Response to interpellation 2024/25:82 on violence against pregnant women

Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)

Mr. Speaker! Anna Wallentheim has asked me what the police are doing to stop men's violence against women and what I and the government intend to do so that women who have already reported their perpetrator for assault are not murdered by the man they have already reported.

I really want to emphasize how important it feels to discuss this issue today, so I thank you for the opportunity.

The government has since taking office worked purposefully and systematically to strengthen support and protection for women subjected to violence in various areas, and to ensure that the surrounding society's collective response against the violent men reflects the seriousness of the crimes in a significantly better way than it does today.

We are now implementing a shift in perspective in the policy concerning these issues, from an all too one-sided focus on the perpetrator to the crime victim's need for support, protection, and redress. Let me highlight some concrete measures that the government has taken within my area of responsibility.

First, it concerns the restraining orders. Having well-functioning legislation in that area is a completely central part of providing protection primarily for women and children who are exposed to violence and other violations in close relationships. Currently, we are preparing proposals within the Government Offices with the aim that more restraining orders should be able to be issued, that they should be able to cover larger areas than today, and that the consequences of violating a restraining order should become more tangible.

We are also reviewing the penalties, with a particular focus on violent and sexual crimes. An investigator has been tasked with reviewing the sentencing scales and reforming the sentencing system. The starting point is obvious. The sentencing scales must, in a better way than today, reflect the seriousness of the crimes, and the sentences handed down must appear both reasonable and just. The investigation shall, among other things, propose changes to the rules for how penalties for multiple crimes are measured and submit proposals implying that life imprisonment should be able to come into question for certain serious cases of repeated violent and sexual crimes, even if none of the individual crimes have life imprisonment in the sentencing scale.

The government has recently submitted a proposal to strengthen the rental law protection for women subjected to violence, so that men who commit violence against a close relative can be deprived of their apartment. At the same time, we are strengthening the woman subjected to violence's opportunity to take over the contract and stay.

We are reviewing the legislation to provide central actors with improved opportunities to exchange information. We know that healthcare and social services often come into contact with both victims and perpetrators of crimes of violence in close relationships, but that the information does not always reach the Swedish Police Authority. This is something we must resolve once and for all.

We are also clear in our management of the police that the violence that women are subjected to is important. The Government has given the Police Authority a reporting requirement to report on the development work being carried out within the authority with the aim of improving the ability to investigate and prevent men's violence against women, crimes against children, as well as honor-related violence and oppression. The authority shall also report on how the prosecution of deadly violence and men's violence against women develops so that we can better measure the police's results over time.

In June, we decided to task the Prison and Probation Service, the Swedish Police Authority, the National Board of Health and Welfare, and the Swedish Prosecution Authority with strengthening the operational cooperation between police, prosecutors, the prison and probation service, social services, and health and medical care to prevent and combat men's violence against women, domestic violence, and honor-related violence and oppression, including cases where children are involved.

To ensure effective work 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, the government decided in June on a new action program with 132 measures in the area that will apply during the coming years.

Together with the Minister for Equality and the Minister for Social Services, I have also taken the initiative for a series of meetings with a large number of representatives from authorities, municipalities, civil society, and research in order to create a common situational overview and identify concrete measures that can be implemented both in the short and long term. The latest meeting was about precisely preventive measures and the interaction between the justice system and healthcare.

The government will also continue to work against men's violence against women on a broad front and with full force. This is one of our society's greatest ongoing failures, and it must be fought with the same force as gang crime. It is a matter of combating serious crimes but ultimately also a matter of safety, freedom, integrity, and equality.

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Anna Wallentheim (S)

Mr. Speaker! For us Social Democrats, men's violence against women is one of the most horrific forms of violence. And violence against pregnant women must, of course, be one of the most horrific expressions of men's violence against women.

What makes this situation even more tragic is that the violence often escalates during the pregnancy. Physical violence is directed at pregnant bellies, and women are subjected to everything from sexual coercion to both physical and psychological violence. This, of course, has devastating consequences for the women but also for their unborn children.

What is even more alarming is that many of these women are incredibly young. Several of them are at the beginning of their adult lives. These are women who are in the most vulnerable periods of their lives. When they should feel security and anticipation toward becoming parents, they are subjected to [abuse] by the person who should be their greatest support.

Let me give some examples. A young woman - she was only 20 years old - was stabbed 33 times by the child's father just three weeks after giving birth, and this occurred after months of violence. Another woman, also 20 years old, was murdered because her boyfriend did not want his family to know that she was expecting a child.

