Response to interpellation 2024/25:451 on strategy against violence against children
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 M argues that the government is implementing major reforms, including a new social services act with a focus on preventive and knowledge-based activities 1. 2 M emphasizes investments in home visit programs, reinforced family rights, and an independent children's ombudsman 2. M claims that a lot is happening in the Ministry of Social Affairs and that so many interventions for vulnerable children have never happened before. 3 M emphasizes that extensive reform work is underway which constitutes a major social policy shift 3. 4 V criticizes M for the national strategy not having become a reality 4. V argues that the government is acting too slowly and lacks a holistic approach. 5 V believes that a strategy with a holistic approach is important because authorities miss violence due to a lack of knowledge 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! Maj Karlsson has asked me if I intend to take the initiative to move forward with the proposal for a national strategy to counter and combat violence against children based on the report A childhood free from violence – A national strategy to prevent and combat violence against children (SOU 2022:70).
The investigation *En uppväxt fri från våld* (A childhood free from violence) has proposed a unified national strategy to prevent and combat violence against children, including honor-related violence and oppression. The report, SOU 2022:70, is based on solid investigative work and contains many important proposals. The report has been subject to consultation and is now being prepared in the Government Offices.
At the same time, the government has initiated several major reforms that in different ways bear on violence against children. One example is the reorganization of the state child and youth care, where the government has tasked a special investigator to review the state child and youth care's mandate and organization to ensure that children and young people are given safe and high-quality care, school, and treatment. The assignment is to be reported on April 25 this year.
Within the framework of the gender equality policy and the action program for 2024–2026, a number of measures are also currently being implemented to prevent and combat violence against children.
Another example is the government's decision on a bill for a new preventive Social Services Act, which is proposed to enter into force on 1 July 2025. The law signifies a paradigm shift regarding a more preventive and knowledge-based social service and clarifies the best interests of the child in decision-making processes. Violence against children simply must not occur – especially not in the home, the place that should be the child's safe haven. Through, for example, outreach work or co-location, the social services can more easily offer both children and parents support and help at an early stage.
The government's great commitment in the minister conference in Colombia is based on all children's right to protection from violence regardless of territorial borders. Precise forms for the renewed leadership, of which the government is a part, are currently being developed at the secretariat of the UN Special Representative on Violence against Children, Najat Maalla M’jids.
To live up to the Convention on the Rights of the Child's provision on the child's right to freedom from violence, preventive work is an important tool. Since 2023, the Government has allocated special funds to the regions to strengthen preventive work within child healthcare with expanded home visit programs. In 2022, the Government also established a state grant to strengthen violence prevention work and promote the development of evidence-based interventions.
In international research, home visit programs have been highlighted as a violence-preventive measure with great potential. During 2025, 145 million kronor have been allocated for municipalities' and regions' work with expanded home visit programs within child healthcare. In addition, the government has implemented an initiative on reinforced family rights and violence-preventing family counseling in areas where exclusion is particularly great and allocated approximately 50 million kronor for this purpose during 2025.
The best interests of the child shall be decisive for all matters concerning custody, residence, and access, and must never be overlooked in favor of the parents' needs. To strengthen the protection of children against violence and other violations, the portal paragraph of the Children and Parents Code regarding the best interests of the child was changed at the turn of the year, among other things, so that the risk of the child being harmed is given a particularly prominent place in the assessment of what is best for the child. The Government has also tasked the Swedish Agency for Family Law and Parental Support, MFoF, and the National Board of Health and Welfare with strengthening the support to social services in the work with risk assessments and in matters concerning custody, residence, and access.
The Government intends to continue to work for the child's right to freedom from all forms of violence.
Maj Karlsson (V)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
In my question to Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, I ask when the national strategy against violence against children will become a reality. In May 2021, the then government appointed an inquiry to submit proposals for a national strategy to counter and combat violence against children. The inquiry's final report was presented just over two years ago, in January 2023. The report has been referred for consultation, but otherwise, not much has happened.
Violence against children is a serious societal problem that requires decisive action. Sweden has a history of being a pioneer when it comes to combating violence against children, a role we shall maintain. Given the extensive knowledge we have that children who grow up with violence in the home to a greater extent tend to subject others to violence, there are further reasons to act powerfully and promptly in these matters.
The Minister counted up a number of measures that the government is undertaking in her answer, but she gave no indication as to when we will see the proposals in the investigation become a reality.
The Minister places great emphasis, for example, on the strengthened home visits, which in itself is a good measure that can provide strengthened protection for children. The Minister is welcome to correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I understand it, it is a voluntary measure with a fairly broad focus. The investigation requests measures that are specific and which are to take place in combination with knowledge-enhancing measures.
The investigation proposes five overarching goals with no fewer than 59 concrete proposals for the government to proceed with. Just that work, we do not see very much of so far.
Today, approximately 24,500 reports of child abuse are filed annually. This corresponds to approximately 29 percent of all reported cases of abuse. Since 2013, the number of reports has increased by 39 percent. In Brå's mapping of violence in close relationships, it is estimated that nearly 150,000 children in Sweden live in households where violence occurs. If we add to this the sexual violence that young girls in particular are exposed to, we clearly see that we have major challenges that require rapid interventions.
