Out Of The Borders Politics
Women in charge
Women’s political breakthrough starts with Finland by Felicia Vigliotti
The fight for gender equality started many years ago, but it is only in recent years that we are beginning to see results. Because of that, we need to celebrate every single step forward.
© Council of the European Union
Sanna Marin at the Council of European Union
We are at the beginning of a new decade and, in
the first days of the year, we sum up what happened in the previous months. For Europe, who is going through one of the most difficult moments in its history, there is one good piece of news in 2019. Finland elects the youngest woman prime minister in the world. The Finnish Social Democrats have chosen Sanna Marin as the political leader. Therefore, the young woman is leading a coalition of five parties, all led by women.
The most striking thing about Sanna Marin is
her background: raised by two mothers in one of what we might consider a “rainbow family”, she was the first of her family to get a degree. Grow-
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ing up in the suburbs of Helsinki, she had several jobs before starting her political career in 2013, not even 30 years old. The girl next door becomes Prime Minister while belonging to some of the less protected categories. A woman and
“Finland will not be finished in four years, but it can get better. That’s what we’re working on. I want to build a society where every child can become anything, and every person can live and grow in dignity.” — Sanna Marin.
