Women in Finland enjoy a "high degree of equality" and "traditional courtesy" among men.
[Alho, Olli]
A guide to Finnish customs and manners
November 2002/March 2010 In 1906, the women of Finland became the first women in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
to be granted the right to vote.
There are many women in Finland who hold prominent positions in
Finnish society, in the
academics
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
, in the field of business,
[ and in the ]government of Finland
sv, Finlands statsråd
, border =
, image = File:Finnish Government logo.png
, image_size = 250
, caption =
, date =
, state = Republic of Finland
, polity =
, coun ...
. An example of powerful women in Finnish politics
The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President Sauli Niinistö, who leads the nation's foreign policy and is the supreme commander of t ...
is Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisa ...
, who became the first female president of the country (she was Foreign Minister of Finland before becoming president). In religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
, where most of the Finnish people are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; sv, Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal positio ...
(the other major Christian denomination in Finland is the Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
), women can be ordained as priests. In terms of finance, Finnish women have been described as "usually independent financially". ''The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' wrote in 2006:
Location
Finland is bordered on the east by Russia, on the south by the Gulf of Finland and Estonia, and on the west by the Gulf of Bothnia and Sweden, and on the north/north west by Norway. One quarter of the territory is north of the Arctic Circle.
Population
By gender (2020)
* Total population: 5,533,793
** Men population: 2,733,808
** Women population: 2,799,985
Life expectancy (2020)
* Life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
in years for total population: 81.82
** Male: 79.03 years
** Female: 84.62 years
Women's suffrage
The area that in 1809 became Finland was a group of integral provinces of the Kingdom of Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
for over 600 years, signifying that also women in Finland were allowed to vote during the Swedish Age of Liberty (1718–1772), when suffrage was granted to tax-paying female members of guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
s.[Åsa Karlsson-Sjögren: ''Männen, kvinnorna och rösträtten : medborgarskap och representation 1723–1866'' ("Men, women and the vote: citizenship and representation 1723–1866") ]
The predecessor state of modern Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, the Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...
was part of the Russian Empire from 1809 to 1917 and enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. In 1863 taxpaying women were granted municipal suffrage in the countryside, and in 1872, the same reform was given to the cities.
The Parliament Act in 1906 established the unicameral parliament of Finland
The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...
and both women and men were given the right to vote and stand for election. Thus Finnish women became the first in the world to have unrestricted rights both to vote and to stand for parliament. In elections the next year, 19 female MPs, first ones in the world, were elected and women have continued to play a central role in the nation's politics ever since. In 1907 the first general election in Finland that had been open to women took place. Nineteen women were elected which was less than 10% of the total members of parliament. The successful women included Lucina Hagman
Lucina Hagman (5 June 1853, Kälviä – 6 September 1946) was an early Finnish feminist and among the first female MPs in the world due to the 1907 Finnish parliamentary election.
Life and career
Hagman was the daughter of police master Nils Jo ...
, Miina Sillanpää, Anni Huotari, Hilja Pärssinen
Hilja Pärssinen (13 July 1876, in Halsua – 23 September 1935, in née ''Lindgren'') was a Finland, Finnish schoolteacher, poet, journalist and politician. She served as a Member of the Parliament of Finland from 1907 to 1918 and again from 1929 ...
, Hedvig Gebhard
Hedvig Maria Gebhard (née Silén; 14 December 1867 in Turku – 13 January 1961 in Helsinki) was a Finnish journalist and politician. She was an elected member of the Parliament of Finland, representing the Finnish Party from 1907 to 1909 and the ...
, Ida Aalle
Ida or IDA may refer to:
Astronomy
* Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter
*243 Ida, an asteroid
*International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station
Computing
*Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...
, Mimmi Kanervo
Mimmi Kanervo (26 May 1870 – 1 April 1922) was a Finnish politician and trade unionist. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she was elected to Parliament in 1907 as one of the first group of female MPs, remaining in parliament until 1917.
...
, Eveliina Ala-Kulju, Hilda Käkikoski
Hilda Maria Käkikoski (31 January 1864 – 14 November 1912) was a Finnish politician, writer and schoolteacher. She was one of the first nineteen women elected to Finnish parliament in 1907.
Life and career
Käkikoski was born Hilda Maria Sj ...
, Liisi Kivioja, Sandra Lehtinen, Dagmar Neovius, Maria Raunio, Alexandra Gripenberg
Alexandra Gripenberg, also known as Alexandra van Grippenberg, (1857 – 24 December 1913) was a Finnish social activist, author, editor, newspaper publisher, and elected politician, and was a leading voice within the movement for women's rights ...
, Iida Vemmelpuu
Iida Maria Vemmelpuu (till 1906 Wilenius; 10 February 1868, Kangasala – 3 August 1924) was a Finland, Finnish schoolteacher and politician. She was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1907 to 1909, representing the Finnish Party.
Referen ...
, Maria Laine, Jenny Nuotio and Hilma Räsänen
Hilma Sohvi Räsänen (28 March 1877 – 20 January 1955) was a Finnish educator and politician. A member of the Agrarian League, she was elected to Parliament in 1907 as one of the first group of female MPs. She remained an MP until the followi ...
