Are Police in Sweden No Longer Investigating Rapes Since Migrants Arrived?

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage cited the conspiracy web site InfoWars in a tweet claiming police in Sweden admitted they are "no longer" investigating rape.

Snopes

http://www.snopes.com/police-sweden-no-longer-investigating-since-migrants/

Alan: I have friends who live in Sweden, including a former lawyer-aide to Senator Joe Biden, who -- when offered a job by newly-elected vice president Biden -- said that nothing would make him re-settle in the United States.

Why?

Because PD loved living in a country where people only feel good about themselves when their understanding of The Common Good and The General Welfare see to it that "everyone is provided a home."

PD mentioned the commonplace Swedish phrase that describes this communitarian passion but I no longer remember it.

"If I were to die of a heart attack tonight," said P, "I, like all Swedes, would have no worries over the future well-being of my wife and children. They would enjoy -- under any set of circumstances -- a decent home, an abundance of healthy food, good healthcare, and free (or affordable) education through graduate school."

And Swedish culture would also imbue them with the drive to learn, to work hard and to accomplish meaningful goals.

Facts about migration and crime in Sweden, The Government Offices of Sweden

Claim: "There has been a major increase in the number of rapes in Sweden."

Facts: The number of reported rapes in Sweden has risen. But the definition of rape has broadened over time, which makes it difficult to compare the figures. It is also misleading to compare the figures with other countries, as many acts that are considered rape under Swedish law are not considered rape in many other countries.

For example: If a woman in Sweden reports that she has been raped by her husband every night for a year, that is counted as 365 separate offences; in most other countries this would be registered as a single offence, or would not be registered as an offence at all.

Willingness to report such offences also differs dramatically between countries. A culture in which these crimes are talked about openly, and victims are not blamed, will also have more cases reported. Sweden has made a conscious effort to encourage women to report any offence.

Read more about the legal implications of the term 'rape' (in Swedish):

Claim: "In Sweden there are a number of 'no-go zones' where criminality and gangs have taken over and where the emergency services do not dare to go."

Facts: In a report published in June 2017, the Swedish Police Authority identified 61 areas around the country that have become increasingly marred by crime, social unrest and insecurity. Of these 61 areas, 23 are considered to be particularly vulnerable.

These areas are sometimes carelessly called 'no-go zones'. While the Police Authority has stated that working in these vulnerable areas is often difficult, it is not the case that police do not go to them or that Swedish law does not apply there.

The causes of the problems in these areas are complex and multifaceted. To reverse the trend, more action is required from all of society, at all levels.

For more information, read the Police Authority's reports (in Swedish).

Claim: "The high level of immigration means that the system in Sweden is on the verge of collapse."

Facts: No. The Swedish economy is strong. Despite the high costs of immigration, Sweden recorded a public finance surplus in 2015, and the forecasts indicate that the surplus is set to grow until 2020.

Moreover, Sweden has had one of the highest rates of growth in Europe over the last two years. Youth unemployment has declined considerably and is now at its lowest level for 13 years, and long-term unemployment (12 months or longer) is the lowest in the EU.

In addition, the World Economic Forum has identified Sweden as being among the top countries in many international rankings.

Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/01/why-sweden-beats-most-other-countries-at-just-about-everything/

A large number of people have sought protection in Sweden. In 2015, almost 163 000 people sought asylum here. The measures subsequently taken by the Government, including temporary ID checks and border controls, and the new temporary asylum legislation, have led to fewer people now seeking asylum in Sweden.

Claim: "Muslims will soon be in the majority in Sweden."

Facts: No. It is estimated that there are a few hundred thousand people in Sweden whose roots are in predominantly Muslim countries. But this figure says nothing about how many are religious or not.

The Muslim faith communities have approximately 140 000 members. This is about 1.5 per cent of Sweden's population. The largest faith communities are the Church of Sweden, the Pentecostal Movement and the Roman Catholic Church. Of Sweden's ten million inhabitants, 6.2 million are members of the Church of Sweden.

Prejudices and negative attitudes towards Muslims exist in many areas of society. A report published by the Equality Ombudsman in 2015 shows that Islamophobia is manifested in threats, violence, verbal abuse, media attacks, harassment in schools, unfavourable opportunities for finding a job, and in other ways.

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From Quora:

Rape is an unusual crime in that it is only reported by the victim and sadly often they will not report it.

In too many countries it is a mark of shame; the attitude is "she was asking for it".

So victims do not report, or police do not record.

For more detail on this, please see: Franklin Veaux's answer to What is the truth about rape statistics around the world? dicsussing the rape statistics in Hypothistan and Quasistan.

1) Swedish people (women primarily but not exclusive) are more willing to report rape. That is a factor of more equality, and that sex is not seen as shameful.

there is a strong correlation between higher levels of gender equality and disclosure of sexual violence.[251] This, and a greater willingness among Swedish women to report rape in relationships,[252] may also explain the relatively high rates of reported rape in Sweden

2) Swedish police take it more seriously.

In many countries the police will not progress an investigation.
"It was her own fault", "that isn't really rape"Sweden takes the opposite view.

3) Swedish law is very strict. "rape" includes a range of acts that would not be considered rape in other countries.
Their definition of "consent" is strict.
An example of this is the Julian Assange case; in Sweden he was charged with sexual assault for things that many of his supporters claim were completely legal & legitimate. But not they were not in Sweden.

The Swedish police record each instance of sexual violence in every case separately, leading to an inflated number of cases compared to other countries.[236][239][243]Sweden also has a comparatively wide definition of rape.[236][237][238] This means that more sexual crimes are registered as rape than in most other countries.[237]For example, in 2005 Sweden reformed its sex crime legislation and made the legal definition of rape much wider,[236][244][245][246] which led to a marked increase in reports.[247][248]

And each case of rape is counted separately: so a husband forcing his wife to have sex every week for two years (note, that is not ‘rape’ in all places, and would be prosecuted in fewer) would count as 104 cases.

I do not know if anyone has tried to "normalise" statistics to calibrate the effects.

But if so, I'd be willing to bet that many of those countries under-report compared to Sweden and that the actual rate would be vastly higher in other countries (eg Jamaica, Bolivia)

Wikipedia has a long discussion of rape statistics variation by country:
Rape statistics << Quotes from this

And Sweden in particular
Rape in Sweden

Pax on both houses

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Sunday, September 17, 2017