Response to interpellation 2022/23:375 on the exit program for women in violent relationships

Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)

Madam Speaker! Helena Vilhelmsson has asked the Minister for Justice whether the Minister and the Government intend to initiate a nationwide program for women living in violent relationships and, if not, what measures the Minister and the Government plan to take to prevent and stop more women from being murdered. The work within the Government is so distributed that it is I who shall answer the interpellation.

I would like to thank the member for the question and the commitment to counter violence, a commitment that I and the government share. Violence in close relationships must be fought with the full force of society. Gender-related violence must cease, and honor-related violence and oppression must be eliminated. It is a self-evident and important part of the government's priorities.

To prevent violence from arising or recurring at all is the primary starting point for the government's ten-year national strategy to counter and combat gender-related violence. An expanded and effective prevention work against violence is one of the most prioritized areas in the strategy and the action program that applies for 2021-2023. One initiative in the action program is a national violence prevention program, which the government decided on in 2022. It focuses on violence prevention measures towards both those who have an increased risk of committing violence and those who have subjected a close relative to violence.

The social services have the ultimate responsibility to ensure that everyone staying in the municipality receives the help and support they need. This applies in particular to providing support to women who are or have been subjected to violence in close relationships and helping them to change their situation. The social services shall also work to ensure that the person who subjects or has subjected a close relative to violence or other abuse changes their behavior.

A large number of authorities contribute to the implementation of the national strategy to prevent and combat men's violence against women. Cooperation between different actors is important so that the individual does not fall through the cracks. The Government is actively working to develop cooperation between the strategy's key actors, among other things for the purpose of supporting the social services' work.

Socialstyrelsen shall develop knowledge and methodological support within social services. Socialstyrelsen shall also develop national coordination and knowledge development for work to prevent recidivism for perpetrators of violence, including the support line Välj att sluta. The Government has also strengthened Socialstyrelsen's mandate regarding support for the municipalities' work with permanent housing for those affected by violence. Safe housing is a prerequisite for a functioning life situation for women and children affected by violence. Measures to improve access to permanent housing are important so that women can leave perpetrators of violence.

The County Administrative Board in each county has a coordination function that shall contribute to effective methods, ways of working, and knowledge support in regional and local operations, including social services. The Health and Social Services Inspectorate has recently received the government's mandate to carry out an enhanced supervision of the work of social services and health and medical care against violence in close relationships, A2021/01714. The mandate shall be finalized by no later than April 30, 2024.

To ensure coordinated, long-term, and effective work to prevent and combat gender-related violence, the government has begun work on a new action program to apply for 2024-2026. Violence prevention work will continue to be in focus, as will offering those affected by violence the protection and support they are entitled to. It is of the highest priority to prevent, combat, and counter deadly violence in close relationships. But at this stage, I do not want to anticipate the ongoing work and go into the action program's concrete measures, for example, whether a shelter program may become relevant.

The government will prioritize the work of preventing violence and crime during the upcoming mandate period. Gender-related violence shall cease, and honor-related violence and oppression shall be eliminated.

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Helena Vilhelmsson (C)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Paulina Brandberg, for the answer!

I intend to start by referring to some headlines from the beginning of the year:

Woman found dead in freezer, man detained. Suspected double murder in Luleå, man arrested. Woman in Halmstad deceased, police investigating suspected murder. Pregnant Soliana dead after fall from balcony. Woman dead in Örebro, man detained for murder. Woman found dead in Luleå, man detained suspected of murder. Man detained for murder and attempted murder of mother and daughter. Joullnar found dead in forest area, daughter tells. Woman found dead in residence in western Värmland. Man suspected of murdering his mother.

These were the headlines in the newspapers during the first three months of the year. With a few others that I have not mentioned, there were twelve murdered women in twelve weeks. All were suspected crimes of intimate violence, i.e., women murdered by men they had or had had a relationship with. All had a name, a family, and an everyday life. What remains is only a broken everyday life in the vicinity of these women.

If twelve women in twelve weeks were not enough, we can continue into the 13th week:

Woman found dead in apartment in Falkenberg. Woman found dead in caravan in Dalsland, suspected murder. Suspected murder in Fagersta. Man suspected of murdering his wife in Falkenberg. Woman found dead in the forest outside Filipstad. Older man suspected of murder of woman in Ljusdal.

This was a documentation of over 6 murdered women in seven days. Already in April, we were up to almost 20 women, which means the average figure for the number of murders in a partner relationship for the last few years. That was after four months.

I wonder where the major headlines regarding this issue are. I also wonder where the government's crisis plan is, because this is a crisis. When will the invitation to all parties in the Riksdag for a crisis call arrive?

We know that the priorities are different. When we have a corresponding development of events within gang criminal circles, which we have recently seen, the government's press conferences with information on measures are numerous. That is good. But it is a catastrophe that they are absent because women are being murdered.

