Sweden Abandons Feminist Foreign Policy

Julie Lübken

Europe and Human Rights Researcher 

Global Human Rights Defense

The recent electoral success of the Swedish right-wing block, which includes the far-right party of the Sweden Democrats, is already bearing its conservative fruits. On October 18th, the new foreign minister Tobias Billström announced that Sweden would be stepping back from its predecessors’ feminist foreign policy focus.

Sweden has been a pioneer in incorporating gender equality and issues into their international agenda. Margot Wallström was the first to coin the term “feminist foreign policy” in 2014, and it has been a strong focal point for Swedish foreign policy for nearly a decade. 

A document produced by the Swedish government outlined the progress this foreign policy approach facilitated. Some notable ones included new policies on improving female political representation in Moldova and Somalia. The document also pointed to the incorporation of gender equality issues in the 2016 Colombia peace deal, an effort spear-headed by Sweden. 

The new foreign minister had several things to say regarding this decision. Most notably, he insisted that the term ‘feminist foreign policy’ only serves to obscure and sideline Swedish values and interests internationally. Feminism, then, is seen as competing with Swedish values, rather than being a part of them. Billström did reassure the public that gender equality will still be a fundamental value for the government, even if the label is gone. 

This comes as quite a blow to Sweden’s international reputation as a progressive, forward-looking state in terms of gender issues. Indeed, Sweden was the first country to ever implement a feminist foreign policy. Since then, other countries such as Canada and France have followed. 

The step-back symbolized by this change in terminology is worrying given the global crisis on female rights. The recent protests in Iran and the attack on reproductive rights in the U.S. and Poland serve as a gruesome backdrop for Sweden’s latest move. 

Sources and Further Reading: 

AFP. (2022, October 18). Swedish government scraps country’s pioneering ‘feminist foreign policy’. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2 November 2022 from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/18/swedish-government-scraps-countrys-pioneering-feminist-foreign-policy. 

Walfridsson, H. (2022, October 31). Sweden’s New Government Abandons Feminist Foreign Policy. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved on 2 November 2022 from https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/31/swedens-new-government-abandons-feminist-foreign-policy.