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full screen National Police chief Petra Lundh in Almedalen. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT
The police have mapped just over 300 men who are at risk of exposing women to violence.
The men are found all over the country and will be visited by the police.
– They must feel that we are nearby and we must try to dissuade them from going further, says national police chief Petra Lundh.
The police are shifting their focus when it comes to men’s violence against women. From having worked mostly with the vulnerable women and protecting them, they now focus more on the perpetrators and stopping the violence.
In an initial survey, roughly 300 men across the country have been identified as “high-risk actors”.
– We look at several risk factors. It can be anything from the fact that you have previously been convicted of violence against women to mental illness, that there has been strangulation or there is possession of a weapon, says Petra Lundh.
If there is more than one risk factor, the person can be classified as a high-risk actor, and then a visit from the police awaits.
Outreach calls
– We simply have outreach calls where we say that violence is not allowed, that we see you and do you need help. Because that’s exactly what we really want, that people should seek help for this.
How do the men take this?
– It is very different, some do not want to hear about it at all, but there are actually those who also seek help.
Will it reduce violence against women?
– Hopefully, we have to try everything. Just this fact that we know who to target and that they should be aware that we know is important.
Urges to raise the alarm
The police have only used their own records when mapping the men. There may therefore be men who go under the radar. Petra Lundh calls on healthcare – regions, municipalities and others – to sound the alarm about people at risk.
– There are some who seek psychiatric care and other things. If we don’t find out that these are people at risk, if they express that they are going to harm someone else or something, then it is very difficult to intervene.
She emphasizes that there is such a confidentiality-breaking rule.
The police stated in their latest annual report that no significant difference had been made for women subjected to violence. This is an initial survey, but the work continues, says Petra Lundh.
– It is a vivid picture of the situation and I think it will be able to include even more eventually.