Feminists call for abolition of marriage

As Sweden's Feminist Initiative meets in Örebro on Friday for its annual general meeting, one of the group's more radical proposals has been revealed: the abolition of marriage.

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Instead the group, which is expected to become a fully-fledged political party following the meeting, wants a 'cohabitation law' which ignores gender - and allows for more than two people to be included.

The proposal is one of the group's 'prioritised political demands' which the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet got hold of before the meeting.

FI founder and board member, Tiina Rosenberg, told the paper that the group wants to create "a modern concept which does not favour and promote couples and heterosexual norms".

"The history of marriage is not about love and living together, it's about ownership," she added.

One example of people who would benefit from such a proposal, according to FI, is a divorced couple who have new partners and everybody wants to take financial responsibility for the children.

But Rosenberg, a professor in gender studies at Stockholm University, also suggested that the notion of couples is, as far as the Feminist Initiative is concerned, outdated.

"In a free country you can't stick your nose into who people choose to have sex with," she told SvD.

However, Tiina Rosenberg made it clear that that does not mean that anything goes in FI's Brave New World:

"A man who lives with eight women in a patriarchal structure, where the man decides and the women obey - that's not what we're aiming for," said Rosenberg.

FI's other demands are no less controversial. The group wants to introduce a six hour work day and completely individualised parental benefits to force men to take off as much time as women to care for their children.

The all-female board also says it wants to introduce gender quotas on company boards.

Has marriage had its day? Discuss!