The main aim of this paper is to explore preschol teachers' perspectives on the implementation of gender goals as set by the Swedish national curriculum for preschools. This qualitative research endeavours to investigate the way preschool teachers implement the curriculum and what their feelings are when implementing it. Finally, the research also seeks to explore the teachers' views based on their experience on ways to improve the curriculum. Six preschool teachers, who teach in international preschools in Sweden were interviewed;three female pedagogues and three male ones. A thematic analysis was conducted on the transcribed material of the interviews and three primary themes emerged: I) Implementation of the curriculum through everyday engagement with the students, II) mixed feelings when implementing gender-equality pedagogy and III) satisfaction about the gender goals set by the curriculum but beliefs that it can be improved. In conclusion, this paper by closely examining the preschool teachers' perspectives and opinions, seeks to aid the discussion on gender teaching to young children in preschools.

[pt] O presente trabalho analisa o caráter extrafiscal dos tributos como ferramenta de desestímulo ao consumo de alimentos nocivos à saúde, como forma de captação de recursos para implementação de políticas públicas voltadas à saúde em prol da redução de desigualdade de gênero. Através de pesquisa qualitativa exploratória, baseada em pesquisa bibliográfica, o tema foi desenvolvido tomando como base o instrumento da extrafiscalidade, o princípio constitucional da seletividade e experiências internacionais. A implementação de políticas públicas nessa seara pode influenciar a economia comportamental e reduzir problemas existentes na saúde pública brasileira, bem como incrementar a receita tributária, representando um potente instrumento legislativo e fiscal, para atender aos preceitos constitucionais e os compromissos assumidos com a Agenda 2030 da ONU. / [en] This study analyze the extrafiscal character of taxes as a tool to discourage the consumption of foods that are harmful to health, as a way of raising funds for the implementation of public policies aimed at health in favor of reducing genderin equality. Through exploratory qualitative research, based on bibliographical research, the theme was developed based on the instrument of extrafiscality, the constitutional principle of selectivity and international experiences. The implementation of public policies in this area can influence behavioral economics and reduce existing problems in public health Brazilian economy, as well as increasing tax revenue, representing a powerful legislative and fiscal instrument to meet constitutional precepts and the commitments assumed with the UN s 2030 Agenda.

In the Middle East and North Africa region, many family laws are based on Sharia principles, where different interpretations of Sharia result in varying implications for human rights. This study explores the impact of divorce regulations in the personal status laws of Iraq and Tunisia on women’s rights. While Tunisia stands out for its extensive legal rights for women, surpassing its regional counterparts, Iraq falls behind in advancing women’s rights - particularly in family law. Despite experiencing similar political changes, women in Iraq and Tunisia face different situations and opportunities in terms of accessing divorce. Using a comparative case study methodology, this study examines the expression of divorce laws in Iraq and Tunisia, as well as their intersection with Sharia. The study incorporates a content analysis of relevant laws, along with a review of secondary data on the countries’ history to examine the role of women in shaping these laws. Drawing on feminist theories by Amina Wadud and Kecia Ali, the study highlights the role of patriarchy and male-dominated interpretations of Islam in restricting women’s empowerment. The findings reveal that women’s rights are shaped by social and cultural structures, rather than solely by Islamic principles. Both countries incorporate Sharia in their laws, although Tunisia interprets it more favourably for women, Iraq adopts a more conservative and restrictive interpretation. Tunisia’s successful alignment of Sharia with women’s rights demonstrates the adaptability of Islamic law and the importance of contextual interpretations of Sharia. Internal and external factors, including diverse populations, different Islamic schools of law, and grassroot movements, contribute to different approaches to democratic transition and varying situations for women in Iraq and Tunisia in terms of human rights.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka kvinnliga polisers upplevelser av sin menstruation i relation till deras arbete. Fokuset i denna studie riktas mot att undersöka hur sociala konstruktioner kan ha en inverkan på sambandet mellan menstruation och arbete. Med en abduktiv ansats och med utgångspunkt i en kvalitativ metod har resultatet samlats in genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer via verktyget Zoom. En tematisk analys har använts för att analysera resultatet såväl som tre sociologiska teorier om könsmaktsordningar i organisationer, sociala konstruktioner och stigma. Av resultatet kan det konstateras att kvinnor påverkas av sin menstruation i sitt arbete, både psykiskt och fysiskt. Resultatet visar att alla kvinnliga poliser reflekterar och hanterar sin menstruation främst på egen hand men tycks inte tala om det särskilt mycket i grupp. Följande framkommer det från respondenterna att de antar att menstruation är accepterat inom Polismyndigheten. Det tycks däremot vara motsägelsefullt eftersom alla kvinnliga poliser berättar att menstruation faktiskt inte är något som talas om från organisationens sida. Med hjälp av resultatet och de valda teorierna kan det konstateras att sociala konstruktioner och interaktioner har en inverkan på hur och vad som talas om inom organisationen, på grund av detta ses menstruation som något stigmatiserat. / The purpose of the study is to investigate female police officer’s experiences of their menstruation and how it might have an impact in their work. The focus of this study is directed towards investigating how social constructions could have an impact on the relationship between menstruation and work. With an abductive approach and based on a qualitative method, the results have been collected through eight semi-structured interviews via Zoom. The results have been analyzed through a thematic analysis as well as with three sociological theories based on gendered organizations, social constructions and stigmatization. From the results, it can be stated that women are affected by their menstruation in their work, both psychologically and physically. The results show that all female police officers reflect and deal with their menstruation mainly on their own, but do not seem to talk about it a lot within groups. As follows, it appears from the respondents that they suppose that menstruation is accepted within the Swedish Police Authority. However, all the female police officers state that menstruation is not actually something that is spoken about by the organization, which seems contradictory. Through the results and the chosen theories, it can be stated that social constructions and interactions do have an impact on how and what is talked about within the organization, because of this, menstruation is seen as something stigmatized.