We know today that the greatest risks regarding violence against children at the societal level are social inequality, norms and values that accept violence against children, as well as a lack of laws and policies that prohibit child abuse, child pornography, and child labor. Also, poverty, high unemployment, crime, and substance abuse entail an increased risk of violence against children. This is very worrying.
We certainly have laws that we should be very proud of which prohibit violence against children, but we also have growing challenges. Poverty has increased, unemployment stands at over 10 percent, and the part of crime that is increasing is committed by and largely affects children.
We do not accept violence against children in general, but we can see that the brutal wave of violence sweeping across Sweden has in some way created a desensitization that is very alarming. That we do not act promptly at this stage to establish a strategy makes me a little worried. The Minister says that the report is being prepared by the government, but I still lack an answer as to when we will see any concrete proposal.
I therefore ask the question again: When will the national strategy against violence against children become a reality?
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you very much, Member, for the warm and devoted commitment to children who are subjected to violence!
The fact that over half of all children in Sweden have at some point during their upbringing been subjected to violence is a completely appalling fact, and it is also completely unacceptable. The majority of these children have, furthermore, been subjected to violence by an adult.
The number of children who die due to fatal violence in Sweden has increased. One of the goals in Agenda 2030 is that all violence against children shall cease before 2030. We can all agree that Sweden and the world face an enormous challenge.
However, a great deal is happening. I would like to say that an enormous amount is happening in the Ministry of Social Affairs when it comes to working to ensure that children are not exposed to violence. I mentioned Safer Homes for Children, which came into effect on January 1 of this year. Legislation regarding, for example, protected housing came last year, in April 2024, and it was the first time children were given their own rights. Children now have the right to school, safety, and healthcare, and the right not to have to have contact with a violent guardian.
This summer, the law on extended travel bans began to apply. We are now working, among other things, on a large family home package. We are taking a number of different proposals from the large report and are simultaneously working with children and young people in social care. There were also a number of different proposals there.
Quite some time ago, the government made a decision regarding an independent children's ombudsman, which means that we are to have precisely an independent ombudsman for children. They shall work on behalf of children, not linked to any adult or to any authority, which will give vulnerable children a voice and an opportunity to demand their rights.
The new Social Services Act is a paradigm shift when it comes to preventing exposure to violence and helping children in different situations. There, the government included an expanded child perspective where we truly strengthen children's voices – they shall be listened to. One shall also receive information described at one's own level so that one can have one's rights met. That we are now making all reports of concern searchable is also an important step in ensuring that no child falls through the cracks.
The investigation I mentioned initially is about reviewing the entire state child and youth care in Sweden to ensure that there is a care chain that does not fail in a number of different parts, as it does today. It is an important step in being able to meet the most vulnerable children.
The family centers are also something that I believe in and that need to be further developed, and in the regulatory letter for 2024, the government tasked the National Board of Health and Welfare with providing support to municipalities and regions in the work of continuing to establish and organize family centers. They have an immensely important, supportive and preventive role.
The home visit programs are also important. They have been noted in international research and are further examples. There are therefore a number of different concrete examples of the situation for children exposed to violence being strengthened.
Maj Karlsson (V)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer and for the commitment to children in vulnerable situations, but unfortunately, I do not feel any calmer when it comes to the launch of the action plan against violence against children. It is worrying that the work seems to be moving quite slowly when the government in other areas has shown that it can act very quickly.
There is a phenomenon that I have witnessed in my professional role, seen as a parent, and received reports about from the profession. It is often said a bit sloppily that one can already at preschool see which children will have a tough time in life. It is not so strange, because the risk factors that I raised in my previous post often accompany the children from when they are very small.
Often, concerns about the care of children are raised in various ways, but without the children receiving real help. The years pass, and the children that were initially alarmed about slowly but surely begin to express how they are feeling. They may become more disruptive, show that they are feeling worse, are sad, or behave in other outgoing ways, still without anyone really taking action.
Then something happens. The children enter their teenage years, and their well-being changes accordingly. From the adult world having been able to follow that the child has lived in vulnerability, the gaze is now directed towards the young person's own behavior. The children have actually pleaded for help since they were small, but in the tough years of adolescence, they develop to react with anger and disappointment. Then suddenly things happen. Then it is to be dealt with using the iron fist, interventions shall be made, and the school, social services, and the justice system shall act with force. I have seen many times how the older children have had to take the blame because the adult world has not been enough.
What really worries me is that I think the government is acting somewhat similarly. In recent years, the repressive measures have stood as a constant. Investigations have been commissioned, laws have been introduced, and not least, the tone has been very high – all to put a stop to young people in crime. But when it comes to the time before the crime is a fact, the pace and the tone are significantly lower. That it has been two years since the strategy against violence against children was presented without us having seen any work speaks for itself.
