ABSTRACT
This chapter on Finnish equality law and politics discusses a number of developments and paradoxes in relation to gender equality in Finland. Gender equality politics aim to reduce disadvantages experienced by men. For example, policies against students dropping out of education in the current Government Equality Programme are aimed at preventing male marginalization. Anti-discrimination law has been criticized by Nordic scholars for not addressing social inequalities effectively. The particular legal instruments – both prohibitions on discrimination and the requirement of positive action – that were chosen to combat gender discrimination also reflect those pressures. Finnish political rhetoric often presents the country as ‘a model for gender equality’. Women's political rights are pointed to as immutable evidence of the validity of such a claim. Finnish women's rights to participate fully in parliamentary elections date back to 1906. Many positions of power show gendered patterns that favour men.