Studien är ämnad att kritiskt granska nyhetsrubriker i kvällstidningar i Sverige, ur ett jämställdhetsperspektiv. Rubrikerna som granskas i studien har publicerats digitalt i Aftonbladet och Expressen, med anledningen av att det är Sveriges två största kvällstidningar i tabloidformat (Via TT, 2021). Syftet med den kritiska granskningen är att identifiera om, och i så fall hur, patriarkala maktstrukturer tar sig uttryck i rubrikerna. De patriarkala maktstrukturer som kommer granskas i studien är rollfördelning, ideal brottsofferstatus och skuldbeläggning av offer. Rubrikerna jämförs i sin tur med ingressen, för att kunna säkerställa vilken typ av information kring brottet som har inkluderats, eller exkluderats i rubriken. Det teoretiska ramverket, som kommer användas för att diskutera analysresultatet, består av Hirdmans (1988) definition av könsmaktsordningen samt relevansteorin enligt Sperber och Wilson (2012). Metoden som använts är en kvalitativ textanalys i kombination med en ideologkritisk analysmetod. Analysmallen bygger på van Dijks (1990) definition av en rubriks idealfunktion samt det teoretiska begreppet rollfördelning (van Leeuwen, 1996), kriterierna för ideal brottsofferstatus enligt Christies (1986) och skuldbeläggning av offer (Fisher & Lab, 2010). Baserat på det teoretiska ramverket, som också ligger till grund för analysmallen, har analysfrågor konstruerats och delats upp i tre kategorier. Kategorierna är följande: ”Rubrikens funktion och innehåll”, ”Brottshändelsen” och ”Brottsoffret”. Analysresultatet visar att de patriarkala maktstrukturerna: rollfördelning, ideal brottsofferstatus och skuldbeläggning av brottsoffer återkommer i flera av de nyhetsrubriker som analyserats, om än i olika utsträckning. En majoritet av rubrikerna som granskats beskrev endast delar av brottet, i stället för att ge läsaren en helhetsbild av det som inträffat. Dessutom, angavs det kvinnliga brottsoffret som aktivt i stället för passivt i flertalet av rubrikerna och det förekom även en indirekt skuldbeläggning av det kvinnliga brottsoffret eftersom brottsrubricering saknades, eller den misstänkte manliga förövaren inte nämndes. Resultatet från den här studien, visar att Aftonbladet och Expressen har en bit kvar till en helt jämställd brottsjournalistisk nyhetsrapportering. / The study is intended to critically examine news headlines in evening newspapers in Sweden, from a gender perspective. The headlines examined in the study were published digitally in Aftonbladet and Expressen, since they are Sweden's two largest evening tabloid newspapers (Via TT, 2021). The aim of the critical review is to identify whether, and if so how, patriarchal power structures are expressed in the headlines. The patriarchal power structures that will be examined in the study are role assignment, ideal victim status and victim blaming. The headings will in turn be compared to the preamble, to ascertain what kind of information about the crime has been included or excluded in the heading. The theoretical framework, which will be used to discuss the results of the analysis, consists of Hirdman's (1988) definition of the gender power order and the theory of relevance according to Sperber and Wilson (2012). The method used is a qualitative text analysis combined with an ideology-critical analysis method. The analysis template is based on van Dijk's (1990) definition of the ideal function of a headline as well as the theoretical concept of role division (van Leeuwen, 1996), the criteria of ideal victim status according to Christie's (1986) and victim blaming (Fisher & Lab, 2010). Based on the theoretical framework, which also forms the basis of the analysis template, analysis questions were constructed and divided into three categories. The categories are “Function and content of the rubric”, “The crime event” and “The crime victim”. The results of the analysis show that the patriarchal power structures of role distribution, ideal victim status and victim blaming are reflected in several of the news headlines analysed, albeit to varying degrees. Most of the headlines examined described only parts of the crime, rather than giving the reader a full picture of what happened. In addition, the female victim was referred to as active rather than passive in most of the headlines and there was also an indirect blaming of the female victim as the crime description was missing, or the suspected male perpetrator was not mentioned. The results of this study show that Aftonbladet and Expressen still have some way to go to achieve fully equal crime reporting.