The women's young age underscores how terribly vulnerable they are. The violence against them, just as against other women, escalates as I said during the pregnancy. It is blows to the stomach. It is control over medical appointments, and it is threats to harm both the mother and the unborn child.

We also know that these tragedies are not isolated cases. Despite the fact that warning signs have often been present and despite police reports, women do not have the protection they need. Almost half of the pregnant women who have been murdered in the last ten years had reported their perpetrators for assault.

The police have a central responsibility to prevent and stop this violence, but reality shows that their work is still far from sufficient. The police authority's annual report for 2023 also provides a dark picture of this. Despite the authority's visions of improvements, we see that men's violence against women has not decreased. Several police regions even describe that this violence is more deadly than that of the gangs.

No decline is seen in the number of reports, and no decline is seen in the number of cases that are handed over to prosecutors. This shows that the police are still working reactively rather than preventatively, and it is a self-criticism that the police themselves highlight.

Igor, which was the police's pilot project regarding men's violence against women, was unfortunately discontinued during 2023. It was a project that had great successes, which increased the willingness to report and which led to convictions. Despite this, the police chose to end the project. Reference was made to the fact that they thought this should be included in all units so that they could learn from Igor.

But we know that these specialist units are needed to protect women who would otherwise fall through the cracks. The police need to take their preventive work more seriously. The violence that these women are subjected to cannot continue to be met with the same reactive measures.

My question to the Minister therefore is: How does the government view the police's own self-criticism regarding their preventive work when it comes to men's violence against women?

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Michael Rubbestad (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Over the last ten years, we have repeatedly seen horrific examples of men's violence against women in close relationships, and particularly towards pregnant women. Statistics show, as stated, that at least 13 pregnant or new mothers have been killed by their partners, which is completely unacceptable.

One must also remember that Sweden during the last ten years, 2014-2024, has primarily been governed by a Social Democratic government in four different constellations. Despite having held power and the opportunity to influence, previous Social Democratic governments have perhaps not done enough to curb this violence.

Even though there have been budget items of hundreds of millions for equality initiatives, we have not seen the results required to protect our most vulnerable citizens. There are clear examples of previous governments talking about equality, but in practice, we have seen too few concrete measures. What is needed are targeted and effective measures that actually reach the women living in vulnerable situations, and there previous governments' efforts have fallen short.

Now, however, we see a change! With the cooperation that exists today between the government and the Sweden Democrats via the Tidö Agreement, we have, for the first time in a long time, taken the issue seriously and begun to take real measures to protect these women.

The current government and the Sweden Democrats have taken a completely different approach to combating violence against women. We see concrete initiatives aimed at strengthening the police's work and improving the protection for those women who have previously reported their perpetrators, something that all too often has been lacking in the past.

Through the Tidö Agreement, the Sweden Democrats have been a strong voice for these changes, and together with the government, we have ensured that resources are used more effectively and reach those who need it most. For example, we now see increased resources for the justice system and a clear focus on ensuring that violent individuals who have previously been reported cannot continue to threaten and harm women.

640 million kronor are allocated for special equality measures, and these funds are now used more strategically to improve the protection for vulnerable women. We are tightening the penalties for violence in close relationships and ensuring that the police receive better tools to prevent and intervene in time.

Mr. Speaker! This means that there is now a concrete plan to address the serious deficiencies that previous governments failed to address. We are convinced that these measures will make a difference, and the Sweden Democrats and the government will continue to work to create a safer Sweden, especially for the women who are subjected to violence in the home and in close relationships.

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Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the testimonies that have been submitted here. All feeling people naturally experience that when this violence, which we know is cynical and brutal and has enormous consequences, is furthermore directed against pregnant women, it is extra brutal, unempathetic and unacceptable.

I would like to specifically address the question of proactivity. I think it is a strength that the police are scrutinizing their own activities in this area and drawing concrete operational conclusions on how to move from a more reactive approach to increased proactivity.

I perceive that the government is very clear in our governance in that part. I also experience that the messages from the police leadership are very clear in that part: The ambition to achieve such a shift is genuine and is being concretized so that it happens here and now.

From the government's side, we naturally want to support such a shift and mobilization, and we do so in various ways. We tighten the contact prohibitions, we tighten the penalties, we strengthen the protection in rental housing, and we tighten the rules regarding custody, housing, and visitation. We tear down secrecy barriers, which I believe is particularly significant if one is to be able to prevent the violence before it occurs.

