Gender inequality in government committees

Of the 746 government committee members, 461 are men and 285 are women.

This is in breach of the Sex Discrimination Act of 1994, the Equal Status Council says in a letter to the Prime Minister.

Gender inequality is an issue across all government ministries, the council argues.

Kynsbýtið, Almennar nevndir

The issue is most apparent in the Ministry of Fisheries, which has a male/female ratio of 79/21 in its committees, followed by the Ministry of Finance, which has a 66/34 ratio.

Next on the list are the Ministry of Environment, Industry and Trade (66/34), the Prime Minister’s Office (63/37), The Ministry of Culture and Foreign Affairs (58/42) and the Ministry of Health (55/45).

The ministry with the least gender inequality is the Ministry of Social Affairs, with a 52/48 ratio.

 >> SEE ALSO Gender equality is important full stop

A recent survey conducted by the Equal Status Council indicates a significantly higher degree of gender inequality in the top-25 private companies.

Private companies are not covered by the Sex Discrimination Act.

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

More Faroese News in English.