Leglslauon

Avallable daLa on
women vlcums of rape

70
LxperL
Wlveca PolsL
Leg|s|anon

1he Swedlsh enal Code denes rape ln ChapLer 6,
Secuon 1, as such:

A person who by assaulL or oLherwlse by vlolence
or by LhreaL of a crlmlnal acL forces anoLher person
Lo have sexual lnLercourse or Lo underLake or en-
dure anoLher sexual acL LhaL, havlng regard Lo Lhe
naLure of Lhe vlolauon and Lhe clrcumsLances ln
general, ls comparable Lo sexual lnLercourse, shall
be senLenced for rape Lo lmprlsonmenL for aL leasL
Lwo and aL mosL slx years.

1hls shall also apply lf a person engages wlLh anoLher
person ln sexual lnLercourse or ln a sexual acL whlch
under Lhe rsL paragraph ls comparable Lo sexual
lnLercourse by lmproperly explolung Lhe facL LhaL
Lhe person, due Lo unconsclousness, sleep, lnLoxlca-
uon or oLher drug lnuence, lllness, physlcal ln[ury
or menLal dlsLurbance, or oLherwlse ln vlew of Lhe
clrcumsLances ln general, ls ln a helpless sLaLe.

lf, ln vlew of Lhe clrcumsLances assoclaLed wlLh Lhe
crlme, a crlme provlded for ln Lhe rsL or second
paragraph ls consldered less aggravaLed, a senLence
Lo lmprlsonmenL for aL mosL four years shall be
lmposed for rape.

lf a crlme provlded for ln Lhe rsL or second para-
graph ls consldered gross, a senLence Lo lmprlson-
menL for aL leasL four and aL mosL Len years shall
be lmposed for gross rape. ln assesslng wheLher Lhe
crlme ls gross, speclal conslderauon shall be glven Lo
wheLher Lhe vlolence or LhreaL was of a parucularly
serlous naLure or wheLher more Lhan one person
assaulLed Lhe vlcum or ln any oLher way Look parL
ln Lhe assaulL or wheLher Lhe perpeLraLor havlng
regard Lo Lhe meLhod used or oLherwlse exhlblLed
parucular ruLhlessness or bruLallLy."
Add|nona| comments
1he lssue of consenL" ls noL yeL lncluded ln Lhe leg-
lslauon and Lhere ls an ongolng dlscusslon ln Swedlsh
clvll socleLy. 8ased on an evaluauon of Lhe rape law,
several lawyers, clvll socleLy and women's organlsa-
uons wanL Lo amend Lhe law Lo lnclude consenL, as
descrlbed ln Lhe lsLanbul Convenuon.
Ava||ab|e data on women v|cnms of rape
Accordlng Lo Lhe Swedlsh nauonal Councll for Crlme
revenuon, over Lhe lasL decade Lhe number of re-
porLed sexual oences has lncreased consLanLly, and
Lhe reporLs of rape have more Lhan doubled. 1hls
ls llkely due Lo a comblnauon of an acLual lncrease
LogeLher wlLh a rlslng Lrend of reporung Lhe crlme.
A large poruon of Lhe lncrease has occurred slnce
2003, when Lhe new sexual oences leglslauon came
lnLo force, whlch meanL LhaL some acuons LhaL were
prevlously classed as sexual explolLauon are now
classed as rape.
www.bra.se/bra/bra-ln-engllsh/home/crlme-and-
sLausucs/rape-and-sex-oences.hLml
NA1ICNAL ANALSIS
Sweden