. Many had expected more. A few women realised that the women of Finland needed to seize this opportunity and organisation and education would be required. Newly elected MPs Lucina Hagman and Maikki Friberg
Maria (Maikki) Elisabeth Friberg (1861–1927) was a Finnish educator, journal editor, suffragist and peace activist. She is remembered for her involvement in the Finnish women's movement, especially as chair of the Finnish women's rights organisa ...
together with Olga Oinola, Aldyth Hultin, Mathilda von Troil, Ellinor Ingman-Ivalo, Sofia Streng and Olga Österberg founded the Finnish Women's Association's first branch in Helsinki. Miina Sillanpää became Finland's first female government minister in 1926.
Finland's first female President Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisa ...
was voted into office in 2000 and for a second term in 2006. Since the 2011 parliamentary election, women's representation stands at 42.5%. In 2003 Anneli Jäätteenmäki became the first female Prime Minister of Finland, and in 2007 Matti Vanhanen's second cabinet
The second cabinet of Matti Vanhanen was the 70th cabinet and Government of Finland. The cabinet held office from 19 April 2007 to 20 June 2010. The cabinet was a centre-right-led coalition, consisting of four parties: the Centre Party, the Nati ...
made history as for the first time there were more women than men in the cabinet of Finland (12 vs. 8).. In the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 14 April 2019. For the first time, no party received more than 20% of the vote. The Centre Party, which had been the largest party following the 2015 elections, dropped to fourth place, losing 18 sea ...
, 94 out 200 elected MPs (47%) were women. In the Marin Cabinet
The Marin Cabinet is the incumbent 76th government of Finland. It was formed following the collapse of the Rinne Cabinet and officially took office on 10 December 2019. The cabinet headed by Sanna Marin consists of a coalition formed by the Socia ...
, 12 out of 19 appointed ministers (63%) were women.
As of 2022, there have been three female Prime Ministers;
* Anneli Jäätteenmäki (2003)
* Mari Kiviniemi (2010-2011)
* Sanna Marin
Sanna Mirella Marin (; born 16 November 1985) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Finland since 2019. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP), she has been a Member of Parliament since 2015.
...
(2019-present)
Women's rights movement
In the mid 19th-century, Minna Canth
Minna Canth (; born Ulrika Wilhelmina Johnson; 19 March 1844 – 12 May 1897) was a Finnish writer and social activist. Canth began to write while managing her family draper's shop and living as a widow raising seven children. Her work addresse ...
first started to adress feminist issues in public debate, such as women's education and sexual double standards. The Finnish women's movement organized with the foundation of the Suomen Naisyhdistys in 1884, which was the first feminist women's organisation in Finland. This represented the first wave feminism
First-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity and thought that occurred during the 19th and early 20th century throughout the Western world. It focused on legal issues, primarily on securing women's right to vote. The term is often used s ...
. The Suomen Naisyhdistys was split in to the Naisasialiitto Unioni
Naisasialiitto Unioni (Finnish) or Kvinnosaksförbundet Unionen (Swedish), sometimes referred to in English as the League of Finnish Feminists, is a non-profit Finnish women's organization which was established in 1892. Since 1904 it has been the ...
(1892) and the Suomalainen naisliitto (1907), and all women's organisations were united under the umbrella organisation
An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...
Naisjärjestöjen Keskusliitto in 1911.
Women where granted their basic equal rights early on with the suffrage in 1906. After the introduction of women's suffrage, the women's movement was mainly channelled through the women's branches of the political parties. The new marriage law of 1929, ''Avioliittolaki'', finally established complete equality for married women, and after this, women were legally equal to men by law in Finland.
In the 1960s, feminism again became a part of debate in Finland after the publication of Anna-Liisa Sysiharjun's ''Home, Equality and Work'' (1960) and Elina Haavio-Mannilan's ''Suomalainen nainen ja mies'' (1968), and the student feminist group Yhdistys 9 (1966-1970) adressed issues such as the need for free abortions.
In 1970 there was a brief but strong women's movement belonging to second wave feminism. Rape in marriage was not considered a crime at the time, and victims of domestic violence had few places to go. Feminists also fought for a day-care
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
system that would be open to the public, and for the right for not only paid maternity leave but also paternity leave. Today there is a 263-day parental leave
Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...
in Finland. It is illegal to discriminate
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, reli ...
against women in the workforce
Since the industrial revolution, participation of women in the workforce outside the home has increased in industrialized nations, with particularly large growth seen in the 20th century. Largely seen as a boon for industrial society, women in ...
. Two feminist groups were created to help the movement: The Marxist-Feminists () and The Red Women (, ). The feminists in Finland were inspired by other European countries such as Sweden and Switzerland. Other important groups for the Finnish women in the 1970s include Unioni and The Feminists ().
Women's rights
Finland became one of the first countries to grant women the right to vote, and still today they are among the top countries for women equality. Finland was voted second in the Global Gender Gap Index in women's rights. Finland made marital rape illegal in 1994. In 2003 the government of Finland proposed addressing issues with gender inequality
Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...
