Tax on Men for Violence on Women Proposed
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A group of Swedish parliamentarians proposed
levying a ''man tax'' to cover the social cost of violence against women.
''It must be obvious to all of us that society has a huge problem with
male violence against women and that has a cost,'' Left Party deputy Gudrun
Schyman told Swedish radio on Monday.
''We must have a discussion where men understand they as a group have
a responsibility,'' said Schyman, one of the party members to sign the motion
for debate on the new tax.
Sweden already has the highest taxes in the European Union as a
percentage of gross domestic product to pay for its famous but hard-pushed
cradle-to-grave welfare program.
It is also one of the world's most advanced nations in terms of gender
equality, but Schyman said in a headline-hitting 2002 speech that
discrimination in Sweden followed ''the same pattern'' as in Afghanistan
under the Taliban.