Report Data - Sweden

Official Data

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
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

National developments

Hate crime provisions in the Criminal Code have been amended to include transgender identity among the protected characteristics.

The Swedish Police Authority and Victim Support Sweden have worked to enhance the skills of police officers and victim support volunteers to identify hate crimes, with the aim of increasing public confidence in the criminal justice system and reducing the number of unreported hate crimes.

The Police have organized training events and conferences to improve the ability of reception police officers, regional command centre staff, Police Academy students and local police officers to recognize hate crimes, in order to ensure more accurate statistics on reported hate crimes. During the training events, the Police collaborated closely with civil society working on LGBTI issues, women's rights and anti-Semitism, and with various state authorities. Furthermore, the Police continued to refine and optimize investigation work, including in collaboration with the prosecution.

The Police Advisory Board met four times in 2019, including with Roma groups/organizations, the Swedish Federation for LGBTQI Rights, Full Personality Expression Sweden and representatives of the Muslim and Jewish communities. A key objective of the Board is to increase confidence among groups targeted by hate crime.

In June 2019, the Swedish Prosecution Service organized national hate crime conferences, aimed at improving practitioners' awareness and ability to respond to hate crimes. Through a collaborative project with Victim Support Sweden, the prosecution service addressed the issue of hate crime victim support and increasing the number of reported hate crimes.

The Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority continued to sponsor several civil society organizations and provided support to victims of hate crime through its Crime Victim Fund.

ODIHR Recommendations

ODIHR observes that Sweden has not reported information on sentenced hate crime cases to ODIHR.

National Developments

Description Type

Developments

Organization Report

The Swedish police conducted an internal audit of its work against hate crimes, which led to a decision to allocate more funds to hate crime investigation. The police submitted to government a feedback report concerning hate crimes, which summarizes initiatives and results since the 2014 government decision to enhance efforts to combat hate crimes. An interactive online training programme on hate crime was developed and made accessible to all officers through police intranet, broadening the scope of professional development on hate crimes beyond the appointed specialists. A number of training events on hate crimes have been organized on a regional level by the respective police forces.

The Swedish Police and Prosecution Service's Development Centre in Malmö organized two one-day conferences on hate crime for prosecutors and police officers.

As part of the EU-funded Hate No More project, the Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority co-produced a training manual and a handbook to increase the knowledge of criminal justice professionals of hate crimes and their victims' needs. The Crime Victim Fund of the Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority sponsored a number of civil society initiatives to support victims of hate crimes from the LGBT community and other groups.

The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and the Equality Ombudsman's Office continued collaboration, exchange of experiences and networking among local authorities in order to improve local responses to hate crimes.

Report Data - Sweden - 2017

Official Data

National developments

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