Chaos at the Gender Equality Agency – staff feel discriminated against and offended

Since the female-dominated agency was launched in 2018, its operations have been plagued by problems and controversies. A year ago, the agency got a new director general in the hope that the poor work environment, which many had complained about, would improve. However, that did not happen.

It was just under a year ago that former prosecutor Lise Tamm took over as director general of the controversial Gender Equality Agency. At the time, staff surveys showed widespread dissatisfaction—problems that are now described as having worsened.

According to a new survey conducted in the autumn, stress levels are higher, trust in management is lower, and more people report that discrimination and abusive treatment occur, based on both gender and age.

Lise Tamm considers the results serious and alarming, and believes the dissatisfaction may be due to the fact that the survey coincided with a reorganization, at the same time as there was a debate on whether the agency should use images of children wearing veils in its communications.

She believes another factor could be that, as a rights-based authority, the agency attracts people who are particularly attentive and sensitive to these issues. Something that surprised Tamm when she was new to the role was the high level of internal competition.

Must do better

Tamm says she has also made quite a few changes, but that internal communication has not reached the employees.

– That’s because I can’t do everything. I have 140 employees and am incredibly booked up with all sorts of different things. My platform is breakfast meetings, where I have conveyed information verbally. Then we have a communications department that is supposed to make sure the information gets out, but that obviously hasn’t succeeded. We haven’t been transparent enough and need to get better, she told Göteborgs-Posten.

Tamm with Paulina Brandberg. Photo: Elin Rappe/Regeringskansliet

Was going to be closed down

In 2018, the then center-right government decided to shut down the agency, but after the change of government it was agreed, in what became known as the January Agreement—with the Social Democrats, Green Party, Centre Party, and Liberals—that the agency would remain.

In the spring amendment budget of 2019, the agency’s budget was also increased by 40 million to 81 million SEK.

Not so equal

Last year, Samnytt reported that the Gender Equality Agency has expanded greatly since 2018, with 135 employees and an annual budget of over 150 million SEK. In March 2025, 114 of the 135 employees were women, or nearly 85 percent.

Since 2022, the staff has increased by around 30 people, and in autumn 2024, the Tidö government, with Paulina Brandberg (L) as minister for gender equality, decided to further strengthen the agency by increasing its funding by 72 million SEK.