The Left Party in Karlskrona holds gender-separated meetings, something that has raised questions and criticism. The party explains the practice by claiming it strengthens participation and democracy.

Henrik Holmkvist, group leader for the Left Party in Karlskrona, responded to the criticism in a Facebook post published this week.

“We have received questions about the Left Party sometimes holding gender-separated pre-meetings ahead of, for example, annual meetings,” Holmkvist writes, adding that “the pre-meetings are not intended to exclude anyone — but to strengthen participation and democracy within the organization.”

He explains this reasoning by saying that both historically and still today, not everyone takes up the same amount of space in political contexts, and that separate pre-meetings can create safer spaces where more people dare to participate in discussions and prepare for larger meetings. The experience is said to be that this results in more voices being heard and more equal decisions being made.

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At the same time, Holmkvist emphasizes that the annual meeting always takes place jointly.

“So it is not about dividing people permanently, but about using a tool so that more people feel safe to participate and influence on equal terms,” he concludes.

Left Party Men Behaving Better

– We want to strengthen the voices of our women. There is a risk that they will not come through at a large meeting. In all organizations, there are structures where men often take up more space, and this is our way of countering that, Holmkvist tells BLT.

– I would say that we men in the Left Party are probably slightly better than men in society generally, that is my belief. At least we are aware of the issue and are trying to work on it.

Christopher Larsson is a Sweden Democrat municipal commissioner:

– It is completely crazy to treat people differently. It’s reminiscent of how it can be in some mosques, where men and women are not allowed to pray together. Why can’t we just see people as people? Larsson tells BLT.

Did Not Answer Questions

When Samnytt tried to reach Henrik Holmkvist and among other things asked whether such a solution doesn’t open the door for more types of special rights and whether, for example, LGBTQ people also have their own meetings, we received no response.

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