Kärlek och ekonomi - juridiskt undantagstillstånd?

Abstract

In this article I question the official rhetoric which says that Swedish law functions neutrally with regard to the sexes. For one thing the treatment of sexualised violence indicates that women have not yet obtained ownership of their bodies or their sexuality, nor do they receive full compensation for their work within the family. For example, the 1970s legislation granting "free divorce" was designed to release men from any financial responsibility for their former wives. This change in the law also prevented a wife from claiming damages even if her husband had caused the breakdown of the marriage through violence or neglect. The earlier rule that made it possible to deny custody of children in such situations was repealed as well. We can also ask whether women really benefit from their work in the family. Nowadays, about one fourth of all couples cohabit. A cohabitation act has been in force since 1988. It gives some protection after separation, half the value of some of the property - namely the permanent home and household goods - but only if these were originally bought and used in common. However, where in many fields of law a basic principle is the protection of the "obtained position" in family law the basic principle is freedom of choice. This often favörs men. For example, there are cases o f their exercising their being able to pass on their debts to their women who have no redress in law. Moreover, domestic work has n o economic value; and even if a woman has done it all alone, it is seen as being performed in the common interest and not entitling her to a salary or to ownership of property. In a nutshell this is men profiting illegitimately from women's work of love. Supported by the legal discourse of neutrality then, the system operates in favour of men, o f creditors' third party rights and sometimes even in favour of the state. Thus I argue that legal principles will only make love of equal value for men and women when neutrality really comes to represent the middle ground between men and women, male and female.