Crime & safety · concept and evidence
Humiliation robbery
Humiliation robbery is not an offence classification and does not exist as a separate category in the crime statistics. It is therefore impossible to say how many occur per year. Here is the evidence that does exist — and the limits of what it shows.
Sources: Brå 2021:19 Youth Robbery, Brå reported crime 2025, Penal Code chapter 8.
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Three things to know first
- 1. There is no legal definition of humiliation robbery. Robbery is regulated in chapter 8, sections 5–6 of the Penal Code; humiliating elements may affect the classification and penal value but are not recorded separately.
- 2. There are no official statistics on humiliation robbery. Brå counts robberies — not humiliation elements.
- 3. The only systematic national mapping is Brå 2021:19 'Youth Robbery', which coded preliminary investigations into robberies against people under 18 in 2015–2019.
Brå's six categories of power exertion and humiliation
Since both a definition and prior research were lacking, Brå constructed six categories in order to code the preliminary investigations. The categories are an analytical tool — not an established definition.
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Forcing submission | The victim is forced into acts signalling inferiority, such as apologising, kneeling or kissing the offender's shoes. |
| Degrading language | Verbal abuse, slurs and mockery during the robbery. |
| Documentation | The event is filmed or photographed, sometimes with threats that the material will be shared on social media. |
| Forced undressing | The victim is forced to remove clothes or shoes, wholly or partly. |
| Violence beyond the threat | Violence not needed to carry out the theft, i.e. violence after the victim has already handed over their belongings. |
| Prolonged exertion of power | The victim is held, moved or controlled for longer than the theft itself requires. |
How common are the humiliation elements?
The shares apply to coded preliminary investigations into robberies against people under 18, 2015–2019. They cannot be converted into counts or extrapolated to later years.
| Case type | Share with humiliation elements | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Only boys suspected | just over 1/3 | The share did not increase 2015–2019 — the results point if anything to a decrease. |
| At least one girl suspected | about 2/3 | These robberies involve comparatively frequent threats, violence and prolonged exertion of power. |
The development of youth robberies
- • The number of reported robberies against people under 18 more than doubled between 2015 and 2019.
- • In 2020 the number fell slightly — probably a pandemic effect, and the decrease occurred only in metropolitan and metropolitan-adjacent municipalities.
- • In smaller towns and rural municipalities the number kept rising; in percentage terms the increase was largest there.
- • Self-reported exposure to robbery among young people also rose during the period, as did worry about being targeted — particularly among boys.
Where and when the robberies happen
- • Most common after school, between 15:00 and 22:00.
- • Often occur near shopping centres and malls, public-transport hubs, schools and sports facilities.
- • Most robberies occur close to other people.
- • Typical takings are mobile phones, branded clothing and wireless earphones.
Suspects and motives (Brå 2021:19)
- • The majority of suspects are boys, mainly aged 15–20. The largest increase in suspects is among 15- and 16-year-olds.
- • Two thirds of those suspected in 2015–2019 had a foreign background, and many lived in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.
- • The share of girls suspected rose from 4 % to 8 % over the period — most clearly in the Stockholm police region.
- • Common motives: need for money, status within the group, excitement, or an underlying conflict between suspect and victim.
- • Close to half of youth robberies are committed by someone suspected of youth robbery more than once.
Reported personal robberies — all ages
These are personal robberies in total — not youth robberies and not humiliation robberies. The series is shown as context for the debate about the trend.
| Year | Reported personal robberies | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 074 | Firearms were used in 356 personal robberies. |
| 2025 | 3 155 | −23 % against 2024. Firearms in 283 robberies, 83 % of them against adults. |
Primary sources
The question this page answers
What do we actually know about 'humiliation robberies' in Sweden — when there is neither a legal definition nor official statistics?
At a glance
Key figures — the most important numbers on this page
Official statistical categories
0
Humiliation robbery is not an offence classification and is not counted separately by Brå
Systematic national mapping
1
Brå 2021:19 'Youth robbery' — coding of preliminary investigations 2015–2019
Share with humiliation elements when only boys are suspected
just over 1/3
Brå 2021:19 — the share did not increase 2015–2019
Share with humiliation elements when at least one girl is suspected
about 2/3
Brå 2021:19 — in-depth review
Reported robberies against people under 18, 2015–2019
+100 %
Brå 2021:19 — more than a doubling
Share of suspects who are girls
4 → 8 %
Brå 2021:19, 2015–2019 — most pronounced in the Stockholm police region
Suspects with a foreign background
2/3
Brå 2021:19 — 2015–2019; the report draws no causal conclusions
Reported personal robberies 2025 (all ages)
3,155
Brå — reported crime 2025, −23 % against 2024
What does the data show?
Objective observations — not interpretations
- The term emerged in Swedish media and political debate around 2019–2021. There is no legal definition: robbery is regulated in chapter 8, sections 5–6 of the Penal Code, and humiliating elements may affect the classification (aggravated robbery) and the penal value, but they are not recorded as a separate category.
- As a result, it is impossible to say how many humiliation robberies occur per year. Claims about increases or decreases in this specific phenomenon have no statistical basis — what exists is robbery statistics plus one qualitative mapping of the elements involved.
- Brå 2021:19 examined robberies against people under 18 in 2015–2019 and coded the preliminary investigations against six constructed categories of power exertion and humiliation. Where only boys were suspected, such elements appeared in just over a third of the investigations; where at least one girl was suspected, in roughly two thirds.
- Reported youth robberies more than doubled between 2015 and 2019 — but the share involving humiliation elements did not rise over the same period; if anything it fell. Volume and character are two separate questions that are often conflated in the debate.
- The situational picture is clear: robberies mostly occur after school between 15:00 and 22:00, near shopping centres, public-transport hubs, schools and sports facilities. Typical takings are mobile phones, branded clothing and wireless earphones. Motives are money, status within the group, excitement or an underlying conflict.
- The consequences for victims are substantial. Brå's interviews with parents describe fear, avoidance behaviour and in some cases a wish to move — effects that appear in no crime statistic.
Method note
Two sources with different limitations. (1) Brå's official reported-crime statistics count personal robberies, including against children and young people, but contain no marker for humiliating elements. (2) Brå 2021:19 is a qualitative coding of preliminary investigations — not convictions — covering only robberies against people under 18 in 2015–2019. The six categories were constructed by Brå for that study and are not an established definition. Shares from the study therefore cannot be extrapolated to later years.
Definitions
How the numbers are counted — and what they do not cover
- Robbery
- Taking property from another person by violence or by a threat of violence implying imminent danger. Penal Code, chapter 8, section 5.
- Aggravated robbery
- Robbery deemed aggravated, for instance where the violence was life-threatening, caused severe bodily harm, or where the offender showed exceptional brutality. Penal Code, chapter 8, section 6.Humiliating elements may form part of the 'exceptional brutality' assessment, but are not recorded separately in the statistics.
- Humiliation robbery (förnedringsrån)
- A colloquial and media term for robberies in which the offenders subject the victim to humiliation beyond the theft itself. There is no legal definition and no official statistical category.Brå explicitly states that both a legal definition and prior research are lacking.
- Power exertion and humiliation elements (Brå 2021:19)
- Six categories constructed by Brå to code preliminary investigations: forced submission, degrading language, documentation (filming), forced undressing, violence beyond the threat, and prolonged exertion of power.
- