Rape in Sweden
[2] In recent years, several revisions to the definition of rape have been made to the law of Sweden,[3][4] to include not only intercourse but also comparable sexual acts against someone incapable of giving consent, due to being in a vulnerable situation, such as a state of fear or unconsciousness.
[9] Homosexual acts and gender neutrality were first introduced in 1984,[10] and sex with someone by improperly exploiting them while they are unconscious (e.g. due to intoxication or sleep) was included in the definition of rape in 2005.
Anyone who exploits someone who is asleep, unconscious, drunk or under the influence of another drug, mentally disturbed, sick or otherwise is in a particularly vulnerable situation, was also convicted of rape.
[14][15][16] According to a study in the year 2000 by Hanns von Hofer, Professor of Criminology at Stockholm University, the combined effect of these "make it safe to contend that the Swedish rape statistics constitute an 'over-reporting' relative to the European average".
On the other hand, Swedish Crime Survey in 2015 showed that 1.7% of the total population, or 129,000 people between 16 and 79 years old have been exposed to some extension of sexual offenses (including rape) previously in their lives, increased from 1% in 2014.
[20] The number of rapes reported to the authorities in Sweden significantly increased[4] by 10% in 2017,[21][22] according to latest preliminary figures from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.
[22] In 2018, official numbers showed that the incidence of sexual offences was on the rise;[4][23][22] the Swedish Government declared that young women are facing the greatest risks and that most of the cases go unreported.
[4] Unlike the majority of countries in Europe, crime data in Sweden are collected when the offence in question is first reported, at which point the classification may be unclear.
[14] The findings of the 2000 International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) indicate that the respondents' satisfaction with the police is above average in Sweden, with almost no experience of corruption.
[23][32] 40% were immigrants born in the Middle East and Africa, with young men from Afghanistan numbering 45 standing out as being the next most common country of birth after Sweden.
[32] "We are very clear in the programme that it is a small percentage of the people coming from abroad who are convicted of rape," chief editor Ulf Johansson told the BBC News.
Former policeman Mustafa Panshiri, who was born in Afghanistan, said that Afghan immigrants bring with them attitudes towards women and sexuality which collide with Swedish values concerning equality.
[32][23] Swedish Television's investigating journalists found that in cases where the victims didn't know the attackers, the proportion of foreign-born sex offenders was more than 80%.
[35] A frequently cited source when comparing Swedish rape statistics internationally is the regularly published report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
[40][41] A crime survey funded by the UN and published in The Lancet Global Health concluded that almost a quarter of all men admit to rape in parts of Asia.
[47][48] According to a London Metropolitan University study in 2009, funded by the European Commission Daphne Programme—primarily focused on attrition, the process by which rape cases fail to proceed through the justice system—Sweden had the highest number of reported rapes in Europe (almost twice that of England and Wales, based on 2002-2007 UNODC figures), that may or may not be attributed to the fact that in 2005 there has been reform in the sex crime legislation.
[9][28][49][50] The low conviction rate could be explained by the reduced legal distinction between rape and permitted intercourse, leading to greater challenges for the prosecution to prove its case, according to Petter Asp, Professor of Criminal Law at Stockholm University.
[citation needed] In 2013, Forskning & Framsteg, a Swedish popular science magazine, published an article reporting that "The evidence suggests that gang rapes in Sweden is increasing—despite the decline in violent crime in general.
"[53] FoF went on to report that, "The increase, which primarily occurred in the 2000s, may have to do with "rape with multiple perpetrators" from 2004, classified as "serious crime", which means that more obscure cases fall into this category."
FoF further reports that "National Council's investigator, Klara Hradilova-Selin, said that "developments could at least partly be interpreted in terms of an actual increase.
[53] In March 2018, newspaper Expressen investigated gang rape court cases from the two preceding years and found that there were 43 men having been convicted.
[55] According to Brå in 2013, it is likely that as many as 80 per cent of all rapes are not reported, which was confirmed in a 2014 study of the extent of violence against women, funded by the Government of Sweden and the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority.