Electoral violence in democratizing countries results in hundreds of deaths each year and undermines democratic practices and the legitimacy of elections. Although identifying several societal and institutional factors increasing the risk of electoral violence, prior research has largely failed to consider gender equality when exploring the causes of electoral violence. This essay aims to fill this gap by addressing the following research question: How does gender inequality affect the occurrence of government-initiated electoral violence during the pre-election period in democratizing countries? By arguing that the norms of respect, tolerance and inviolability prevalent in societies with high levels of gender equality heighten the cost of violent tactics, I hypothesize that gender equality reduces government-initiated electoral violence. Through a qualitative cross-case analysis of the national elections in Liberia in 2011 and Guinea in 2015, this study finds evidence suggesting that gender equality has a pacifying effect on government-initiated electoral violence in the pre-election period. To some extent, the empirical data also supports the underlying mechanism, although evidence for potential alternative explanations for the relationship was also recognized. This could potentially make the observed relationship spurious and call for further research on the topic.

The field of international development cooperation has experienced an increasing demand for result-driven management over the last decades. However, a clear consensus of the meaning of ‘ results’ is often lacking in initiatives and projects for social change. As the field functions throughout myriads of contexts and cultures, the demand of results therefore brings upon issues of definitions and discourse, as well as underlying values. The goals and strategies set out to achieve certain results are influenced by assumptions that define the problem definition of the targeted issue. A hierarchy in international development, the so-called aid chain, is determined by who provides funding for cooperation projects. The flow of top-down funding is shown to be accompanied by a flow of top-down policies, that are further accompanied by underlying values, problem definitions, and assumptions. This study inquires whether different notions, assumptions, and problem definitions on gender equality across cultures in the aid chain might disturb result-reporting in international projects. Departing from a postcolonial perspective, the content and discourse of the Swedish feminist foreign policy and steering documents from an Indigenous women’s organization in Guatemala are analysed and compared. Seeing policies and policy-making as a significant communicative tool and practice in the field, this study shows how results, goals, strategies, problem definition and assumptions correlate to each other in result-reporting in international development cooperation projects.

This thesis assesses the current rights of women in Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Within each case study, four main factors are measured based on their individual influence in each state. The first factor, historical context, examines various historical influences and their effect on the empowerment of women in their country. The second factor, the socio-cultural context, describes social and ethnical effects on society such as the influence of tribal lineage. The third factor researched is the political structure of the state and the impact that each different political system has upon gender equality in that region. The fourth and final factor is the economic system and the various economic determinants that influence the presence of women in the economy. Subsequently, the conclusion cross analyzes these factors and their distinctive and comparative impact across each region. This thesis attempts to offer an introductory glimpse into the various factors that may hinder empowerment of women in these regions. This information is imperative in order to understand how these states can develop policies that will empower women economically, politically, and socially.

This study aims to identify and analyse the actions the Swedish Armed Forces take working towards gender equality. This is done by examining various governing documents, reports, and media coverage. An interview with an employed women with relevant competence of the organisations active work and policies regarding gender mainstreaming is also conducted. These aspects are analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and a liberal feminist theoretical approach. A brief background of previous research and history is also presented. As a conclusion of this study, the resulting framing and consequences of the Swedish Armed Forces gender mainstreaming is presented.

Financial dependency and a trend in donor-driven gender equality and women’s empowerment projects in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) have undoubtedly had an effect on the way in which NGOs are working and evolving: often projects are designed to fulfill donor requirements – and thereby policies - instead of creating an agenda which is politically and socially “home grown”. This paper analyses the USAID gender policy paper (as an example of foreign donor policy) and interviews conducted with legal, programme and gender experts in the oPt, exploring the challenges and gaps between policy and practice. The research uses qualitative research methods to analyze USAID discourse - exploring concepts such as representation, ideology and power - and general assumptions and perspectives towards women’s equality and empowerment in the Opt versus how this translates into practice.