Sweden's debate on feminism (related story) heated up this weekend. Former Equality Minister and current Ambassador to Brazil Margareta Winberg took her fight against men too far.

In comments to Brazilian weekly Veja, Winberg asserted that men beat their wives because of gains in equality for women. She said that Swedish men beat women to show that they still have power over them, despite their loss of power outside the home. Winberg is a member of the ruling Social Democratic Labor Party, the largest party in a socialist coalition.

On Friday, a day after the news broke, the leader of the largest non-socialist party, the Moderates, decided that the government should be formally questioned about the incident. According to Aftonbladet, Ambassador Winberg is standing defiantly behind her view.

(Translated) "Men lose power when women take it," she said. "Men therefore beat women to show that they still have power."

The leader of the Christian Democrats Göran Hägglund now says that the ambassador should be fired. Calling the statement astonishing, he said that Winberg would not have the confidence of a non-socialist government if he had anything to say about it. She should be a representative for the country's politics and should not speak ill of Sweden, especially not with faulty information.

In an article in Aftonbladet on June 12th, popular Swedish author and commentator Jan Guillou characterized Winberg as a devotee of "witch hunter" Eva Lundgren. (See article linked above.) Lundgren is a controversial Uppsala University professor who portrays men as satanic animals, according to Guillou. She generalized her characterization of men as pedophiles and a danger to children.

The article in Veja claims that 4 out of every 10 women are victims of violence. No source is given, but a Lotta Nilsson of the Swedish Crime Prevention Council (Brottsförebyggande rådet) recognized the figure from a book entitled Slagen dam (beaten lady). Eva Lundgren was one of the authors.

According to the book, 46 percent of women ages 18-64 have been victims of violence since age 15. 25 percent have been victims of physical violence, 34 percent sexual violence, and 15 percent have been threatened. The definition of violence included isolated events that felt threatening. In addition, 60 percent had experienced some form of sexual harassment. Apparently based on those figures, Veja reported that two thirds of women in Sweden have experienced some form of violence or threat.

Criminologist Jerry Sarnecki calls the numbers "nonsense" and his view is supported by results from Sweden's Statistical Central Bureau (SCB). According to Slagen dam, 25 percent of all women were victims of violence in the previous year. SCB surveys show 7.5 percent of all women experiencing some form of violence or threat during the previous year and only 3.3 percent experiencing physical violence.

A committee has been assembled to review Lundgren's research. The committee consists of professors from two universities and a lawyer for Uppsala University. Lundgren has been given until August 15th to provide a complete list of her publications and other credentials to be used in the review.

A government spokesman said that a consultation would be held with Ambassador Winberg before any response is given to questions about her statements to Veja.

Roger F. Gay