Finland

Leader in Gender Equality

Finland, which ranks 12th on the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP's) list of countries with Very High Human Development, has a long history of gender inclusion. In 1907, 19 female Members of Parliament were elected around the world. Thirteen of those were elected in Finland. The women of Finland were the first in the world to win suffrage and the right to stand for office. In 1926, Miina Sillanpää became Finland's first female minister. At the beginning of the 21st century, Tarja Halonen became Finland's first female president. In 2003, Anneli Jätteenmäki became the country's first prime minister. By 2007, Finland had the highest female political participation rate in the world. Sixty percent of the Finnish Cabinet was female, and women held 84 of 200 seats in Parliament.

Finland has a fertility rate of 1.73, and an infant mortality rate of 3.47 deaths per 1,000 live births. The female health advantage begins at birth, and continues throughout life, resulting in a life expectancy of 82.61 years for females as opposed to 75.48 years for males. The median age for females is 43.7 years. Finland has a 100 percent literacy rate, and its citizenry is well educated. Females are more likely than males to pursue higher education.

Prostitution is legal in Finland, but there have been strict laws prohibiting the sexual exploitation of minors since 1999. Finnish women's rights groups have been heavily involved in the campaign to end the practice of trafficking women from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into Finland and other Nordic Countries to be used as prostitutes. In 2003, police officials estimated that each year 3,000 women and children were trafficked from former Soviet republics into these areas, and 12,000 each year were brought into western Europe.

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