The Equality Ombudsman (DO) is a government agency that works against discrimination and for equal rights and opportunities for everyone. Our vision is a society where respect for everyone’s equal value and rights is a matter of course.
The Equality Ombudsman was formed on 1 January 2009 when the four previous anti-discrimination ombudsmen were merged into a new body. The previous authorities were the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman (JämO), the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination (DO), the Disability Ombudsman (HO) and Ombudsman against Discrimination on grounds of Sexual Orientation (HomO).
This means that you can now turn to a single authority regardless of the reason why you have been discriminated against. You may also have been discriminated against for several reasons, for example because you are a woman from Iraq with a hearing disability, or because you are a young homosexual man with dyslexia.
On 1 January 2009 a new comprehensive Discrimination Act, which covers more areas than before, came into force. The Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation or age.
Our main task is to ensure that the anti-discrimination legislation is followed. The authority also works to ensure that the law for parental leave is followed and that people on parental leave aren’t treated less favourably at work. The Government has appointed Katri Linna as the Equality Ombudsman. She is also the head of the authority.
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” From the UN Declaration of Human Rights
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
“We are working towards a society where everyone’s equal value and rights are respected. To achieve this, it’s important that each and every one of us knows our rights and knows how to assert them”Katri Linna,Equality Ombudsman
The Equality Ombudsman also supervises how employers, universities and schools live up to the anti-discrimination legislation’s demands for measures to prevent discrimination. The Equality Ombudsman does this mostly by reviewing gender equality plans and equal treatment plans.
The Equality Ombudsman’s duties also include raising awareness and disseminating knowledge and information about discrimination and anti-discrimination legislation.
One important part of our work is to develop and provide useful methods to institutions such as employers and schools on how to prevent discrimination and promote equal rights.
It is also the Equality Ombudsman’s task to highlight and promote the development of the protection against discrimination. We can achieve this, for instance, by writing and publishing reports and by international cooperation.