Sweden

In 2021, the Swedish Police Authority co-operated with civil society organizations (CSOs) and other national authorities to develop educational materials on hate crime. The Police also participated in national research studies and an international hate crime training event for police delivered by the EU Agency on Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL). Sweden's Violence-Promoting Extremism police assignment was refocused to include investigation of major hate crimes that threaten democracy (under the Police-led Anti-Democracy and Hate Crimes Group West). The Police also collaborated as part of "Redex" – regional intelligence-oriented teams tasked with reducing extremism through prevention by flagging individuals of interest in hate crime cases.

Under the Bergslagen Mentoring Project, a handbook on enhancing competence on hate crime was developed. Co-operation with local police officers continued to enhance public confidence in the handling of reports of hate crime.

The Police (Anti-Democracy and Hate Crimes Group South) co-ordinated with the City of Malmö and Malmö Pride to engage with the public to strengthen understanding about hate crime and how to report such crimes to the authorities. As part of the project, police staff were trained on LGBTI and hate crime issues, and the Police Museum curated an exhibition entitled Vi & Dom (Us & Them) to raise awareness of hate crime among youth, police, and municipal employees.

In 2021, Victim Support Sweden and the police worked together to raise awareness of regional Victim Support Centres on hate crime. Eight meetings took place and resulted in increased contact and knowledge-sharing between the police and Victim Support.

The Police Advisory Board worked to increase confidence among at-risk groups by raising awareness of the work of police. The Board also developed understanding of hate crime within the organization itself.

In October 2021, the Swedish Prosecution Authority held its annual Hate Crime Conference to increase the skills of prosecutors to handle hate crime cases and foster consistency in the application of the law. The Service also produced updated guidance to develop competence of prosecutors who deal with hate crimes and established a network of hate crime prosecutors to exchange information with subject specialists.              

The Swedish Crime Victim Authority organized an online campaign and capacity-building activities on the topic of bias-motivated online threats for representatives of the judiciary and civil society. Sessions were also focused on encouraging victims to report threats made in the context of public discourse. The Authority continued to sponsor several CSOs and provided support to hate crime victims through its Crime Victim Fund. The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights was supported by the Fund to operate victim support services for LGBTI victims of hate crime. The Swedish Crime Victim Authority gave a presentation at the EStAR conference on secondary victimization of victims of hate crime by authorities.

The Public Health Agency of Sweden and the National Board of Health and Welfare introduced projects to strengthen the response to health issues relating to bias-motivated crime against minorities. The projects were aimed at the Swedish Government and relevant authorities and developed in co-operation with minority communities, including representatives of the Jewish, Roma, Sami, Sweden Finns, Tornedalian, and LGBTI communities.

The Living History Forum – a public agency established under the Ministry of Culture – organized the training of public sector employees on different forms of racism and intolerance. In 2021, the Forum organized four meetings of the government network to combat racism and hate crime, during which government agencies exchanged experiences and identified capacity-building opportunities.

The Swedish Media Council contributed to the national plan against racism, similar forms of hostility and hate crimes by developing a methodology to prevent exposure of young people to hate crimes online.

In March 2021, the Skåne County Administrative Board organized a digital conference on hate crime for public sector employees in co-ordination with national authorities and civil society representatives.

The Swedish National Agency for Education implemented curricula changes to combat bias-motivated crimes and developed materials to build understanding in schools and among teachers.

The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions continued to manage a national network, develop tools to combat hate crime and provide conflict management support.