Election Guide 2002 - Sweden.se

legislation requiring large corporations to assume greater
responsibility when closing down profitable production.
There are those who benefit from unemployment,
because it creates further class and gender differences.
High unemployment strengthens the position of
employers. Trade-union activity and justified demands
for fair pay, better health and safety at work and reasonable
working hours are made more difficult. Employers and
the owners of capital want to see a great deal of
competition for jobs, at the same time as there will be a
manpower reserve to be thrown into production during
boom periods. This is why the campaign for universal
employment is the main political task of the left.
A special struggle for women’s rights is needed
All over the world, Sweden included, women suffer
discrimination because of their sex. This is a fact which
is contrary to fundamental human rights. A long list
could be made of examples of women’s subordination.
Women manual workers are at the very bottom of the
pay scale. Changes and cutbacks in Sweden’s welfare
system have negative consequences for women’s opportunities
of independent living. Men’s violence to women,
pornography and prostitution are the tip of the iceberg
which conceals everyday phenomena below the surface.
Despite an ambitious policy of gender equality,
injustices between the sexes persist in one field after
another.
The unequal power relations between the sexes
permeate relations between women and men in all walks
of society and restrict women’s lives. This is why women
as a group also have a common interest which differs
from men’s.
The Left Party sees as its task the formulation of an
offensive policy based on this interest, and it regards
feminism as a policy for combating the special oppression
of women. As the election approaches, the Left Party
demands an action plan for raising women’s pay.
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