A.S.’s husband was mysteriously killed during training with the Iranian Air Force, and the Iranian government subsequently declared him to be a martyr. As the widow of a martyr, A.S. was required to submit to the rigid rules of the Bonyad-e Shahid Islamic society, a foundation which supported and supervised the families of martyrs. In accordance with the aims of Bonyad-e Shahid, a high-ranking leader forced A.S.
The Abortion Act states that a woman may have an abortion up to 18 weeks of pregnancy. An abortion past 18 weeks may be performed if the National Board of Health and Welfare (“NBHF”) (Sw. Socialstyrelsen) approves it due to exceptional grounds. A decision by NBHF regarding an abortion cannot be appealed. NBHF also reviews any cases of denied abortions. Any medical practitioner that disregards the Abortion Act may be fined or imprisoned for a maximum of six months.
"An employer may not discriminate against a person who, with respect to the employer,1. is an employee; 2. is enquiring about or applying for work; 3. is applying for or carrying out a traineeship; 4. is available to perform work or is performing work as temporary or borrowed labour.
"An employer may not discriminate against a person who, with respect to the employer, 1. is an employee, 2. is enquiring about or applying for work, 3. is applying for or carrying out a traineeship, or 4. is available to perform work or is performing work as temporary or borrowed labour. (…)" Chapter 2 Section 1 of the Swedish Discrimination Act.] A woman had applied for employment at the farm where she was doing an internship. During the internship the woman had had a miscarriage, which she told the farmer about. She was later denied employment.
If a married person dies, the surviving spouse inherits the estate of the deceased. The spouses’ common children inherit from both spouses when the surviving spouse dies. If the spouse who dies had children with another person at the time of their passing, the non-common children may receive their inheritance immediately. It is possible to write a will on who is to inherit, however, a direct heir (e.g. the deceased’s non-common child) always has the right to its share of that spouse’s inheritance.
A man who possessed 39 drawn pornographic images in manga style was acquitted from a charge of possession of child pornography on the grounds that holding this possession as illegal would unreasonably limit freedom of expression. Swedish child pornography laws outlaw actual photographic material as well as drawn images. The purpose of this law is to protect children from offensive materials, to avoid anyone using child pornography to snare children into sexual situations, and to protect their likeness being shared in pornographic materials.
The Swedish Penal Code includes regulations that defines and prohibits various sexually and/or physically motivated crimes against people. The penalty for kidnapping with intent to injure a person, to force a person into service or to practice extortion is imprisonment for at least four years and at most eighteen years, or for life.
C. T., a Hutu citizen of Rwanda and a member of the PDR-Ubuyanja party, was arrested for her political affiliations and incarcerated in a Kigali prison. While incarcerated, she was repeatedly raped, under the threat of execution if she did not comply, and become pregnant. C. T. escaped to Sweden and requested asylum for herself and her son; her request was denied by the Migration Board for lack of credibility.
The court ruled that a person who was designated male at birth, but who had undergone sex reassignment therapy and who had changed their legal identity to female has the right to change their legal identity back to male, despite having female genitalia. The court further held that Section 1 of the Swedish Gender Identification Act can be applied in this situation (i.e., where a person would like to change his or her legal identity back to a previous legal identity after having undergone sex reassignment therapy).
A Muslim woman refused to shake a male interviewer’s hand for religious reasons during a job interview. She placed her hand over her heart and explained her reasons. The recruitment process was then canceled, as the company had a policy which required employees to shake hands with both men and women. The Swedish Equality Ombudsman claimed that the cancellation was an indirect discrimination of Muslims who refuse to shake hand with a person of an opposite sex.
