Efforts against racism and hate crime

Below are examples of ongoing efforts:

Coordination and monitoring 

The Government has tasked the Living History Forum with coordinating and monitoring the work under the Government’s Action Plan to combat racism and hate crime. This includes developing a system for monitoring this work that includes indicators to enable analysis of the results in relation to the objectives in the Action Plan. The final report on the Action Plan will be submitted in 2029.

General measures

Racism in digital environments 

The Living History Forum has been tasked with producing a knowledge overview of the spread of antisemitism online and measures to combat this. The final report on the task will be submitted no later than 31 March 2027.

Since 2022, the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) has had a permanent mission to conduct surveys and analyses of violent extremism and racism in digital environments.

The Swedish Defence Research Agency has been tasked with continuously producing and reporting new knowledge on the incidence of antisemitism in digital environments, and with creating conditions for the ongoing dissemination of knowledge about antisemitism in digital environments to actors including, but not limited to, the judicial system—for example, through networks and similar initiatives. The final report on the task will be submitted no later than 1 March 2029.

The Swedish Agency for the Media has been tasked with conducting a broad and long-term sustainable national initiative during 2024 and 2025 to strengthen the population’s media and information literacy. The tasks will be carried out in collaboration with the network MIK Sverige (MIK Sweden). The Swedish Agency for the Media will submit a final report on the task no later than 30 April 2026.

Work at local and regional level

As part of their mandate to support municipalities and regions in their work with human rights, the county administrative boards must report on how efforts to combat various forms of racism, including antisemitism, can be included in this work.

Support to and dialogue with civil society

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) distributes grants annually to activities that combat and prevent racism and similar forms of intolerance.

Organizations and faith communities can apply for government grants to enhance security in the premises where they conduct their activities. As of 2024, the grant for this purpose has more than doubled—from 30 million SEK to 74 million SEK annually.

Research and other sources of knowledge

The Living History Forum has been tasked with conducting a study of intolerance in the Swedish population. The study will cover attitudes and beliefs about vulnerable groups such as Afro-Swedes, Jews, Muslims, Roma and Sami. The Living History Forum will submit a final report on the task no later than 1 March 2027.

The Living History Forum has been tasked with conducting a study of antisemitic attitudes and beliefs in the Swedish population. The report on the task will be submitted no later than March 31, 2027.

The Swedish Research Council has been tasked to issue calls for grant applications for funding for a national research programme on racism, in consultation with the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte). Since 2016, the Swedish Research Council has been tasked to allocate at least 20 million SEK for this purpose.

The Swedish Research Council is implementing a special research initiative involving multiple calls based on their previously reported task to identify and produce recommendations regarding research on the Holocaust and antisemitism, as well as the victimisation of other groups in the Holocaust including Roma, and antigypsyism, with the aim to strengthen the current research field in the long term. The task will be reported to the Government Offices annually, starting no later than March 31, 2023, with a final report due no later than March 31, 2027.

Awareness-raising initiatives

The Equality Ombudsman has been tasked with carrying out specific awareness-raising initiatives to combat discrimination in access to, among other things, the restaurant and nightlife sector. Particular attention is to be given to the vulnerability of young people. The Equality Ombudsman will submit a report on the task no later than March 31, 2027.

The Living History Forum has been tasked with carrying out a broad awareness-raising initiative to remember the Holocaust by developing the message of the book “…Tell Ye Your Children… A Book about the Holocaust in Europe 1933–1945”. As part of the task, the Living History Forum is to promote awareness-raising through various channels and develop and disseminate different types of informational material. The final report on the task will be submitted no later than March 31, 2028.

Focus area Schools

The Swedish National Agency for Education and the Living History Forum have been tasked to further develop and monitor the tool for systematic work with efforts to strengthen democracy in the school system, in adult education, and in other parts of the education system for adults. The purpose of this work is to combat contemporary expressions of antisemitism and other forms of racism. The final report on the task will jointly be submitted no later than 15 January 2026.

The Living History Forum has been tasked with conducting a study of Swedish school pupils’ attitudes around intolerance. The Living History Forum will submit a report on the task no later than 1 March 2026.

The Living History Forum has been tasked with implementing awareness-raising initiatives to combat antisemitism for teachers and other staff within the education system. The Living History Forum will submit a final report on the task no later than 15 February 2029.

The University of Gothenburg has been tasked with disseminating knowledge about ways of working to combat antisemitism to actors, such as teachers and school principals, who have an important role in combating antisemitism among children and young people. These assignments are part of the work of the Segerstedt Institute.

In 2024–2026, the Government is allocating SEK 6 million annually to conduct remembrance trips and courses to Holocaust memorial sites to raise awareness of Nazi Germany’s crimes against Jews, Roma, and other groups, and to increase knowledge and understanding concerning historical and contemporary antisemitism.

The Swedish National Agency for Education was tasked with conducting a national study on antisemitism in the school system. The final report on the task was submitted to the Government Offices on 1 December 2025.

