Men's violence against women, honour-related violence and repression and violence in same-sex relationships

English summary of report 2010:18 from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention

Men's violence against women is a social problem that has gained increasing attention in Sweden over the last few decades.

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National strategy

In November 2007, the Government put forward an overall strategy for the work with preventing men's violence against women for the coming three years, known as the Action Plan for Combating Men's Violence Against Women, Honour-Related Violence and Repression and Violence in Same-Sex Relationships. In the plan, national and local authorities were given 56 different tasks aiming to achieve a sustainable level of ambition in the work against violence.

The Government gave the National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) the task to follow up and evaluate how the plan was implemented. Brå's report was presented in December 2010 (Brå Report 2010:18). It shows that the plan has substantially increased awareness and knowledge about men's violence against women among professionals in many different areas. It also shows that the actual support for women who are victims of violence has improved, even if it still needs to develop. The improved support has made more women motivated to report to the police when they are exposed to violence, but the report also indicates that the measures taken have not yet had any visible effects on the total amount of women exposed to violence by men.

It is our belief that the plan and its effects are of interest not just to a Swedish public, but also to decision makers and professionals in other countries.