Violence Against Women in Sweden

America is abuzz about the books by Stieg Larsson. The trilogy of books, beginning with "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" was completed only a few months before the death of the author in 2004. He was a journalist and worked for the magazine Expo, and tackled many controversial political and social issues. Now, all three books have been published in America (I've read the first two) and the first two have already been made into movies. (I saw the first movie). The common theme running through all the books is violence against women, and in the case of these books, women that were helpless to fight back. The books are compelling, and got me thinking, "Does Sweden really have a problem with violence against women"? After all they're the first country you think of regarding gender equality, but the dirty little secret is YES, they do have a problem and it just being revealed.

Sweden is the country that first comes to mind when we think of women's rights and gender equality. Sweden ranks at the top in the number of women who hold public office, serve as cabinet ministers, graduate from university and hold jobs. Mothers are granted long periods of maternity leave, and they send their children to excellent day-care centers.

But there is one signifcant blot on the record of women's empowerment here: domestic violence, a crime that until recently remained muffled in shame. Swedish men are not any more violent toward women in Sweden than the men of most other Western European countries. It has simply been easier for them to get away with violence against wives and girlfriends, experts and politicians said, and harder for women to get the help they need. Attitudes about wife-beating have been slow to change.

In an unforseen twist, Sweden's well-guarded sense of privacy and its leadership on women's rights served for many years to mute, rather than elevate the issue into the public sphere.

The cat is out of the bag. A recent statistical study called Captured Queen, by Eva Lundgren has exposed their secret and forced them to take action. The study sent out a questionnaire to 10,000 people (remember Sweden is a small country). Many of the questions were extremely personal, yet they received responses from 70%, a very high number.

Here, in simple terms are the results. 46% of the women had been subjected to violence by a man since her 15th birthday. 56% of all women were sexually harassed, regardless of age. 25% of the women had experienced physical violence since their 15th birthday. Income, country of origin or type of employment did not seem to make any difference. The biggest factor was marriage status. 67% of divorced women had been abused either by a former spouse or boyfriend. 50% of women who were cohabitating with a man had been abused, but only 11% of married women had faced domestic violence. I found these numbers shocking. As progressive as Sweden is in the area of women's rights, they are in the dark ages regarding violence against women.

A stinging Amnesty International report and startling admissions by well known victims, both of which were deeply embarrassing to the country, sparked a national reckoning. What they need to change is attitudes. Sweden already has legislation in place, but attitudes are more difficult to change. A former television journalist recently acknowledged that her husband had abused her for a decade. This is the biggest human rights issue of their time, and they are definitely dealing with it.

Help for battered women is in it's infancy in Sweden. Women's Shelters and safe houses have just recently been expanded. But more and more women are coming forward with their stories. The journalist I referred to was fired by the network over fear of a law suit. She had been told the topic was off limits. Sweden is a progressive country and I am opimistic they will deal with the problem. In the meantime, people throughout the world need to speak out on issues of domestic violence, journalists and writers need to address these issues, as difficult as they are. Thanks to Stieg Larsson for presenting the topic in a way that got my attention.