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The government wants to switch up the work on men’s violence against women. Extended contact ban and criminalization of virginity checks and two of the measures.
– Much work has been done in the past, but it has not been enough, says Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg (L).
The government has reviewed the ongoing investigations and which of them should receive additional directives to match the government’s level of ambition, says Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) at a press conference.
– One thing we want to focus on is contact bans. There is an investigation underway and we will issue additional directives.
The supplementary directive includes, among other things, that the ban should be able to apply to larger geographical areas, such as an entire municipality, and that electronic monitoring such as foot shackles should be used more often.
The government has also recently decided on additional directives to the ongoing investigation into how protection for young women can be strengthened. There, they want to see a criminalization of so-called virginity checks, virginity certificates and virginity operations.
– We don’t just want to see strengthened protection – we want it to be illegal. The supplementary directive makes clear proposals that make this type of action illegal, says Strömmer.
Paulina Brandberg says that Friday’s press conference, which is held on the UN’s international day against violence against women, is a starting point for the work to have a higher level of ambition.
– We will put our ear to the ground and listen to those who are really affected by this in order to produce as good a problem analysis as possible.