Response to interpellation 2024/25:649 on economic violence
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 L argues that the government is acting forcefully against economic violence by including it in the action program for violence against women and strengthening the protection under the Rent Act 1. L emphasizes that economic violence is covered by the concept of psychological violence 1 2 and that the government is working on sanctions in cases of obstruction of property division 1 2. L considers economic violence to be a serious problem that is a top priority 2 and that the government is investing more resources in combating men's violence against women than the previous government 3. 4 S argues that economic violence requires specific legislative changes regarding powers of attorney 4 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 Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Sofia Amloh has asked me what measures I intend to take so that people are not subjected to economic violence.
I would like to start by thanking Sofia Amloh for the question and the commitment to a subject that is important for the government.
The Government highlights the work against economic violence in the action program to prevent and combat men's violence against women, violence in close relationships and honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking 2024–2026, which was decided in June 2024 (A2024/00869). It is an important part of the leaving program, which is an initiative to make it easier to leave destructive relationships. In the action program, it is stated that the concept of psychological violence includes economic violence and that economic violence can constitute a form of violence in itself.
The current national strategy for preventing and combating men's violence against women applies to the years 2017–2026. As the strategy period is approaching its end, the government appointed an inquiry in 2023 on strengthened long-term governance of the work against gender-related violence and honor-related violence and oppression. On March 7, 2025, the government received the final report Freedom from violence, oppression, and exploitation – An equality policy strategy against violence and strengthened governance of central authorities (SOU 2025:28). In the final report, the inquiry highlights, among other things, that protection against economic violence needs to be strengthened. The government has sent the report for consultation.
The government has acted forcefully to counter economic violence ever since it took office. Last year, an inquiry was commissioned to review the regulatory framework surrounding the division of property. A central part of the inquiry's mandate is to ensure that those who delay or obstruct the division – and in this way exercise economic violence – shall be subject to powerful sanctions.
The government has also strengthened the rental law protection for those subjected to violence by a close relative. Changes in the legislation that entered into force in July 2024 mean, among other things, that tenants who commit crimes against a close relative can be terminated in a greater extent. They also involve enhanced opportunities for the victim of the crime to take over the rental agreement for their own part and better conditions for a victim of a crime to retain the rental agreement in the event of a termination.
The Government has tasked Arbetsförmedlingen, Försäkringskassan, Konsumentverket, Migrationsverket, Pensionsmyndigheten, and Statens servicecenter to compile and disseminate information about economic violence to their target groups. Jämställdhetsmyndigheten has been tasked with providing support to the agencies, including ensuring that there are knowledge-based routines and methods of work to refer victims of violence to the correct support agency. The assignment shall be coordinated with the ongoing efforts of Skatteverket and Kronofogdemyndigheten against economic violence.
Furthermore, the government has had the Ministry of Justice prepare a draft for a referral to the Council on Legislation regarding a specific penal provision on psychological violence, which was referred just recently, on 20 May 2025. The draft contains proposals that it should be punishable to repeatedly subject another person to certain violations, for example, improper surveillance of someone's financial affairs, if the violations collectively have been intended to seriously damage the person's self-esteem.
The Government welcomes the Riksrevision's decision to audit whether the state is working effectively to counter economic violence in close relationships and has received the report State's efforts against economic violence in close relationships, which was published on April 10 this year. The Government will submit a communication to the Riksdag by October 10, 2025, at the latest. There, we will describe how the Riksrevision's conclusions and recommendations are being handled, and I do not anticipate that very process.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! I thought I would start with what economic violence is about. It is about obtaining power and control over another person through economic means. In a close relationship, it can manifest in that one party has control over both parties' finances and that one party is not allowed to have their own bank accounts or bank cards.
It can be a matter of all expenses needing to be accounted for, which means that there is no room for the person subjected to violence to save up capital or even leave a relationship. Other ways are to indebt the person subjected to violence through loans or unpaid invoices and to delay the division of assets upon separation so that the victimized party does not get access to their capital, among other things. It can also be a matter of the perpetrator stealing joint money, savings, or savings for the children that have been set aside together.
Economic violence can mean that the person subjected to violence completely lacks the economic means to leave a relationship. It can be anything from not being able to take a taxi to flee the home to not being able to secure a new residence due to the perpetrator's debts or because one has marks in various registers because one is registered with the Enforcement Authority, for example. That is what this question is about.
Several parts of what the Minister reported in his answer are good. We Social Democrats have been involved or even driving, among other things when it comes to economic violence in the division of property, as well as that which concerns legislation on psychological violence.
