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.

SELECT YEAR

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 2012 Data

Police figures include incidents related to defamation, hate speech and unlawful discrimination.

By bias motivation
By type of crime

Download official data

National developments

Sweden instituted or continued a number of hate crime programmes. These included two projects supported by the Victim Support Association to help staff of local organizations better understand hate crime; a research project funded by the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority that aimed at understanding the causes, consequences and support measures for hate crime in Skåne County; a project in Norrbotten in which the crime victim co-ordinator of the police authority reviews police reports daily to follow up with victims, including potential hate crime victims, for further support; several training events held by the Police District in Greater Gothenburg with various level of staffs on hate crime; a train-the-trainers course on hate crime for the Police Authority in Skåne County; a research project of Stockholm University designed to gauge the level of potential prejudices in responding to hate crime cases in which the Police Authority in Skåne County participated; and a project by the Prosecution Development Centre in Malmö to identify and track potential hate crime cases in order to evaluate case-handling by police and prosecutors.

The Discrimination Bureau in Uppsala conducted training programmes for schools, businesses, public sector agencies, associations and organizations on discrimination and hate crime. The Bureau counseled individuals on their rights when victims of discrimination or hate crime, as well as running a project called Online Presence that trains school staff, youth and support organizations to recognize hate online and to take appropriate responsive steps.

The Victim Support Association supported the Roma Culture Centre to provide information to crime victims, including specific information for hate crime victims.

The Police District in Greater Gothenburg participated in a hate crime seminar at the LGBT festival. The Swedish Federation for LGBT Rights received government funding on projects to support LGBT victims of violence, including bias-motivated violence, by providing training for staff and conducting public-awareness outreach in the media.

Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See

Developments

Anti-Semitic hate crime

The Swedish Committee against Anti-Semitism (SKMA) continued its training programme on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, primarily for teachers and school staff, but also for politicians and other influential leaders. SKMA works with teaching tools developed by ODIHR and partners. It also conducted similar training seminars for youth in upper-secondary schools.

Reports

Anti-LGBTI hate crime

The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL) reported one rape of a transgender woman and one case of threats against a gay man at work.

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended that Sweden use its training and awareness-raising measures in their continuing efforts to ensure that criminal law provisions concerning racism and racial discrimination are properly applied by all persons in the criminal justice system and to strengthen further its data collection and monitoring system on racist incidents.