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Roadblocks and police at the place where a 17-year-old girl was found dead in Marks municipality earlier in March. A boy of the same age is suspected of the murder.
1 / 2Photo: Adam Ihse/TT
At least twelve women are suspected of having been murdered in Sweden during the first three months of the year. In most cases, it is a man close to the woman who is suspected of the murder.
– If it turns out to be true, it is an alarmingly high number, says Moa Mannheimer, death investigator at the National Board of Health and Welfare.
In at least nine of the cases, the woman and the man have been in a relationship or previously had a relationship. That is almost as many cases of fatal violence in a couple relationship as the ten confirmed murders that occurred last year.
– It is much higher than it usually is. Possibly a number of these will be written off, but even if it’s only half as many, it’s way too many. That these crimes are committed is a failure, says Moa Mannheimer.
According to the National Board of Health and Welfare, which since 2012 has been tasked with investigating cases of fatal violence in close relationships, there are a long list of shortcomings in society’s safety net.
In the authority’s review between 2022 and 2023 of around 40 cases of fatal or attempted fatal violence, it appears, among other things, that violence is not detected despite extensive social contacts with victims and perpetrators, that insufficient support and protection is offered despite knowledge of violence, and that cooperation between social actors are lacking.
– We see a large number of shortcomings in our investigations. Much more needs to be done, both to protect victims of violence and to implement measures to prevent perpetrators of violence from continuing to perpetrate violence, says Moa Mannheimer.
Protected residence
Among other things, it is about the vulnerable not always getting the interventions they themselves believe they need, for example sheltered housing. Help with finding long-term housing is also lacking from the authorities.
Another problem is that the help is largely based on the victim seeking it himself and maintaining contact, for example with the care. Society must take greater responsibility there, says Moa Mannheimer.
– If you do not show up or are not active, the care contact is terminated. But a person in such a very vulnerable situation needs care where you return and follow up.
Focus on violence
The National Board of Health and Welfare also points out that violent people, of whom the absolute majority are men, are offered too few interventions with a direct focus on the use of violence.
– You can have contact with addiction care or social services, but the problem of violence is not addressed sufficiently. There, you also need to develop more methods and research into what actually works.
Although the number of murders in a close relationship can vary from year to year, it has been at a relatively constant level for the past 20 years, notes Moa Mannheimer. Around 15 women are murdered annually.
– Society must do much more to prevent this.
FACTS 12 suspected femicides
6/1: A man in his 50s is suspected of having murdered his wife in Vagnhärad. He has previously been convicted several times for abusing the woman.
25/1: A 65-year-old man is suspected of murdering his partner in Vänersborg. The man has previously been convicted several times for abusing the woman, according to P4 Väst.
11/2: A man in his 60s is suspected of stabbing to death a woman he had a relationship with in Kungälv.
13/2: A man in his 80s is suspected of having murdered his ex-wife in Uppsala.
21/2: A man in his 50s is suspected of murdering an elderly woman who is found dead in a home in Skelleftehamn. According to Norran, the man is the woman’s son.
10/3: A 35-year-old man is suspected of murdering his girlfriend in Ronna in Södertälje.
14/3: A 17-year-old boy is suspected of having murdered a girl of the same age in the municipality of Marks. The girl is found dead on March 18, but she is believed to have died the same day she disappeared, March 14.
15/3: A 45-year-old man is suspected of murdering a woman with whom he had a relationship in central Stockholm.
15/3: A man in his 50s is suspected of murdering a woman in her 40s in Borlänge with whom, according to Expressen, he previously had a relationship. The man has previously been convicted, including for serious violence against another woman.
21/3: A 33-year-old man is suspected of murdering a 40-year-old pregnant woman in Linköping with whom he previously had a relationship, according to Corren.
23/3: A man in his 60s is suspected of murdering his partner in Hässelby in western Stockholm. The man is also suspected of aggravated rape of the woman the day before.
28/3: A man and a woman are found dead in a home in Gävle. The police are investigating the incident as a murder.
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