A new study shows that over 200 cases of sexual abuse and violations have been reported to Sweden’s Sis home in recent years. Most of the acts have been carried out by male staff at the authority. That girls at the state authority responsible for compulsory care of young people are exposed to violence is nothing new, says Jenny Westerstrand, chairperson of the National Organization for Women’s Shelters and Girls’ Shelters in Sweden, Roks.
– It has come to light several times that girls in society’s care are sexualized and violated in sexual ways and it is nothing different from society at large. But if you lock someone up and care for them, you must not have forms that allow this to happen – and not to this extent, it is completely senseless, she says.
“Gigantic problem”
Many of the girls have been exposed to prostitution earlier in life and need the right kind of support, emphasizes Jenny Westerstand. But once they receive support, just as the report describes, it can instead become even worse.
– This is a gigantic problem that we have to get to the bottom of. It does not only concern the Sis homes, but since it is compulsory care there and in the hands of society, it is of course extra serious.
“Let the girls be with women”
Elisabet Åbjörnsson Hollmark, director general at Sis, told the news agency TT that one of the ambitions going forward is to employ more women, with a goal of 70 percent women at homes for girls. At Rok’s women’s and girls’ emergency services, the vulnerable are met only by women. According to Jenny Westerstrand, it is something that Sis homes should also apply.
Jenny Westerstrand also points to a lack of knowledge about gender and violence – and how to react to exposure to violence.
– How difficult it can be to put into words what you have been through, how you need to be met with understanding and how you need to lift guilt and shame from this group.