One in four of Swedish elected politicians suffered threats or harassment last year, and a quarter of those affected contemplated leaving as a result, a new report showed Thursday.
The issue was brought into the spotlight in October, when party leader of the Centre Party Anna-Karin Hatt stepped down after just five months, citing concerns for her safety following a slew of threats.
According to a new report by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Bra), 25.4% of elected representatives stated that in 2024 “they had been the victim of some form of threat or harassment, or of violence, vandalism or theft”.
The report is based on a survey of elected politicians and Bra said about 7,500, out of the just over 13,300 elected representatives that constituted the sample population, had participated.
Women were slightly more at risk with 26.8% of those surveyed stating that they had been victimised at least once during 2024, compared to 24.4% of men.
The report also said that one in four of these politicians had considered leaving as a result.
“The proportion of victimised elected representatives who state that they have considered leaving a specific assignment or all of their assignments has increased over time, among both men and women,” the report said.
In most cases the perpetrator was either unknown or anonymous, according to the report, which further said that most of the incidents were threats or attacks via social media.
Bra also said that the harassment increased during election years and that the level seen in 2024 was comparable to that seen in 2020, when 26% said they had been victimised.
Sweden’s next election is scheduled for September 2026.
(vib)
