In Norway, everyone has the same rights and is subject to the same laws regardless of gender.
In Norway, it is forbidden to treat people unequally or to discriminate against people because they are a man or a woman. This means that everyone must have equal opportunities in every aspect of life: personal life, professional life and family life. For example, regardless of gender, everyone has the right:
- to go to school;
- to decide for him/herself what profession s/he wants to learn;
- to decide for him/herself whether or not s/he wants to get married;
- to decide for him/herself whether or not s/he wants to have children.
The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act ("Likestilling- og diskrimineringsloven")
This Act is intended to promote equality and prevent discrimination on the basis of gender, pregnancy, leave in connection with childbirth or adoption, care responsibilities, ethnicity, religion, belief, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age or other significant characteristics of a person.
Equality means equal status, equal opportunities and equal rights. Equality presupposes accessibility and accommodation.
Help and support
If you experience discrimination you can get advice and guidance from The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud.
The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud can help you with filing a complaint. They work to ensure that women and men are treated equally, and fight against discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and age.
The ombudsman has the responsibility of ensuring that Norwegian law correspond with the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Convention on Racial Discrimination (CERD) and Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