Something that is also raised is the agencies' coordination mandate and information obligation towards target groups. It would be interesting to hear an account of who the target groups are, especially since there has been quite sharp criticism that the agencies that are supposed to provide information themselves have a very low level of knowledge. I wonder what expectations the Minister intends for people to have of agencies when it comes to carrying out a mandate that they perhaps do not really have the prerequisites for. What ambitions does one have there?
There has been quite stinging criticism that there is too little legislation, which is partly due to the fact that economic violence has not been considered in legislative processes within several areas. We believe that when initiatives for inquiries have been taken or propositions have been written, economic violence in particular has not been taken into account or highlighted.
In some cases, it is not only deficiencies in the legislation but also legislation that facilitates economic violence. It can, for example, involve e-identification or powers of attorney, which are quite easy to obtain from someone else. I wonder: What does the Minister think about the fact that we have legislation that facilitates the exercise of economic violence? It should not be possible, and the government's ambitions should be very high there. What initiatives does the Minister intend to take in this area?
Statsrådet Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Sofia Amloh, for the comments and questions!
I really want to underline the description of economic violence that Sofia Amloh gave here. There are incredibly alarming and completely unacceptable stories that we are made aware of all too often. That makes this work so incredibly urgent. It is a priority issue.
One can, among other things, read in a thesis from Uppsala University by Josefin Kjellberg that the women describe how the violence after, for example, a separation continues in the form of smear campaigns where the men in different ways try to isolate, or discredit, the women before their social networks, employers, and authorities. The violence continues in the form of psychological and economic violence.
The Gender Equality Authority has reported on a mandate concerning ownership in the housing market. The report shows, among other things, that the housing market risks reinforcing economic differences between women and men. One also receives a worse starting position for establishing oneself in the housing market. Women are increasingly dependent on a partner for their housing situation – which is what Sofia Amloh describes as incredibly serious. This is a priority issue.
When it comes to the Gender Equality Authority specifically, it is an agency with very high competence in these matters. The Gender Equality Authority has a mandate to provide support to those agencies that are also to work in a target-group-adapted manner to compile and disseminate information to the target groups that are judged to be in need of this. They shall, among other things, ensure that there are knowledge-based routines and methods of work to refer those exposed to violence to the correct support intervention. This mandate is also coordinated.
It is extremely important that we can cooperate and that we can have a seamless effort against the type of abuse and violence that this is. The Gender Equality Authority has such an important mission. It is also important that this work also takes place in the previously mentioned agencies that work with relevant issues for this area.
One of the absolute most important priorities for this government is to focus on the crime victim. We also do this within the area of economic violence. Men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking, are extremely serious societal problems that must be combated with force.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! I intend to try to take some time to describe this. The Minister is talking about psychological violence. There will soon be a proposal on the floor of the Riksdag to be decided upon. We are very happy about that. It is based on an investigation from a Social Democratic-led government. We have stood for many hours in this chamber to push this government forward, and finally, we see it. We are very happy about it.
The background as to why this needs to be specifically a criminalized form of violence is that it is not enough for the physical violence to be it. There are other forms of violence that need to be addressed, and we believe that this also applies to economic violence.
The Minister describes this from the perspective that it should fall under psychological violence. It is not against me, I want to say, but I see that it is not enough – because it is more than "just" a violation. The economic violence and the power it involves is so much more.
We must also be careful to say that many are subjected to a combination of forms of violence. It is not just one or just the other, but several forms of violence. It would then be a tightening. This applies in particular – it is starting to be quite a few years ago – to the violence committed online and on social media. There are more ways to do this, and I wonder if the Minister also wants to criminalize economic violence, as is done with psychological violence, so that it receives its own form. I will come back to that.
I mentioned powers of attorney in my first speech and how easy it is to obtain a power of attorney from someone else today. Very little is required. The problem is that we have an absence when it comes to the formal requirements – i.e., how the power of attorney should be. There are incredibly many cases that show how this has been lacking, that consent has not existed and that the power of attorney is not complete – but still, it is possible to carry this out.
A year ago, the Riksdag issued a notice to the government to review the possibility of introducing a specific formal requirement for powers of attorney concerning major financial commitments, such as large loans. Despite this, over a year has passed without the government having returned with any proposal.
I wonder why this has not been done, if this is incredibly important. We need to see more measures aimed at limiting violence in advance and not just taking measures when the violence has already been committed. This would be a preventive intervention by at least making it more difficult – considering that we currently have legislation that facilitates economic violence. I wonder how the Minister views this.