. They planned to promote gender equality over the entire public administration, reform the Act on Equality () that the men and women in Finland share, promote equal pay for work of equal value, increase the number of women in political and economic roles, assessing gender equality from the male point of view, prevent domestic violence and intimate partner violence, protect victims of trafficking
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
and the possibility of criminalizing buying sex. This act is called the Government Action Plan for Gender Equality () and it included more than 100 issues that needed discussion.
Education
In history
In the late 18th century and early 19th century private schools for girls were established in Finland, among the more known being those of Christina Krook Christina Krook (1742 – 1806) was a Finnish educator. She was the principal of a Finishing school for girls in Åbo, regarded as the most successful in Finland at the time.
Life
Christina Krook was the daughter of the official Gustav Krook (1704- ...
, Anna Salmberg and Sara Wacklin
Sara Elizabeth Wacklin (26 May 1790 – 28 January 1846) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish educator and writer. She was a pioneer in educating girls, and can be regarded as the first female university graduate in Finland. She can also be regarded ...
. These schools were criticized for its shallow education of accomplishments, which resulted in the decision that girls should be included in the school reform of 1843, and the following year, two Swedish-language state schools for girls was founded in Turku and Helsinki, ''Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Åbo
Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Åbo (Swedish Women's School of Åbo) or only Svenska fruntimmersskolan (Swedish Women's School) was a Girls' School in Turku (Swedish: Åbo) in Finland, active from 1844 to 1955. Alongside its equivalent in Helsinki, ...
'' and ''Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Helsingfors
Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Helsingfors ('Swedish Women's School of Helsinki') or only Svenska fruntimmersskolan ('Swedish Women's School') was a Girls' School in Helsinki in Finland, active from 1844 to 1974. Alongside its equivalent in Åbo ( fi ...
''. This led to the establishment of a net of girl schools of a similar kind in Finland. At first the schools were reserved for girls from upper-class families.
At this time it was not possible for the girls to pass the baccalaureate and move on to university studies. In 1865 a grammar school made it clear that only girls whose upbringing and manners were impeccable and whose company cannot be considered detrimental to others, and who were from "respectable" families could be in the school.
After the first woman in Finland, Maria Tschetschulin, was accepted as a university student by dispensation in 1870, advanced classes and colleges classes were included in many girl schools to prepare students for university (by means of dispensation), and in 1872, the demand that all students must be members of the Swedish language upper classes was dropped. Women were given the right to teach in grammar schools for girls in 1882.
When the dispensation for female university students was dropped and women were accepted at the same terms as men in 1915, girls and boys started to receive the same education in the school system, and the girl schools in Finland started to be changed to same sex education, a development which was completed in the 1970s.
Today
Finland students start their schooling a year after a lot of other countries. In spite of this, Finland is now one of the top-performing countries in mathematical skills, but also one of the few whose boys performed as well as girls. While in most countries the most able girls lag behind the most able boys in mathematics performance, according to the PISA 2012 Results Overview, the OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
gender score difference in mathematics, reading, and science was a result of -6 (boys - girls) in Finland. Additionally, while the highest-performing students of problem solving in the world are largely males, Finland makes an exception where the proportion of top-performing females is about the same as the proportion of top-performing males. This is also true among the Survey of Adult Skills ( PIAAC) where the top-performers in problem solving are predominantly men, except for in Finland, Australia and Canada.
As for Finland's educational benefits for students, Finnish schools offer state-funded schooling which makes it easier for women and men to go to work after being on parental leave. Women represent 32% of students studying in mathematics and computer science.
Women in the workforce
According to the Finnish Labor Force Survey around 32% of the 301,000 people who are self-employed are women. Women first became involved in labor markets through agrarian societies. Even before the public daycare systems, the number of women in the workforce was still very high, over 50%. The percent of workers in the labor force that are female (ages 15–74) is 51%, where for men it is 49%. 32% of the women are involved in entrepreneurship.
In 2021, the hours that Finns spent on work (meaning paid work and domestic work combined) were the same for women and men for the first time, according to Statistics Finland
Statistics Finland ( fi, Tilastokeskus, sv, Statistikcentralen) is the national statistical institution in Finland, established in 1865 to serve as an information service and to provide statistics and expertise in the statistical sciences. The i ...
. Previously women had spent more time on work than men.
Equality in the workforce
Employers who have at least 30 employees must have a gender equality plan that includes a women's and men's pay comparison. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health ( fi, Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö , sv, Social- och hälsovårdsministeriet) is a Finnish government ministry tasked with the planning and implementation of policies regarding the social affairs and ...
and other important labor market organizations set guidelines for gender equality planning.
Women in the military
Military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...
is required for men in Finland, but is voluntary for women. Women who enlist are allowed to train for combat roles. Finland is one of 16 other countries in the world that permit women in front-line combat positions.
Recreation
In using the sauna
A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
, women bathe separately from men, except if they are with family members or friends.[
]
See also
* Demographics of Finland
References
External links
Finland
everyculture.com
Cultural Etiquette, eDiplomat
{{Women in Europe
Finnish women
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...