The line in all these reforms is clear and distinct: less consideration for the dangerous man and increased protection for the crime victim, for the vulnerable woman. It is what vulnerable women have the right to expect, and it is also what the government delivers.

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Anna Wallentheim (S)

Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by turning to Member Rubbestad. Much of what the government has now introduced and made decisions on is also work that the previous government began. It is based on many of the inquiries that we commissioned.

However, one might wonder if the Sweden Democrats are satisfied with the development and situation we see. Every day, girls and women are subjected to harassment, violence, and sexual crimes regardless of whether they are pregnant or not. Not infrequently, they are subjected to it by a man they have or have had a relationship with. Every 20 minutes, around the clock, a report of a female assault is filed. For more than one woman a month, this violence ends in murder, often in connection with her wanting to leave the perpetrator.

Despite these figures, society still seems to lack the right tools to handle the problem. Violence takes many forms. It is not only the physical blows that cause harm, but also psychological, social, and economic violence break down women's lives deeply. Despite the fact that the warning signs are often there, there are far too many who do not see or who choose not to intervene.

Our rule of law must, of course, be a safety net and not a deaf apparatus that only reacts when it is too late. We as a society must stop tolerating violence. It is not just about the physical or psychological wounds, but it is about reclaiming women's dignity and saying no to a society that sees violence against women as a family matter rather than as a serious societal problem.

We know that midwives, employers, school staff, psychologists, social workers and others every day meet women who carry stories of violence. But these are women who do not dare or who cannot speak about the violence they are subjected to. In some cases, it has even been possible to read about women who, in contact with the authorities, do not even receive the right questions. This can, of course, partly be due to the fact that some of the staff do not know which signs to be aware of. This means that vulnerable women experience that society is turning a blind eye.

The Minister mentioned in his first answer several important steps that have been taken and decisions that have been made. I and many others stand behind this, and some of it comes from investigations that the previous government commissioned. This is very good.

But we Social Democrats also believe that more needs to be done. We have, for example, highlighted the need to introduce lex Lotta. When a woman has been murdered by a man despite having been in contact with an authority and expressed a need for help due to, for example, a violent relationship, the authority in question shall report itself according to lex Lotta. The purpose of the report is to highlight the authority's shortcomings in its response and support to women exposed to violence.

We have also highlighted the idea of criminalizing psychological violence. This is incredibly important support to be able to broaden the concept and help more women. We have also proposed the appointment of a crisis commission to combat men's violence against women. It should be a commission that, together with relevant authorities and women's shelters, should systematically review which measures could prevent murder and assault.

My question to the Minister is therefore: Is the government prepared to follow us Social Democrats and both introduce lex Lotta and a crisis commission and criminalize psychological violence to prevent men's violence against women?

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Michael Rubbestad (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I begin with the question from the interpellator Anna Wallentheim about whether we are satisfied. No, definitely not. That is perhaps exactly why I am standing here. Sweden has, in my opinion, become worse and been destroyed, and therefore I have chosen to engage politically. I want to do something about the matter. Now we finally have a government that, together with Sverigedemokraterna, takes these issues seriously.

After many years of Social Democratic rule and thinking, it is time to tackle these issues and actually do something for real. We know that the Social Democrats are happy to beat their chests and use many value words. It sounds incredibly good that we are finally going to take hold of things and fight the problems. Then, when something happens, they stand there and say that they have been naive and that they did not see it coming, but that it is now time for change.

As I mentioned earlier, the current government, through the cooperation in the Tidö Agreement, has taken action to strengthen the justice system and increase protection for vulnerable women. We see concrete evidence of this through the significantly increased resources to the Swedish Police Authority compared to previous years. They will provide the police with better conditions to intervene quickly and effectively when domestic violence is reported. It is something that previous governments have failed to address seriously.

Furthermore, initiatives for crime victim support have been intensified. Additionally, the entire justice system chain from the police to the courts has received increased funds to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted quickly and that crime victims - not least women - receive the safety and justice they deserve. These measures show that the government and Sverigedemokraterna are not just talking about changes but are actually implementing necessary reforms to protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Mr. Speaker! I have not even touched upon honor-related violence and oppression, which could otherwise be a rather important aspect of the debate, but then I would probably need an additional ten minutes of speaking time.

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Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)

Mr. Speaker! I really want to emphasize that for me personally and for the government, men's violence against women is not an internal family matter but to a very high degree a serious societal problem. It is one of our society's most serious ongoing failures. The broader majorities we can build to push back the violence, regardless of how it manifests, the better.