I would like to ask: Can the Minister even assure us that something is being done in the matter during this parliamentary term? It was still a year ago that the announcement came. I wonder if there are ambitions from the Minister regarding whether we will be able to see such a proposal on the floor of the Riksdag during this parliamentary term.
Statsrådet Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! I agree very much with what Sofia Amloh describes regarding how these forms of violence interact and reinforce each other in different ways. It also makes it extra urgent to tackle these forms of violence on a broad front with different perspectives – everything from criminal law aspects to ensuring that there is knowledge, routines, and effective measures on the authority side.
The strategy in place also includes economic violence as part of psychological violence. It is, as described, a strategy that was adopted in 2016 under the then-current government. The action program that this government presented to prevent and combat men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking 2024–2026 is the third action program in that strategy.
It is stated that the concept of psychological violence includes economic violence and that economic violence can constitute a form of violence in itself. Since taking office, the Government has acted forcefully to counter economic violence. This applies in particular within the framework of the division of property process. It is an important part, but there are also others, just as Sofia Amloh describes.
A central part of this division investigation is to ensure that those who delay or obstruct the division process and in this way exercise economic violence shall be subject to powerful sanctions. Furthermore, I mentioned that the protection under the rental law has also been strengthened. I also mentioned the draft for a Government Offices referral regarding a specific criminal provision concerning psychological violence.
This government takes these issues most seriously. This is a top priority. We also act by having a close and dense dialogue with authorities and civil society organizations regarding these issues.
Tomorrow, together with Gunnar Strömmer and Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, I will have a fourth such round-table discussion, with both authorities and civil society organizations, in order to take appropriate and adequate measures as accurately as possible across a number of different areas – everything from missions linked to knowledge and information to the need for further reinforcements within the legislative area.
At the meeting tomorrow, which has been planned for a long time, the focus will be on economic violence and post-violence. More of these issues will also be discussed.
In this way, we move these issues forward. We must continue to have a strong victim perspective. We must continue to ensure that we can tackle these forms of violence broadly and from different angles. This is an extremely serious problem, and it is completely unacceptable that it can continue. This is a top priority for this government.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! The Minister concluded by saying that this is a top priority for this government. I actually doubt that is the case, because I see that the government has other priorities that come much further ahead. It does not, however, mean that one does not have this as a priority.
A proposal on psychological violence, which we have talked about now, shall come to the Riksdag for a decision. This is based on a Social Democratic-appointed investigation. We have pushed this government ahead of us.
The economic violence in division of property processes is another example – even there we have pushed the government ahead of us, not least with announcements from the Riksdag to get the government to do something.
I previously mentioned another announcement from the Riksdag to the government, regarding the formal requirements for powers of attorney. We see that we also here need to push the government ahead of us for anything to get done.
We have very few own initiatives for investigations in this area. There are very few own proposals that are actually formalized and brought to this chamber. In any case, for us Social Democrats, this is not a way of expressing that something is a top priority. I believe that this issue deserves a much stronger focus, more measures, and a higher pace, given what a major societal problem this actually is.
When the stinging criticism from the National Audit Office arrived this spring, the Minister himself expressed that more certainly needed to be done. I am very certain that more will need to be done. It is unfortunate that the Minister does not express higher ambitions than that.
Statsrådet Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Sofia Amloh, for the interpellation and for the commitment to these issues! It is incredibly important that we, from many sides and on a broad front, highlight the problems within this area. These are extremely serious forms of violence.
This government is clear: men's violence against women must stop, and this also applies to economic violence. We are investing more resources within the equality policy to combat men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking, than the previous government did. We have an incredibly active work ahead. We have a close dialogue with completely central actors who have an impact and who reach the target groups. We also have a close dialogue and contact with strong civil society organizations.
The government's work moving forward is about a crackdown on men's violence against women and against honor-related violence and oppression, as well as taking steps to increase economic equality.
We welcome the National Audit Office's review. Some of the criticism concerns how economic violence is defined and that this does not become sufficiently clear when we include it in psychological violence. This is an issue that is currently being prepared in the Government Offices and which we must continue to analyze.
This division has existed since the current strategy was formed under a previous, Social Democratic government. However, there is reason here to turn over every stone, for this is an extremely serious problem.
This government is taking a broad approach. The work covers everything from increasing penalties linked to restraining orders in combination with ankle bracelets to taking decisive action to ensure that a woman can leave a destructive relationship.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.