliament.

Feminist trade policy

A feminist government, as is the case in Sweden, meant that women would have the same rights, resources and representation as men. A feminist trade policy doesn’t witness much discussion but is important, she said.

“But when you look at the aggregate data, you could find that a silk shirt for women has six times as high a tariff as the equivalent shirt for men. When it comes to sportswear, tariffs are three times high for women’s products compared to that of men’s sportswear. And when it comes to underwear, it is double.”

Ms. Linde opined that there was no other explanation for these disparities than gender. She expressed confidence that it was possible to have a feminist trade policy.