The equal marriage law was changed at the beginning of the year, now supporting, among other things, the rights of transgender people better than before, by protecting people’s right to free gender expression and by preventing discrimination. The legal changes have a considerable effect on the rights of people who were previously discriminated against. At the beginning of the year the Non-Discrimination Act was also updated, and grants anti-discrimination protection for reasons other than gender. The new laws give way to opportunities to develop equality and anti-discrimination matters in work communities in more substantive ways. The change is nothing short of historic and opens the possibility of creating a better and safer world for all people.

Malin Gustavsson is one of the first people in Finland to have worked on the development of norm-critical ways of working in order to raise gender equality and anti-discrimination to a new level.

“By focusing on norms it is possible to address power and privileges in a new way and see how the various causes of discrimination interact with one another. In this way you can gain a deeper understanding of the bases of discrimination and find solutions to solve the challenges of non-equality.

Gustavsson is eager to continue developing innovative methods in order to really tackle challenges with customers.

“Recognising and understanding the problems is most fundamental in developing an organisation and solving issues.

Finland needs more courage and confidence in recognising that a fair working method can only promote the activity of organisations.”