What happened
Caroline Mellgren, associate professor of criminology at Malmö universitet, writes in an opinion article in Sydsvenskan that crime prevention work must be measured in women's freedom and not solely in reduced crime. According to Nationella trygghetsundersökningen, NTU 2026, general concern about crime is declining as shootings and gang violence decrease. At the same time, roughly one in five women and 46 percent of women aged 20–24 state that they often worry about rape or other sexual assaults. Mellgren points out that every other young woman chooses alternative routes or modes of travel due to concern, and she emphasizes that this restriction in public spaces is a serious gender equality issue that has fallen into the shadow of the gang debate.
Our analysis
For years, women's safety has been used as a battering ram in the Swedish migration debate. Right-wing politicians have frequently portrayed new Swedes as the major threat to women's freedom to justify increasingly harsh measures, stop-and-search zones, and talk of remigration. But once the same politicians are in power, resources are directed almost exclusively toward hunting gang criminals, while structural violence against women is left without the same political mobilization.
Mellgren's alarm shows what happens when the issue of safety is hijacked by an anti-immigration agenda. Women's actual daily lives – whether they are new or established Swedes – are about not daring to take the bus home, being forced to change routes, and constantly calculating risks in public spaces. The right to move freely is a fundamental question of freedom, not a political alibi to cast suspicion on suburban areas.
It is time to turn the question to the government and its support party. If the goal were truly women's safety, why don't we see the same zeal, the same budget investments, and the same crisis meetings when it comes to men's sexual violence against women?
Explained
Nationella trygghetsundersökningen (NTU) is a recurring survey from Brottsförebyggande rådet (Brå) that measures people's exposure to crime and how safe they feel in everyday life.