I think it is very productive to describe violence in several dimensions. The physical violence is naturally the most brutal, but violence also occurs in very many other ways. When it comes to psychological violence, psychological abuse, and economic violence, it can be the case that one uses a more vulnerable and economically weaker party's vulnerabilities as part of the exercise of the violence - perhaps even the physical violence.

We must, with different measures, address all dimensions of violence. A very large amount of what we do is dedicated to doing that. The measures also have good potential to bite into the violence from different sides.

I move on to the questions that Anna Wallentheim raised in her latest post. Regarding a crisis commission, we have already established such a format where all relevant actors are included and now meet on a regular basis. These are authorities and representatives for municipality, region, health and medical care, social services, and civil society. They meet regularly precisely for the purpose of inventorying, ensuring that everyone has the same view of the problem, and identifying measures in both the short and long term against the different dimensions of violence that have been described here.

When it comes to psychological violence, it is quite true that we inherited an investigation that targeted it. If we are to be honest, it received rather stinging referral criticism. In its existing state, it would be difficult to use in practice. We have, in any case, taken on that product internally at the Ministry of Justice with the aim of returning to the Riksdag with something that we believe will do the job. Let us therefore keep the dialogue alive, because the problem that this initiative addresses is truly real and deserves to be addressed with even sharper tools in terms of legislation.

When it comes to what Anna Wallentheim calls lex Lotta, that is, a kind of self-sanitizing self-reporting in connection with failures, it is not an issue I have thought about particularly much until now. But now I hear about it and think that it seems to deserve a serious conversation. Let us see what can be done with it when we look forward.

I want to emphasize once again that there is no doubt whatsoever that the main societal problem is men's violence against women, even though we know that it is not only women who are subjected to violence in relationships. Therefore, it is very reasonable to speak of it in those terms, even though everything we are now talking about of course affects all victims of violence.

There is a very justified expectation that the surrounding society should react with full force against this violence. No one can be satisfied with the situation as it is. No one can also be satisfied with the tools we have had until now. It is therefore why we are doing so very much on very many different fronts so that these justified expectations shall be fulfilled.

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Anna Wallentheim (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister of Justice, for the answer! I dare to interpret it as that it was as close to a yes as one can come as an answer to at least many of these questions and that you are prepared to review them. I am incredibly grateful for that.

I want to start by quoting the minister's response: "This is one of our society's greatest ongoing failures, and it must be fought with the same force as gang crime. It is a matter of combating serious crime but ultimately also a matter of safety, freedom, integrity, and equality."

Madam Speaker! They are beautiful words that I, of course, stand behind, and I believe we all in here do as well. But they are also words that commit.

We Social Democrats have presented some of the ideas we believe could make a difference, for example lex Lotta and criminalizing psychological violence. It is also about looking at how support can be increased for the women's shelters around the country that signal that they are struggling with an incredible amount. These are just a few examples of such things we believe could make a difference for quite many women.

If the government seriously wants violence against women to be combated with the same force as gang crime, we naturally hope that one is prepared to look at some of these things. Hopefully, this can also lead to decisions here in Sweden's Riksdag. We therefore want to urge the government and the minister to move from words to action. We Social Democrats will, of course, support this, because significantly more must be done when it comes to violence against women.

Finally, I would like to turn to Member of Parliament Michael Rubbestad: Please do some reading on what the Social Democratic government introduced! We tightened penalties and commissioned inquiries. We did an incredible amount, but I am also standing here because I am not satisfied. More needs to be done, and I have tried to express that today by giving examples of measures that could strengthen the work against men's violence against women.

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Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you to Anna Wallentheim, who raised the issue today! Thank you also to Michael Rubbestad, who participated in this important debate!

I would like to take hold of one of the things that has been said in the debate. It is really not the case that violence committed against women, perhaps within the four walls of the home, is a private family matter. It is to a very high degree a societal problem.

We know that the crime clearance rate when it comes to murders of women is very high. The problem is that the measures intended to prevent and preclude this violence from having a fatal outcome at all are completely insufficient. Much of what we have spoken about today is intended to change that situation so that women exposed to violence can be protected in a much better way than today and that the men who hit or are violent in other respects have to bear the full consequences of their actions.

I take issue with much of what the government is doing now, which to a large extent bears the hallmarks of inaction. This also applies to several of the good proposals that are highlighted when we look forward. More must be done. On that, we agree. I am also convinced that what comes to the Riksdag from our side will meet very broad support here in the chamber. It is a strength when we speak about such an incredibly important issue as specifically men's violence against women.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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