Sweden: Child Rapes Drove Overall Rape Increase in 2020

Sad girl with teddy bear standing in the corner.
Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

Total reported rapes in Sweden increased last year, and the change was driven by a surge in the number of sex attacks against children, according to National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) statistics.

According to Brå, the number of reported rapes in which women were victims remained largely the same as in 2019, but the number of child rapes in which the victim was under 18 increased by 16 per cent.

A total of 3,950 rapes against children were reported in 2020, with investigator Linn Brandelius telling Swedish broadcaster SVT: “When rape against children increases, there are usually large cases that are behind the change, where it may be the same victim and the same perpetrator, but crime has been going on for a long time.”

However, Brandelius admitted that “this year we have not uncovered a big case, so we do not know what the increase is due to.”

In total, the statistics show a one per cent rise in total criminality in Sweden in 2020, despite the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. Drug offences saw an increase of ten per cent last year, and vandalism attacks increased by 14 per cent.

The release of the figures comes just days after several Afghan migrants were accused of filming sex acts with underage girls, some as young at 13, and using the videos to blackmail their victims.

According to investigators, the Afghans were also sharing the pornographic videos on social media.

Last year saw several cases of child rape attacks with migrants as the suspected perpetrators in the Scandinavian country, including a case in the municipality of Österåker in which a migrant lured a 12-year-old to an asylum home and raped her.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.