Sweden does not collect data on the ethnic composition of the population other than citizenship and country of birth. The main rule according to the Swedish Personal Data Act (1998:204) states that ’[...] the maintenance of personal data that reveals race or ethnic origin is prohibited’. In the opinions delivered by International monitoring bodies, such as the Advisory Committee established under the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and the UN Committee which monitors the Convention on the Elimination of Race Discrimination (CERD), the lack of data was critiqued as contributing to the complication of the formulation, implementation, evaluation and improvement of minority and migrant policies.

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  • Racist violence - Hate Speech Statistics

     

    The Swedish National Council on Crime prevention collects the official statistics on hate crimes in Sweden. In 2010, it was reported that nearly 5,800 hate crimes were reported to the police. The majority of these, more than 3,800 cases, are xenophobic/ racial hate crimes. Of these, 20 % (818 cases) were reported to be Afrophobic hate crimes. There were 161 reports of anti-Semitic hate crimes, 272 reports of  Islamophobic hate crimes and 150 Anti-Roma hate crimes  in 2010.

    • Overall numbers of racist & hate crime

      Yes. In 2011, there were 3936 reported cases of racist and xenophobic hate crimes. 

      Numbers of cases 3936 Official or estimates official

      Qualitative Info

      The Swedish National Council on Crime prevention (Brottsförebygganderådet, Brå) is a Government agency assigned to collect the official statistics on hate crimes in Sweden. These reports are primarily a statistical summary of the hate crimes reported to the police. The latest published report on hate crimes in Sweden (Rapport: 2012:7) by the Swedish National Council on Crime prevention concerns hate crimes during 2011. 

       

      Motive

      2008

      2009

      2010

      2011

      Afrophobic hate crimes

      761

      780

      818

      803

      Islamophobic hate crimes

      272

      194

      272

      278

      Anti-Semitic hate crimes

      159

      250

      161

      194

      Anti-roma hate crimes

      178

      163

      145

      184

       

      White power ideology

      695

      555

      445

      517

      Racist and xenophobic hatecrimes

       

      4224

      4116

      3786

      3936

       


      Source: 

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Asylum seekers
      • Africans/black people
      • National minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://www.bra.se/download/18.1ff479c3135e8540b29800016186/2012_07_Hatbrott_2011_webb.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Deaths/killings

      No. There are no statistics available on deaths/killings in relation to racist violence-Hate speech

      Qualitative Info

      No. There are no statistics available on deaths/killings in relation to racist violence-Hate speech.
       
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Court cases on racist - hate crime

      According to the Criminal Law, the Chancellor of Justice (Justitieombudsmannen, JK), received 97 reports of incitement to racial hatred in 2011 and decided to initiate investigations in 3 cases.

      Numbers of cases 3 Official or estimates Official

      Qualitative Info

      The Chancellor of Justice (Justitieombudsmannen, JK), received 97 reports of incitement to racial hatred and decided to initiate investigations on 3 cases compared to 5 in 2010. This means that 94 cases involving complaints of hate speech were closed without an investigation. The Chancellor of Justice explains that the complaints have not been considered criminal or that the Chancellor has not been authorized to prosecute since the hate speeches have been expressed in a medium that is not covered by the Freedom of the Press or the Freedom of Expression Act.


      Source:

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Africans/black people
      • National minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Nationalism
      • Anti-roma/ romaphobia
      • Xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://www.jk.se/sv-SE/Justitiekanslern/~/media/Files/arsredovisningar/arsredovisning%202011.ashx

      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Discrimination Statistics

    The majority of the complaints reported to the Equality Ombudsman in 2010 were 992 complaints of which 289 concerned ethnic discrimination. The Equality Ombudsman showed in a recent study that 20 % of all complaints on housing came from Roma, indicating that Roma are highly deprived of their rights to adequate housing. The majority of the complaints reported to the Equality Ombudsman in 2010 were in the area of employment. In 2010, a total of 992 complaints of discrimination in employment were made to the Equality Ombudsman, 289 of which concerned ethnic discrimination. 

     

    • Complaints regarding ethnic discrimination received by Equality Body/Agency/Court

      In 2011, a total of 694 complaints of ethnic discrimination were received by the Equality Ombudsman. The  total complaints of dicrimination all grounds was 2353 complaints .  

      Numbers of cases 2353

      Qualitative Info

       

       

       

      2012 (first quarter)

      2011

      2010

      2009

      Ethnic discrimination

      283

      694

      761

      766

       


      Source:

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Asylum seekers
      • Africans/black people
      • National minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Anti-roma/ romaphobia
      • Xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://www.do.se/Documents/om-do/DOs%20%C3%A5rsredovisning%202011.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Number of cases where ethnic discrimination was found/established by Equality Body/Agency/Court

      The number of cases where ethnic discrimination was found/established by the Equality Ombudsman was 694 cases in 2011. 

      Numbers of cases 694

      Qualitative Info

      Complaints submitted to the Equality Ombudsman based on the ground ethnic discrimination 2009-2012

       

      2012 (first quarter)

      2011

      2010

      2009

      Ethnic discrimination

      283

      694

      761

      766

       

       


       

      Source: The Equality Ombudsman (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen), Årsredovisning 2011, http://www.do.se/sv/Material/Arsredovisning-2011/ (Accessed 27.01.2013). 

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Asylum seekers
      • Africans/black people
      • National minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://www.do.se/sv/Material/Arsredovisning-2011/

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Cases solved / corrected / settled

      In 2011, the Equality Ombudsman (DO) reached 49 settlements and took 8 cases to court. 

      Numbers of cases 49

      Qualitative Info

       

      In 2011, the Equality Ombudsman (DO) brought an action in court in 8 cases.

