Children’s rights

The Swedish Government is presenting a new 10-year national strategy for combating men’s violence against women, domestic violence, exploitation in prostitution and human trafficking, and honour-based violence and oppression. In parallel, the Government has decided on two Government Commissions tasking several government agencies to take part in a national collaboration structure and to monitor progress in relation to the gender equality subgoals to combat violence, oppression and exploitation.

Speech by Sweden’s Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall. Delivered at the Sixty-fourth session of the Commission for Social Development, United Nations, New York. Check against delivery.

The 64th Session of the Commission for Social Development opens today, 2 February. Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall is representing Sweden in New York.

A proposal for new legislation on children and young people taken into care is to be referred for consultation by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. The proposals would see the Care of Young Persons Act being replaced by modern and clear legislation that meets the protection and support needs of children and young people today.

On 4–6 November, Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall will take part in the UN World Summit for Social Development in Doha.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire. Children are particularly vulnerable and severely affected under the current circumstances. In light of this, the Swedish Government has decided to allocate SEK 10 million to Save the Children’s efforts in Gaza.

On 21–23 May, Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall and Minister for Older People and Social Security Anna Tenje visited Lviv, Ukraine. While in Ukraine, Ms Waltersson Grönvall and Ms Tenje took part in the Ministerial Social Policy Summit, which Sweden co-hosted together with Ukraine, Moldova and Lithuania. Ministers from several EU countries were also in attendance.

The Government has decided to refer a proposal for new legislation to criminalise virginity testing, virginity certificates and hymenoplasty to the Council on Legislation. The proposal also includes criminalising the failure to report forced or child marriage. These proposals aim to strengthen the protection of women and girls living in communities where honour-based abuse is prevalent.

Preventive, accessible and knowledge-based: this is how the Swedish Government envisions the Swedish social services.

We welcome the revision of the Directive on combating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material and wish to declare the following.

Every year, half of the world’s children are subjected to various forms of violence. On 7–8 November, the first global ministerial conference on this topic will be held in Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. The Swedish Government is co-hosting the conference, together with the Government of Colombia, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children.

Speach by State Secretary Minna Ljunggren at the ISPCAN congress on prevention of violence against children, in Uppsala 19 August 2024. Check against delivery.

The Government is now presenting an action programme to prevent and combat men’s violence against women, domestic violence, honour-based violence and oppression, and prostitution and human trafficking for the period 2024–2026. The programme contains over 130 initiatives and measures to be undertaken on a broad front at national, regional and local level. The efforts will also be strengthened in four special priority areas for development.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency has been tasked with sharing knowledge about honour-based violence and oppression in connection with stays abroad. The Government has now also tasked the Agency with analyzing and presenting proposals for a national reporting and follow-up system for cases where a child or adult has been taken abroad. This involves determining the scope of the problem and establishing an approach to systematic follow-up.

Preventing and combating men’s violence against women, other types of intimate partner violence, and honour-based violence and oppression is a high priority for the Government. More than SEK 600 million will be invested in gender equality in 2024 and government agencies have been assigned several new assignments. The Government is now further strengthening the work towards gender equality and presents investment in women’s economic empowerment and to increase knowledge about national minorities’ exposure to violence.

In a referral to the Council on Legislation, the Government proposes amending the legislation on Swedish citizenship. The proposals entail stricter requirements on acquisition of Swedish citizenship by notification and better protection for children and adults in vulnerable situations. 

Support to Ukraine is the most important priority during the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU. On 1–2 June, the Swedish Presidency held a high-level meeting on protecting children to highlight how Ukrainian children have been affected by Russia’s aggression, and to discuss what EU Member States can do to respond to their needs. A very large number of Member States signed a declaration at the meeting.

Over seven million people in Ukraine have been forced to leave their homes and seek temporary protection from Russia’s aggression, both within Ukraine and in other European countries. The overwhelming majority are women and children. Children are often among the most vulnerable in war and conflict. Sweden and Ukraine have now entered into a cooperation agreement to continue supporting and protecting children.

Since December 2021, disinformation has been spread concerning Swedish social services taking Muslim children into care without a legal basis. According to the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency, there are no indications that the campaign will cease in the near future. Social services employees are being threatened and, in the worst case scenario, this risks leading to children in Sweden not receiving the social support to which they are entitled. The Government is now taking several measures to counteract the disinformation that is being disseminated.

The Government has adopted a national action plan to implement the European Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee. The European Child Guarantee aims to prevent and combat social exclusion by guaranteeing the access of children in need to a set of key services.