Unveiling the Unseen: The Reality Behind the Missing Headlines on Femicides in Sweden

Gender-Based Violence
Written By Politics4Her .

April 1st, 2024. This day marks the conclusion of a month characterized by the escalation of gender-based murders of women and girls in Sweden, resulting in the death of 5 women and 1 girl, predominantly at the hands of former or current male intimate partners. Amidst the urgent appeals from female activists and women's rights NGOs for immediate crisis intervention to prevent further loss of life, Sweden grapples with the challenge of upholding its imaginary as one of the world’s foremost proponents of gender equality, juxtaposed against the reality of the lethal consequences stemming from men’s violence against women.

The surge of femicidal violence against women and girls in Sweden may to some sound like an unfortunate coincidence. However, recalling the spring of 2021, Sweden experienced a similar episode of gender-based violence, when five women were murdered by a current or former partner in the lapse of three weeks. Between 2017-2023 there has been an average of 14 murdered women and girls annually (ranging from 10-22 cases per year) in Sweden. According to ’Dödade Kvinnor’, a database by the newspaper Aftonbladet since 2009 tracking suspected femicides of women and girls, there were 358 cases of femicides between 2000-2023. 

Cases of lethal violence against women held a higher average in the 1990s, with an average of 20 cases per year, versus an average of 16 cases per annum from 2008-2017. Nonetheless, as expressed by Jämställdhetsmyndigheten, the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, despite actions taken to combat violence against women (VAW), the decrease of femicides has been negligible in the last couple of years. For cases of femicides of younger women there is no registered decrease at all. 

These crimes have a clear gendered nature, where 100% of the victims in 2023, all 10, were identified as women or girls, involving either current or former relations between the perpetrator and the victim. These 10 events represent 8% of all cases of lethal violence in Sweden in 2023. The most common scene of crime is the women’s or girls’ home, represented by 80%. For men, their home only represents 40% of the crime scene. 

Young women are the most targeted group, with the most reported age group being 16-34 years old. Official data indicates that in 2012, the percentage of women who suffered crime within an intimate relationship was comparable to the percentage of men (7.0% of women and 6.7% of men). However, the rates of more serious forms of violence show that women to a bigger extent had to seek support services, mostly health care, 29,1% of all women who reported these crimes. 56% of women who have experienced psychological gender-based violence report that the violence is recurrent. The most relevant factors contributing to the occurrence rate of these crimes are age, family relations, level of education, housing standard, and socioeconomic conditions. Statistics do not show any difference between women and girls born in Sweden and groups of women migrants or refugees. What is crucial when reading this data, is the fact that only 3.9% of the female victims in an intimate relationship by 2012 reported the incidents to the police. Furthermore, we know that women in general are less likely to report incidents if they fear repercussions, and also for diverse groups and marginalized women who might not dare to turn to authorities or lack the information of where to turn to. 

Meanwhile, Swedish authorities continue being focused on the rise of lethal violence between criminal organizations and networks, and the crisis facing prevention of intimate partner violence has seemingly become less of a priority.

In response to the alarming increase in femicides, the Swedish government took action on March 26th by announcing an allocation of 18 million SEK (approximately €1.5M), targeting men’s violence against women. This decision came after a meeting involving Olga Persson, President of Unizon—an association comprising 140 Swedish non-profit organizations providing support services and shelter to women and girls - expert Åsa Witkowski, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, and Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life, Paulina Brandenburg. However, looking at the real picture, Persson emphasized that the annual cost of men's violence against women in Sweden is estimated at 43 million SEK, making the allocated 18 million SEK merely symbolic. Furthermore, she stated how addressing the urgent need for women’s and children's protection, as well as holding perpetrators accountable, requires not only increased allocation of resources but also a firm commitment and sustained political will.

According to the Swedish Police Annual Report from 2023, violence against women is in several police regions reported to be more deadly than gang violence, and statistics also show that there has been no reduction in the number of reports or cases that have been handed over to prosecutors. Jale Poljarevius, Head of Intelligence for Mitt, whose work focuses on gang violence but also police efforts to prevent men's violence against women, states that ”the work has been reactive rather than preventive”, with the statement in the report that the police work has not substantially reduced the numbers of cases of violence against women during 2023. This is the backdrop of 2021, where the police declared to prioritize VAW on the same level as gang violence, followed by the fatal decision to eliminate project ’Igor’, in September of 2023. The project, initiated in 2021, was a collaborative project where the police and social services identified women and girls in danger of intimate partner- and domestic violence, to inform and motivate these individuals to approach support services. 

Femicide is not a concept used in Sweden. According to the European Institute of Gender Equality (EIGE), we should understand femicide as the ‘killing of women and girls because of their gender’. Instead, the legal term to identify and denominate the set of criminal offenses of several individuals’ actions against women and girls, punishable by themselves, but together may constitute a serious crime, is ‘kvinnofridskränkning’. Kvinnofridskränkning was introduced into the criminal code in 1998 as part of the Women's Rights Reform, Kvinnofridskränkning makes part of the umbrella term ‘grov fridskränkning’, which is the gender-neutral concept. The crime typification targets: 

”recurring instances of violent acts or sexual offenses perpetrated by a man against a woman in an intimate relationship, such actions include assault, unlawful threats, coercion, sexual or other forms of harassment, and sexual exploitation”. 