In the opening chapter of the investigation report, we can read that society's ability to provide for children's right to protection, rehabilitation, and reintegration is deficient in many cases, often with serious consequences for the affected child. Violence thus constitutes a widespread societal problem that threatens children's right to health, life, and development. If we do not ensure that our safety net is sufficient for children when they are small, how can we then prevent children who are subjected to violence today from becoming perpetrators tomorrow?
I and Camilla Waltersson Grönvall truly share the commitment to children in vulnerable situations. We are also both well aware of the enormous shortcomings that exist within child and youth care. We have been proactive regarding several parts of the work that the government is doing and which were reported in the response, and we think they are very good.
What I miss is the holistic approach. We both know that the new Social Services Act and the work to reform youth care will not solve all problems in a heartbeat. It is precisely for that reason that this strategy is so important, so how is it that it does not seem to leave the Government Offices?
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! Many thanks to Member Maj Karlsson for the contribution!
As I said, I really appreciate this commitment. I hope that I will succeed in conveying the amount of measures, because one could think when listening to the member that not so much is happening in the Ministry of Social Affairs. Nothing could be further from the truth. An enormous amount is happening – I would like to claim that it has probably never happened this much when it comes to measures linked to vulnerable children.
However, not a day goes by without me wishing that much more had happened earlier, because then we would not be in the very vulnerable and serious situation that we find ourselves in right now. I also wish that the member had been even more insistent towards the government that her party supported to a greater extent, to put it that way.
I will give assignments regarding further measures, which also involve raising knowledge so that children can demand their rights and so that we can work more effectively regarding violence against children. In order for children and young people to be able to demand and claim their rights, it is important that they know which rights they have. It is then important that the professionals who work with children and young people also know children's rights and have knowledge about violence. The Government has made a number of different measures to ensure that this happens.
For example, Barnafrid received funds in December 2024 to disseminate information about reports of concern in schools and preschools with a focus on honor-related violence and oppression.
The National Board of Health and Welfare has an ongoing dissemination assignment aimed at preventing exposure to violence and the perpetration of violence among adults and children in the context of harmful use and addiction in close relationships.
The National Board of Health and Welfare also has a mandate to develop and disseminate educational material regarding the new regulations for the extended travel ban for children.
The Children's Ombudsman submitted the final report on March 6, 2025 – that is, just a short while ago – on their assignment to map the connections between children's vulnerability to violence and involvement in and vulnerability to crime, including through conversations with children in institutions. From this report, it emerged that violence is a recurring theme in the children's conversations and in their lives. We know that this is something that unfortunately spreads between and across generations, and therefore it must, naturally, be stopped.
Skolverket has also been tasked, among other things, to investigate the use of digital devices in schools and after-school centers in order to, among other things, conduct an analysis of to what extent students are exposed to digital dimensions of violence, that is, harassment, violence and threats of violence including honor-related violence and oppression, racism and intolerance via digital devices.
The Agency for Youth and Civil Society Issues also has an ongoing mandate to develop and disseminate information initiatives and knowledge support, among other things for the purpose of preventing young people from being exploited for sexual and pornographic purposes.
There is, therefore, a great deal of work to be done, and I have only mentioned a small part. This is about the fact that a strategy needs to contain assignments for a number of different agencies that need to cooperate and coordinate their efforts so that children are given the prerequisites to demand their rights, to be protected from violence, and in different ways to receive support in securing a positive future.
The legislative changes that we have already implemented are only the beginning of a whole series of different legislative changes that will be proposed in this chamber.
Maj Karlsson (V)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you again, Minister, for the answer!
The Minister claimed that I do not think she is doing anything in this area. That was not quite the point of my question. I specifically asked about the action plan based on the investigation regarding creating a strategy against violence against children. What is the nuance of this investigation is that it takes a holistic approach to the issue. That is why it is so important that it is launched.
Many of the things that the minister highlights are also things that we have been involved in and have pushed for, regardless of the government. That is not what this is about, but as I said, this is about the overall approach.
What is truly alarming is that when one has looked at our authorities and looked at how it is for these children, one has seen that we miss the violence. We do not have enough knowledge. The measures are not really there. That is exactly why we need this strategic approach, and that is what I am requesting.
I wonder why the minister is not giving me an answer. It sounds like a huge amount is being done. There are so many important things being presented, but I still don't quite get an answer as to why one is not moving forward with this. Is there something that is rubbing against something else here that the minister has not reported?
I have to ask once more. Why did the strategy not leave the Government Offices?
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you very much, Member Karlsson, for an important debate!
In my opening speech, I shared, or attempted to share, the reasons why the strategy has not been adopted in its entirety. One can see in all the parts I have presented in my various speeches here today that parts of the strategy are adopted or in the process of being adopted.
This is a very extensive report. At the Ministry of Social Affairs, as I have also tried to describe, several very large and very extensive reform projects are currently underway and which in different ways bear on protecting children from violence. It may sound pretentious, but I really want to emphasize that right now such large reform projects are underway that we can rightly say it is the largest social policy shift in 40, perhaps even 50, years.
This is both time-consuming and resource-intensive. Even if it is moving quickly, I too can sometimes feel a certain frustration that things are not moving even faster. But a large and extensive transformation process is taking place, where this investigation is part of the whole.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.