The Equality Ombudsman has been tasked with developing and communicating knowledge about Afro-Swedish pupils’ exposure to racism and discrimination in compulsory school and upper secondary school. The knowledge produced will be communicated to both the relevant rights-holders and the relevant obligations-holders in the area, such as staff in schools or organisers. The Equality Ombudsman will submit a final report on the task no later than 1 March 2026.

Focus area the Judicial system

The Swedish Police Authority will continue to develop its work to investigate and prosecute people for hate crimes and other offences that threaten democracy, as well as its work to combat cybercrimes with a hate motive and other offences that threaten democracy. The Swedish Police Authority must also maintain continuous dialogue and cooperation with groups who experience that they are at risk of hate crime.

The Swedish Police Authority has been tasked with contributing to the implementation of the government’s strategy to strengthen Jewish life and combat antisemitism within the area of Security. The final report on the task will be submitted no later than 15 February 2029. 

The Swedish Police Authority, together with several other agencies, has been tasked with taking measures to incorporate the National strategy against violent extremism (Gov. Communication 2023/24:56) into their activities. The agencies will submit a final report on the task no later than 1 September 2026.

As part of its ongoing work, the Swedish Prosecution Authority is to set up a digital network of designated hate crime prosecutors in order to improve the conditions for identifying and managing challenges in the area, and to disseminate relevant information to others within the organisation.

The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has been tasked with conducting a specialised study of antigypsy hate crimes. The report on the task will be submitted no later than 13 May 2026. The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has previously carried out specialised studies of antisemitic, Islamophobic and Afrophobic hate crimes, and hate crimes targeting Sami people in Sweden.

The Swedish Crime Victim Authority has been tasked with developing and disseminating information to those who are at risk of being or have been subjected to hate crime. This work is to include efforts targeting those working in government agencies and civil society who encounter people who have been subjected to hate crimes with various motives. The final report on the task will be submitted no later than 1 March 2026. 

The Swedish Crime Victim Authority is to follow up on what the information initiatives from previous tasks (Ku2020/01463, Ju2021/03329) have meant for people who have been victims of cybercrime. The Authority is to develop information initiatives and gather knowledge about the Internet as a crime scene, as well as about the extent and mechanisms of online hate speech. The report on the task will be submitted no later than 5 June 2026.

The Swedish Centre for Preventing Violent Extremism, which is under the auspices of the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, is tasked with providing needs-based support to local stakeholders, serving as a knowledge hub and contributing to greater efficiency and coordination in preventive measures against violent extremism.

In March 2024, the Government adopted the government bill En tydligare bestämmelse om hets mot folkgrupp (A clearer provision on agitation against a population group). The bill proposes that the provisions on agitation against a population group in the Freedom of the Press Act and in the Criminal Code should be clarified, and that their scope of application should be expanded to some extent. One of the proposals is to explicitly criminalise Holocaust denial and denial of certain other international criminal offences. Another proposal is that individuals in the protected groups can be given the status of an injured party with the right to damages. These amendments to the Criminal Code entered into force on 1 July 2024. It is proposed that corresponding amendments to the Freedom of the Press Act should enter into force on 1 January 2027.

Focus area Welfare system and public sector activities

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society has been tasked with implementing interventions intended to help prevent and to combat racism against the Sami. The task includes carrying out awareness-raising initiatives directed at municipalities and regions, focusing on, among other things, the Sami people and their culture, history, and their rights as indigenous peoples, as well as how racism against Sami can manifest and affect their living conditions. The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society will submit a final report on the task no later than 1 March 2028.

In cooperation with The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, the Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities is tasked with implementing awareness-raising initiatives aimed at preventing and combating anti-Muslim racism. The task includes developing and disseminating a guide addressed to municipalities in Sweden in order to increase awareness about people’s exposure to hostility toward Muslims. The final report on the task will be submitted no later than 1 March 2027.

The National Board of Health and Welfare has been tasked with supporting the implementation of awareness-raising interventions to combat racism in health care, dental care and social services. The task includes compiling knowledge about how racist notions are manifested and how they affect the staff, patients and users in health care, dental care and social services. The final report on the task will be submitted no later than 1 March 2028.

The Government intends to draft a legislative proposal on expanded protection against discrimination in public sector activities. Current legislation means that individuals have weaker protection against discrimination in their contacts with some government agencies compared to others.

The Living History Forum has a task to provide continuing professional development and awareness-raising initiatives concerning various historical and contemporary forms of racism to school staff and other relevant public sector occupational groups. The Living History Forum will submit a final report on the task no later than 15 April 2029.

Focus area Working life

The Equality Ombudsman has been tasked with taking special measures to strengthen employers’ prevention and promotion work to combat discrimination and in other ways promote equal rights and opportunities, regardless of ethnicity and religion. The final report on the task will be submitted no later than 1 March 2027.

The Swedish Work Environment Authority has been tasked with carrying out awareness-raising initiatives to promote work to prevent and combat racism in the work environment. These initiatives are to help increase knowledge among employers and other relevant actors about the requirements in the Work Environment Act (1977:1160) on preventing victimisation, with a particular focus on degrading treatment with racist overtones. The final report on the task will be submitted no later than 1 March 2027.