Sweden

The government issued a directive making the National Council for Crime Prevention (BRÅ) responsible for the production of hate crime statistics and tasked it with continuing to improving these statistics.

A special investigator has been appointed by the Swedish National Police Board (Rikspolisstyrelsen) to enhance co-operation between the criminal justice system, civil society and academic researchers. The police, together with the Swedish Prosecution Authority and BRÅ, have agreed on a common definition of the term "hate crime" to be used across the criminal justice system. Furthermore, a number of recommendations pertaining to combating hate crime have been formulated.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten) implemented a project aimed at improving the  identification and prosecution of hate crimes. A seminar on victimization and experiences of hate crimes for approximately 25 specially-appointed hate crime prosecutors was held.

The Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority, in co-operation with the Jönköping Victim Support Services and the Ängelholm Victim Support Services, organized hate crime training events for employees of local victim support services, as well as representatives of the police. It also provided funding for a research project and a conference that dealt with hate crime issues. Furthermore, in co-operation with the Ombudsman for Children in Sweden, it created a website aimed at children between 14 and 17 that contains information regarding hate crimes, including information on how to report it.

The Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority provided funding for the hate crime victim support services run by the Swedish Federation for LGBT Rights (RFSL).

Two two-day seminars, one in Gothenburg and one in Malmö, were arranged by the Swedish Committee against Anti-Semitism in co-operation with the cities of Gothenburg and Malmö, and with support from the Ministry of Employment. During the seminar, new research, including trends in, and consequences of, hate crimes targeting Jewish, Roma and African-Swedish minorities was presented. The seminar also covered hate on the Internet.

Civil rights defenders worked with the police to improve their capacity to combat hate crime within the project "Every Human's Right – Sweden’s Responsibility." Among the goals of the project was increasing law-enforcement officers' knowledge about hate crimes targeting vulnerable groups (primarily Muslims, Roma and people of African origins). The project also aimed at raising awareness of people in positions of authority within the police and government about the need to prioritize the fight against hate crimes, including financing the police and the justice system.

The National Point of Contact on Hate Crimes (NPC) has reported that 2014 has seen the highest numbers of hate crimes committed since the beginning of monitoring. All targeted groups were affected by this peak in hate crimes. The NPC also observed quite broad public response – rejecting the hate violence - following some of the cases covered by the media.