      Furthermore,  DO reached 49 settlements compared to 38 settlements lin 2010.

      In 2011, there were 13  judgments  announced in cases that DO pursued in court, seven in the Labour Court and sex in a public court. Four of the judgements  from the ordinary court were final. In addition, six judgments become final in 2011. Of these, DO won in 3 cases and lost 3 cases. 
      DO  won four cases of  seven in the Labour Court and five (of which ten became final) in court. DO has thus been successful in nine cases out of seventeen. In 2010, DO won six cases out of eleven, and in 2009  three cases of twelve.


      Source:

      Exemplary cases during 2011:

      On 28 February 2012, the Equality Ombudsman reached a settlement with the National Employment Service that awarded a Muslim woman 60,000 SEK (7,064 euro) in damages. The National Employment Service referred a Muslim woman to a chef-training course that required the students to eat pork. The woman was not allowed to attend the course since the education provider could not make an exception in her case. The Equality Ombudsman determined that the National Employment Service disadvantaged the woman due to her religion.


      Source: 

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Asylum seekers
      • Africans/black people

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Anti-roma/ romaphobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://www.do.se/sv/Material/Arsredovisning-2011/

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Sanctions imposed / compensations / awards attributed-received

      Although there is a deviation between earlier legal practices in combination with a lack of new practice, the Equality Ombudsman has reached settlements where up to 100 000 Euros have been awarded in compensation which is a higher level than previously.

      Qualitative Info

      Although there is little guidance provided from legislation regarding the amount of compensation, the Equality Ombudsman has been effective in reaching settlements by claiming compensation using the new law. The amount has been between 75 000 SEK (7500 Euros) and 300 000 SEK (30 000 Euros). This can be compared to the labor courts practice in similar cases where the range of compensation has been between 30 000 SEK (3000 Euros) and 50 000 SEK (5000 Euros). Although there is a deviation between earlier legal practices in combination with a lack of new practice, the Equality Ombudsman has reached settlements where up to 100 000 Euros have been awarded in compensation which is a higher level than previously. 


      Source:  The Equality ombudsman, http://www.do.se

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://www.do.se

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • ECtHR cases - decisions art.14 etc.

      There were no ECtHR cases - decisions based on art. 14 in 2011.

      Numbers of cases 0

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination

      External Url http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/596C7B5C-3FFB-4874-85D8-F12E8F67C136/0/TABLEAU_VIOLATIONS_EN_2011.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Cases - investigations before other EU and international bodies (European Committee for Social Rights - UN HRC - CAT etc.)

      In 2011, the Committe for Social Rights, concluded that the situation in Sweden was not in conformity with several articles in the European Social Charter. 

      Qualitative Info

       

      Sweden was found to be in non-conformity with the European Social Charter regarding: 

       Article 19 - Right of migrant workers and their families to protection and assistance. Paragraph 8 - Guarantees concerning deportation. The Committee concludes that the situation in Sweden was not in conformity with the Article 19§8 of the Charter during the reference period on the ground that migrant workers expelled on account of national security have no right of appeal to an independent body. 

       

      Article 19 - Right of migrant workers and their families to protection and assistance

      Paragraph 10 - Equal treatment for the self-employed

       

      Article 17 - Right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection

      Paragraph 2 - Free primary and secondary education - regular attendance at school

      The Committee concludes that the situation in Sweden is not in conformity with Article 17§2 of the Charter on the ground that children unlawfully present in the territory do not have effective access to education.

       

      Article 7 - Right of children and young persons to protection

      Paragraph 9 - Regular medical examination

      The Committee concludes that the situation in Sweden is not in conformity with Article 7§9 of the Charter on the ground that a regular medical examination for all young workers is not guaranteed by legislation.


      Source: Council of Europe, The European Social Charter, http://www.coe.int/T/DGHL/Monitoring/SocialCharter/ (accessed 2012-03-12). 

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://www.coe.int/T/DGHL/Monitoring/SocialCharter/

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Decisions-Infringment procedures initiated before the European Court of Justice

      4 cases from the European Court of Justice dealing with issues of migration, ethnic and/or religious discrimination have been reported from 2007 to 2011. 

       

      Numbers of cases 4 Exemplary cases Halilova Others v. Sweden, Akhmadov and Bagurova v. Sweden, 2007-07-10, Grigorian Others v. Sweden, Decision 2007-07-05,

      Qualitative Info

      The following are cases from the European Court of Justice dealing with issues of migration, ethnic and/or religious discrimination. 

      Halilova Others v. Sweden
      (Application No. 20 283/09, decision of 13 October 2009)
      Expulsion of a woman and two of her children, but not the son who was born in Sweden or the father of the child, both of whom are Swedish citizens, would cause a disruption of the family.  The Court decided to hold proceedings in those parts that related to splitting the family  and declared the remaining parts of the complaint were declared inadmissible.

      Limoni Others v. Sweden
      (Application No. 6576/05, Decision on 4 October 2007)
      The Court ruled that the Sweden's expulsion of Roma who came originally from a village in Kosovo back to Serbia was not considered contrary to Article 3 and the complaint was therefore declared inadmissible.
       

      Grigorian Others v. Sweden, Decision 2007-07-05
      The rejection of a family that had been established in Sweden, but without a residence permit  would not violate Article 8 and the complaint was declared inadmissible.
       

      Akhmadov and Bagurova v. Sweden, Decision 2007-07-10
      The conslusion from the court was that the parties failed to prove  a real risk of treatment contrary to Article 3 if they were rejected back to their home country. The complaint was therefore explained  inadmissible.

       


      Source: The Swedish Courts (Sveriges Domstolar) http://www.domstol.se/ (accessed 2012-03-12). 

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism

      External Url http://www.domstol.se/

      See other countriesSee indicator history