Stop the rapes now 13.11.09: The extent of rape in Sweden is so monstrous that the situation may fairly be characterized as epidemic. In the European context, Sweden is in a category all its own, with 5,446 reported rapes in 2008 – a figure that places Sweden far ahead of every other country in Europe in the incidence of rape in proportion to the total population. Rapes are twice as common in Sweden as in Great Britain, which takes second place. Unless we at HRS have missed something, Social Democratic leader Mona Sahlin and company have not commented on this distinction – probably because men with non-Western backgrounds are heavily overrepresented among the perpetrators. On September 9, a group of individuals who have had enough of this silence on the part of Swedish media and politicians launched the website Stoppavåldtäkterna.nu (”stop the rapes”).

Hege Storhaug, HRS

It’s almost incomprehensible that what’s happening in our neighboring country can be taking place without causing a public outcry.  Fifteen girls or women are raped every day.  Yes, you read that correctly – fifteen every day!  And that’s just the ones that are reported.  This figure is thought to represent about 90-95 percent of committed rapes. Many of the victims are children.  And many of the rapes are gang rapes. 

Swedish politicians and media have paid very little attention to this ghastly fact, and one has to wonder if this means that rape has become such an everyday occurrence that the Swedish psyche has come to accept it as a normal part of life.  Violent rapes and gang rapes of children no longer count as ”news.”

Now an independent citizens’ group wants to put an end to this abdication of responsibility by Swedish officials.  Four days ago they launched the website Stoppavåldtäkterna.nu . Their purpose, according to their press release, is to try to prevent rapes by means of an information campaign and self-defense courses.

The campaign’s primary aim is to inform as many Swedes as possible about this often taboo subject, since it is impossible to fix a problem that no one wants to acknowledge. 

But the campaign is also intended to provide information to women and parents for purely preventative purposes.  We intend to increase their awareness of risk and their capacity for self-defense, as well as to help them deal with the aftermath of rape, by supplying tips, advice, and useful information.

Finally, one objective of the campaign is to put pressure on decision-makers – not only politicians but also the mass media, which inevitably wield great responsibility for the safety of citizens in this country, because they control social debates and decide which questions are considered worthy of discussion.

The objective is to reduce the number of rapes by every possible means.

The number of rapes in our neighboring country has risen dramatically from year to year, from 350 reported rapes in 1950 to 800 in 1975, after which the numbers exploded beginning in the 1990s – a development which coincided with the leap in non-Western immigration.  Until that time, gang rapes were a virtually unknown phenomenon in Sweden (and Norway).  In 2006, however, a dizzying 18 percent of all reported rapes were gang rapes.

The total number of rapes (including violent rapes) reported to the police rose gradually from barely 350 in 1950 to 800 in 1975. After that, the rate climbed steeply to over 2,100 in 1993. Since then, the curve has become increasingly steep with every passing year.  In 2003 the number of reported rapes exceeded 2,500 for the first time.  After the new sex crimes law went into effect in April 2005, the figure jumped from about 3,800 to just over 4,700 in 2007. Since then, the increase has continued at an undiminished pace, and in 2008 the number of rapes reported was 5450.   

The number of rapes of children under 15 years old climbed from just over 700 in 1975 to about 1,400 in 2008 – an increase of 200%.

The number of reported outdoor rapes rose by slightly over 300 percent between 1975 and 2007.  The largest increase is in the number of reported indoor rapes, which has risen by almost 650 percent since 1975.

The number of gang rapes has risen dramatically during the last decades - jumping by at least 377% during the years 1995 to 2006.

Unlike Swedish authorities and many researchers, the founders of the new website will not sweep the perpetrators’ origins under the carpet.  According to official Swedish figures, foreign-born people are accused of rape five times more often than men with Swedish-born parents.  Finns, Americans, and all other rapists of Western origin are included in this figure.  Sweden clearly prefers not to acknowledge publicly what is obviously the case: namely, that men with non-Western backgrounds are highly overrepresented in the rape statistics, and especially in the statistics on assault rapes and gang rapes.  The purpose of releasing such information would not be to stigmatize but to prevent.  

Certain ethnic groups commit a disproportionate number of sexual offenses.  We do not intend to speculate why this is the case; we will leave theories about cultural or biological backgrounds to others.  We don’t want, however, to conceal facts that may prevent rapes.  Likewise, we do not intend to deny important information to potential rape victims concerning potential rapists.  We are not governed by political considerations, as is the BRÅ [Brottsförebyggande rådet, i.e. Council for Crime Prevention], nor do we need to conceal or distort the facts and statistics so that they will fit into a politically correct template. On the other hand, we are acting in accordance with the law, and are thus striving not to look down on or in any other sense disparage various ethnic groups in a way that would violate the law on Persecution of Ethnic Groups. 

The grotesque situation in Sweden can only be characterized as an ongoing and unrelenting war against women and their freedom – a state of affairs which represents a historic first for the Kingdom of Sweden.  It is incomprehensible that Swedish politicians are turning their backs on this shameful development.  Let us hope, therefore, that this praiseworthy campaign will put sufficient pressure on Swedish authorities that they will feel obliged to release key statistics and to take political action to bring the numbers down.