Expanded efforts are required to stop the violence

“We see that the strategy has raised the issue of men’s violence against women higher on the agenda and that government agencies are more active. At the same time, we see few early preventive measures, and increased activity at the state level has not always resulted in increased activity in practice,” says Lina Lundborg, Investigator at the Swedish Gender Equality Agency.

Power imbalance and harmful norms have an impact

When the Government developed the National Strategy to prevent and combat men’s violence against women, the starting point was to prevent violence from occurring. The Swedish Gender Equality Agency now concludes that most measures aim to prevent repeat violence rather than to prevent violence from occurring in the first place. The overall measures have also not sufficiently targeted norms that justify violence and restrict girls’ and women’s life choices.

“The strategy’s measures have, to a limited extent, focused on the power imbalance between women and men that justifies addressing the issue within the framework of gender equality policy. We believe the impact would have been greater if this power imbalance, and the harmful norms of masculinity that research shows influence the use of violence, had been given greater weight in policy and in practice,” says Lina Lundborg.

“The curriculum changes implemented during the strategy period regarding sexuality, consent and relationships have been difficult to apply in practice. Issues relating to gender norms, gender equality and honour-based violence and oppression are perceived as particularly difficult to discuss, both among teachers and pupils,” says Robert Kristiansen, Investigator at the Swedish Gender Equality Agency.

Shortcomings in support, protection and criminal justice 

When society fails to provide support, protection and care for victims of violence, this entails significant societal costs and suffering for the individual. The follow-up shows that access to support, protection and care is uneven and insufficient across the country.

“It is serious that the shortcomings remain so extensive when it comes to basic protection, support and care for women and children subjected to violence,” says Lina Lundborg.

During the strategy period, the Government’s ambition has been for men’s violence against women, domestic violence, and honour-based violence and oppression to be tackled with the same force as gang crime. Despite this, fewer than 20 per cent of reported offences in the area of men’s violence against women are solved.

“There have been major investments in prosecution and new legislation, yet very few offences are cleared up. There is gender equality policy potential in measures aimed at helping people recognise violence as violence. We can see this, for example, in developments relating to sexual offences. Movements such as Fatta! and #MeToo led to women reporting more sexual offences over several years,” says Robert Kristiansen.

The strategy has moved the work forward  

The follow-up shows that violence prevention work has developed, and there are several positive examples of successful initiatives. More sectors of society are working to detect violence. Knowledge production in the field has increased. More professional groups receive education about violence as part of their initial training.

“For men’s violence against women to cease, expanded preventive work is required, along with a stronger focus on implementing knowledge and methods in practice. We see that several violence prevention methods are under development and have achieved national dissemination. This is important for ensuring impact, and the Government’s state grants supporting violence prevention have contributed to this,” says Lina Lundborg.