The Center Party has called the Minister for Equality to the committee. We have read debate articles about the government's work against men's violence against women. Today we can read and hear the answer to my interpellation.

We hear about preventive measures, and we hear about repressive measures. That is good, but it does not save lives. If we are to put a stop to the murder of women, the work with new action programs does not help. Then, harsher penalties do not help, because by the time a sentence is handed down, the violence, that is, the murder, has already occurred.

What saves lives is getting women to leave the violent relationship early. To manage that, society needs to be there with a unified, structured support, similar across the country, which is not dependent on whether there are passionate individuals in the workplace or in voluntary organizations. There needs to be a contact person who follows the person exposed to violence through the process of reporting, protected housing, school, work, housing, and financial support.

There are exit programs for men who leave criminal activities. The government's policy, as I understand it, is to further develop exit programs for men who have participated in criminal environments.

I ask myself: How can the Minister for Equality and the government not say straight out that a national shelter program is needed for women who need protection from violent relationships?

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Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)

Madam Speaker! Yes, it is a crisis that so many women are losing their lives and that it also happens year after year. We also know that those who lose their lives are the tip of an iceberg.

In addition to these lives, there are incredibly many more people whose lives are completely destroyed and who suffer lifelong consequences from the violence. Even if it does not take their lives directly, it affects them incredibly much. The damage is enormously large. It is a gigantic societal problem.

The committee members are absolutely right that one of the key factors in lowering the statistics and giving more people the freedom to leave the relationship is that we, from the side of society, must introduce sharper measures. It is about tearing down the obstacles that today often exist for one to be able to leave a relationship at all.

It is of course required that one has somewhere to go. We must have functioning sheltered housing. The government will in the near future present a new reform regarding sheltered housing that aims at exactly that question. But there are of course many more questions.

We know that children are an important factor in this. Many do not dare to leave relationships today because they know that it entails a greater danger for the child if one leaves the relationship compared to if one stays. It is, of course, a key measure to enable more people to leave violent relationships to be able to offer protection for more.

As I said in my response, the government is now working on developing a new action program for 2024-2026 and also on developing a new national ten-year strategy that will apply from 2026.

In that work, I meet many representatives from civil society and from authorities. As recently as yesterday, I met two police officers - Erika Gyllenswärd and Caroline Boström - from the Swedish Police Authority. We spoke about how they work in Norway with their so-called Krisesenter. I have also previously met the incredibly committed police officer Markus Antonsson. He himself speaks of a "lämnaprogram" as a measure that we need to see in these contexts.

I am listening incredibly closely to all the proposals that are raised in these contexts. We are working intensively to produce the submission program. I feel confident that we will find key measures that truly make a difference and ensure that more people can receive freedom and protection so that the development can be reversed and we can truly bring down the dreadful figures.

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Helena Vilhelmsson (C)

Madam Speaker! I thank you for the answer. I thought I heard the Minister say that she hopes that a decommissioning program will be in place. In my opinion, it is A and O.

The Minister also mentioned the large number of women who are subjected to violence even if they are not murdered. It is 75,000 who are subjected to it every year, and approximately 10,000 people if children are included, who live with some form of protected identity.

Leaving a violent relationship is, as we know, not something one does easily. It involves children, pets, housing, school, and work. There are many factors that keep the woman back, just as we have spoken about. The most dangerous period is precisely when she has decided: I want to leave. That is when the murders occur. Still, there is no unified exit program today.

Madam Speaker! It is indeed very strange considering, as I said, that there are programs for men who are leaving criminal gang activity.

The fact is that the Gender Equality Authority in its recently submitted report states the following: A person who wants to quit the criminal life is offered an 18-month treatment program, commissioned and funded by social services. This is followed by two years of aftercare and follow-up, which is free of charge for the municipality. During the first year, there is support around the clock and it includes interventions regarding housing, therapy, drug addiction, employment, debt restructuring, and leisure activities. This is followed by a six-month discharge program so that the client can become more self-sufficient.

The Gender Equality Authority can state that the difference in measures and resources compared to women and children exposed to violence who live with protected personal data is palpable. Not least the importance of a coordinating actor becomes clear, so that persons living with protected personal data receive the best possible support and protection.

A woman who manages to leave a violent relationship is, at best, offered a place in a shelter for a period of time and, at worst, protected identity. She is then left alone with responsibility for moving, housing, school changes, rent, as well as all other costs.

The Center Party has earlier this year proposed a national exit program containing structured support including a monthly financial support, a so-called "fuck off-capital", as well as a national housing queue. It was one of the things I heard in the minister's response that is very good, because without a new home one cannot start a new life. Parts of these proposals can be launched in the relatively short term, and the chamber votes on this proposal on Tuesday.

There are programs that work with this. The Minister himself mentioned the Igor project. Up in Jämtland, there is also Norrsken. But those are precisely projects, which work with a project budget. What happens when the project is finished? What happens with the continuation of the operations?

