I am much indebted to Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council), which granted me the financial support to write this book as part of my post-doc research.
I am sincerely grateful to my colleagues at Stockholm University and Örebro University, where I have been employed during the work on this book, who have provided a supportive environment. Particular appreciation is also offered to my colleagues at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies of Stanford University not only for welcoming me as a visiting researcher, but also for generously assisting with resources and advice valuable for this book. I have benefited greatly from this visit. I have also received valuable help on relevant gender-related jurisprudence from Rosa Celorio at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, who kindly took time for my visit.
I am also thankful for the work of editor Brian Moore in reviewing the language of the book.
Finally, my love and gratitude to my parents, my parents-in-law, my husband Mikael and our children Emil and Freja for their love, support and patience and simply for being remarkable individuals.
I have sought to state the law as it stood on 1 January 2017.
Maria Eriksson
Örebro, March 2017