Tillsyn avseende könsseparerade öppettider i sim- och idrottshallar Stockholm och Malmö (Case No. GRA 2016/8 and Case No. GRA 2016/9 – Decision on gender separation in swimming and sports halls - Stockholm and Malmö)

The Swedish Equality Ombudsman ruled that separate opening hours in public swimming pools for women and men can constitute discrimination, but that separate opening hours can be legal if the discrimination is a result of achieving a permissible and legal purpose. As such, it is permissible for a public swimming pool to have female-only hours in the event that the group of women using the swimming pool do not bathe with men due to their religious beliefs, and would not be able to learn how to swim otherwise. In the decisions, the Swedish Equality Ombudsman stressed that such permissible discrimination justifications are exceedingly rare, and that the ground rule is that public swimming pools should be open to both women and men at all times.