Sweden
Sweden regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Sweden's criminal law contains a general penalty enhancement provision. Sweden includes defamation, hate speech and discrimination crimes in its data. Hate crime data are collected by the National Council for Crime Prevention and are based on information from the police and the prosecution authority. Since 2012, the number of hate crime cases is estimated based on a statistical sample of police reports. Since 2016, hate crime reports are published only every second year. Three different victimization surveys, used to measure unreported hate crime, are conducted regularly at one, two and three-year intervals, respectively.
OFFICIAL DATA
Year | Hate crimes recorded by police | Prosecuted | Sentenced |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | 3150 | 334 | Not available |
2019 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
2018 | 5858 | 218 | - |
2017 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
2016 | 4862 | 257 | Not available |
2015 | 4859 | 255 | Not available |
2014 | 4258 | 279 | Not available |
2013 | 3943 | 161 | Not available |
2012 | 5518 | 344 | Not available |
2011 | 5493 | 347 | Not available |
2010 | 5139 | 440 | Not available |
2009 | 5797 | 450 | Not available |
About 2020 Data
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A total of 3,709 cases were recorded by police, including 559 offences that fall outside of the OSCE definition of hate crime and are not presented here. The cases reported include crimes where hate was identified as the underlying motive. In 2020, Sweden's National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) used a different data selection methodology for hate crime statistics. Therefore, these statistics are not comparable with those submitted by Brå in previous years. Moreover, the lower figures for 2020 do not equate to a reduction in the number of reported hate crimes, but are a consequence of a change in the selection of reports reviewed by Brå.
Hate crime recorded by police
The breakdown below presents records referring to bias motivations. A number of offences involved more than one bias motivation.
INCIDENTS REPORTED BY OTHER SOURCES
In addition to incidents summarized below, this graph includes 1 hate incident reported by Kantor Center as statistics.
Anti-Semitic hate crime
Date | Type of incident | Source | Description |
---|---|---|---|
2020-08 | Threats | Kantor Center
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Anti-Muslim hate crime
Date | Type of incident | Source | Description |
---|---|---|---|
2020-08 | Threats | OSCE Office for Democratic Institution and Human Rights
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Anti-Christian hate crime
Date | Type of incident | Source | Description |
---|---|---|---|
2020-11 | Attacks against property | Holy See
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2020-05 | Attacks against property | Holy See
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2020-08 | Attacks against property | Holy See
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2020-11 | Attacks against property | Holy See
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2020 | Attacks against property | Holy See
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2020-11 | Attacks against property | Holy See
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2020-12 | Attacks against property | Jehovah's Witnesses
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2020-07 | Attacks against property | Jehovah's Witnesses
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2020-07 | Violent attacks against people | OIDAC
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2020-08 | Attacks against property | OIDAC
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2020-09 | Attacks against property | OIDAC
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2020-02 | Attacks against property | OIDAC
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2020-08 | Attacks against property | OIDAC
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2020-11 | Attacks against property | Holy See
OIDAC
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2020-01 | Attacks against property | OIDAC
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2020-09 | Violent attacks against people | OIDAC
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INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Racist and xenophobic hate crime
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) published relevant recommendations in its "Concluding observations on the tenth periodic report of Sweden".
Racist and xenophobic hate crime, Other hate crime based on religion or belief
The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) published relevant recommendations in its "Concluding observations on the eighth report of Sweden".
KEY OBSERVATION
ODIHR recognizes Sweden's efforts in addressing hate crimes in a comprehensive manner as well as the submitted information on the overall hate crime situation in the country. However, based on the available information, it observes that Sweden has not reported data on hate crimes recorded by judiciary to ODIHR. Otherwise, ODIHR observes that Sweden has met most of its OSCE commitments on hate crime.
ODIHR recalls that in the Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States have committed to collecting reliable data and statistics in sufficient detail on hate crimes and to reporting such crimes periodically to ODIHR. ODIHR stands ready to support Sweden in meeting its relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and tailored assistance.