The Torsby municipal board in Värmland has three women among its eleven regular members, a proportion of just over 27 percent. According to the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, a gender distribution is commonly considered even if the proportion of women and men in a group is 40/60 percent or more even. Nine out of 16 municipal boards in Värmland reach that distribution, but Torsby is not among them.
The Centre Party has one seat on the Torsby municipal board, filled by a woman, Karin Täppers, during the current term. The Moderates and Sweden Democrats each have two representatives on the Torsby municipal board, all men. ' He adds, 'It is too little.
Those who have more than one mandate could make one member a man and the other a woman, as good people exist regardless of gender so it should not be so difficult.
You see things differently. ' Daniel Eriksson of the Moderates says the Moderates have not found women who wanted to stand for election. He believes one reason may be the choice of issues the party promotes, which might be more attractive to men, noting, 'The Moderates may have promoted issues that are more attractive to men and that is why we ended up in this situation.
' All three Torsby politicians interviewed say they think the issue is important and that 27 percent women on the municipal board is not enough. The specific barriers preventing women from reaching the highest levels in politics in Värmland municipalities remain unclear.
We have tried to get women who want to be active at all, but now it looks like we will get two.