I still interpret it as the minister being on the point that it is the government's line that a unified transition program should be established. Then the next question is: What resources is the government prepared to make available to implement this across the entire country? This is not something that is achieved by saying: Now the Igor project is finished. Now we roll this out on the line! Instead, this requires a comprehensive implementation and extensive work to get this so successful model established in all the country's municipalities. Can the minister say anything about the thoughts on how this should be implemented in the country?

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Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)

Madam Speaker! It is correct that the government does not exclude any measures in this important work. We must think broadly, and we must think within several different areas in order to be able to find solutions to the problem.

It is incredibly important to provide support and protection to those who want to leave relationships so that we make it possible for them to do so in the first place.

A closely related issue to this is the question of restraining orders. This government thinks it is unreasonable that it is as it is today, where it is the crime victims who to a large extent must move away and live hidden while suspected perpetrators and perpetrators can stay.

We want a shift in perspective, and we mean that it must be the perpetrators to a greater extent who have to move by having the restraining order areas become incredibly much larger geographically than they are today. If one has been given a restraining order and is to be protected by such, one should of course be able to go to the grocery store on the other side of the city and still be protected by the restraining order in the form of the geographical area.

We also want more restraining orders to be covered by electronic ankle bracelets, which also provide a more concrete protection. This is a shift in perspective that must occur, where we elevate the status of crime victims and see the situation this entails. We see the deprivation of liberty that we actually impose on the crime victims when we are too passive in relation to them and in relation to the perpetrators. That passivity entails a completely unreasonable deprivation of liberty for many crime victims today. The government will work on this.

Another important issue that we really must place a completely different focus on is the perpetrators. Even if we have crime victims who manage to leave relationships, even if we provide support, and even if we perhaps succeed in sentencing the perpetrator to some years of imprisonment, we have not solved the problem if we have not changed the behavior of the perpetrator. Such a perpetrator, who has not undergone any behavioral change, will with great probability either return to the same crime victim again or create new relationships. The risk is then imminent that we get new crime victims, new women and vulnerable persons who live in fear and are in great danger in their own home.

We must think broadly, and we must look at how we implement behavioral changes. What is it that triggers the violence, and what is it that causes so many people to commit violence against the person they live with?

We must also ensure that we do not believe we have any one-size-fits-all solution, but we must look at all the different situations that exist. There may be different cultural aspects that can play a role in this. There may be situations of substance abuse, and there may be mental illness. There may be disabilities which mean that there are different aspects to take into account.

In the government's work - both with strengthening the protection for crime victims and in the work with the perpetrators - we will need to look at the specific situations that exist and which require different types of solutions. This work is currently ongoing intensively at the Ministry of Employment within my portfolio, and I look forward to being able to present concrete measures.

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Helena Vilhelmsson (C)

Madam Speaker and Minister! I completely agree with the reasoning regarding restraining orders. The very best would be if the perpetrator received a restraining order so that it is the perpetrator who is restricted from moving within a certain area and not anyone else. There is actually no other way to let the crime victim retain their freedom. It may not be possible, and that is a problem. But the crime victim's freedom is a very important issue.

One size fits all - that is not the case. This is exactly what the leave programs work with, as they have a designated group consisting of police, social services, housing, healthcare, psychiatry, and the justice system. The Igor project has shown that it is each woman's specific needs that allow lives to be saved.

I also completely agree that we should work with prevention. But it is not prevention that saves women's lives in this situation. My interpellation is about how we prevent 2023 from becoming a catastrophe when it comes to the number of murders of women living in violent relationships.

We have both met people who are active within Igor. It is no secret that in this operation, there is concern about what happens when the budget funds run out. I know that it is not on the Minister for Equality's desk, but my plea is nevertheless: Make sure to take care of the fantastic result that Igor has achieved!

We will discuss the issue further in Almedalen. I have invited actors, and everyone is positive about contributing. This concerns authorities, the housing sector, public services, SKR, and the justice system. I would like to be able to go there and say: We will collect this. I will take it to the government, and the government is prepared to move forward with a national handover program. I hope that I can do this, either in a bilateral meeting or in a crisis call where the government gathers all parties to put a stop to this. Not one more woman!

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Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)

Madam Speaker! This type of work requires long-term perspective. We cannot sit and tinker with different projects; instead, we need to have plans that are long-term and that provide solid protection over a long period. That is absolutely my ambition in the work as well. We must, of course, also ensure that there is funding for the measures that we identify.

I would like to thank the member for her commitment to these issues. It pleases me that I feel there is a broad consensus on this. These are not issues where we should engage in any partisan bickering; instead, it is required that we join forces—as it is usually called in politics—and truly work forward for the sake of the vulnerable women and for all those who live with violence in the home and live in fear in the place that should be their safe haven.

I look forward to presenting these measures, and I hope that we can have broad agreements on all the measures that are pieces of the puzzle in this important work and work forward together. For it is exactly as the member says: We shall not have another woman.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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