After the latest explosions and shootings, Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Green party, turned her ire towards those who express alarm over violent crime in Sweden. How can anyone talk about chaos in Sweden, she asked. ‘The truth is that we are a country that gives the rest of the democratic world hope.’ She takes pride in running the ‘world’s first feminist government’ but she has made it a political priority to play down growing numbers of violent crime, rapes included. It’s a form of denial usually associated with non-democratic states or nations in decline.
Shootings, hand-grenade attacks and gang warfare have made some city areas no-go zones
January was a particularly violent month in Sweden. A 63-year-old man was killed in Stockholm by a hand grenade lying in the street. A Dutch exchange student was hit by a stray bullet during an execution-style killing at a pizza restaurant in Uppsala. In Gothenburg, a hand grenade was thrown into a flat and exploded in the kitchen — the same predominantly immigrant-populated suburb where an eight-year-old British boy was killed in a grenade attack less than two years ago. In Malmö, a grenade was tossed at a police station and exploded outside. So it has not, so far, been a very happy new year.
For Swedes, this has become a familiar theme. Gun violence is on the rise, with daylight shootings and without regard for bystanders. In the past nine years, reported and attempted murders involving guns have almost doubled. According to Swedish police, hand-grenade attacks (which were virtually unknown until a few years ago) are without parallel in countries not at war.
Continue reading Violent crime in Sweden is soaring. When will politicians act?
















Pictured: Sweden’s current, proudly feminist, government cabinet, for whom “gender equality perspective is brought into policy-making on a broad front,” and “gender-responsive budgeting is an important component.” (Image source: Government of Sweden)