The penal code has been subject to change at various times, where it was in 2013 to encompass offenses related to vandalism and breaches of restraining orders, and as of January 2022, it also entails defamation as a crime, as well as the new minimum of one year (from 9 months) and a maximum of six years sentence. 

Between 2008 and 2015, reported cases of severe domestic violence against women decreased from over 2,700 to just under 1,900, remaining stable thereafter. This decline seems unrelated to reduced vulnerability to repeated partner violence or changes in reporting tendencies but rather to alterations in how incidents are recorded upon report. Previously, police often classified incidents as severe domestic violence upon report, whereas now they are more frequently initially categorized as individual offenses such as assault or threats, later consolidated during the investigation. The clearance rate for severe domestic violence halved from over 30% in 2008 to 16% in 2017, mirroring trends with other crimes, likely due to insufficient resources and high workloads in investigative units. Despite fewer reports and prosecutions, the proportion of convictions for severe domestic violence increased from 51% in 2008 to 57% in 2017, owing to higher evidentiary standards resulting in fewer but stronger cases. Cases reaching court typically involve more serious offenses like assault and threats, with lesser charges less commonly prosecuted.

Call for action

Among the demands brought forward by Unizon to attend to the current violence against women crisis are 1) The need to establish a crisis council to address men's violence against women, 2) Prioritizing the protection of women's lives and allocation of women’s shelter, and 3) Attending the impunity concerning VAW, by using all legal means to halt perpetrators. What is of relevance, is the council against organized crime implemented by the government in 2023, with reporting obligations.

The Swedish police emphasize collaboration with other authorities as the key to reversing the “trend”. Healthcare and social services often possess information crucial for early interventions, but the ability to share such information is currently limited. "If a woman comes in with a bruise, I would like healthcare to share that with us. Currently, they cannot do so due to privacy legislation," says Poljarevius.

Looking past the evident need to allocate resources and improve overall victim protection, it is imperative to look at the need for structural changes and not least cultural changes to address femicides and VAW in Sweden. First of all, there is a need for a change in the perception of the absence of indicted perpetrators who are credible in public opinion. This entails, stopping looking at perpetrators as deviated men, and understanding the continuum of VAW, culminating in femicide. By realizing that femicides are not perpetuated by a specific group of men, we can debunk the myths, stereotypes, and disinformation surrounding these gender-related killings, and start attending to the real structural problems contributing to impunity. To illustrate, a study conducted by the Nationellt Centrum för Kvinnofrid, a research institution affiliated with the University of Uppsala in Sweden, analyzed how media portray male perpetrators of violence against women. The findings revealed that the most common descriptors were "Jealous/Controlling," "Deranged/Mentally Ill," "Obsessive/Stalking," "Drunk/Influenced," "Criminal/Known By Police," "Reckless/Dangerous," "Prominent/Respected," "Calm/Nice/Kind," "Impunity," "Sensitive/Blood," "Indifferent," and "Unpleasant/Shouting/Aggressive." Remarkably, only two out of these 13 categories suggest behavior within the realm of normalcy, while the majority portray violent or potentially drug-induced actions, and also mental illness as an explanation. This not only undermines the understanding of how different forms of gender-based violence come together but also reduces the understanding of violent acts as deliberate actions rather than mere responses to external influence. As concluded by the study, “[...] when men are the perpetrators, the violence is often explained with external factors, such as alcohol or divorce”. The study concludes that when men are the perpetrators, their violence is often attributed to external factors like alcohol or divorce. Moreover, mainstream media perpetuates the revictimization of female survivors. This is evidenced by an interview quote stating that “in 60 percent of cases, women are attacked because they seek to leave their partners”. Such narratives not only downplay the severity of violence but also shift responsibility from the perpetrator to the survivor.  

We are observing that the prioritization of gender-based killings inside the Swedish police is affected by political decisions in terms of allocated resources but is also affected by an overall prioritization of certain types of crimes, connected to the prestige of investigating and attending certain high-profile crimes. We must also acknowledge that this issue is related to "uniformed professions," where wearing a uniform should signify adherence to specific ethical and moral standards. However, we consistently witness high-profile crimes within police forces and authorities receiving disproportionate attention from politicians. Moreover, prioritizing these headline-grabbing offenses exacerbates the situation, as they drive political will and urgency, overshadowing other important matters.

In conclusion, once again we reiterate that the surge in femicidal violence against women and girls in Sweden requires urgent actions and political will, to address the root causes of gender-based violence. It is imperative to move beyond revictimizing narratives and prioritize the protection of women's lives through collaborative efforts, resource allocation, and attending to the impunity surrounding femicides in Sweden, holding perpetrators accountable and protecting survivors. 

Politics4Her .
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