Swedish Equality Ombudsman finds ‘women’s only’ festival to have infringed gender discrimination laws

A festival in Sweden was found in breach of gender discrimination laws by the Equality Ombudsman for holding a women-only event.

Statement Festival, which was established following a series of sexual assaults at Swedish music festivals,   was advertised as “a safe space for the people who want to attend a festival without feeling scared for their personal safety”. The festival ran a successful crowdfunding campaign which raised €51,520.

The festival was held in Gothenburg in August 2018 and became the subject of an investigation by the Equality Ombudsman, a government agency that promotes equal rights and handles discrimination complaints, in July due to it being a women, transgender and non-binary festival only.

Statements issued by organisers prior to the festival were found to have “discouraged a certain group from attending the event”. However the Ombudsman acknowledged that the “man-free” rule was not enforced on the day and no differentiation based on gender was made upon entry to the festival. As no individual was found to have been rejected or to have suffered damage, no penalties were imposed.

 

 

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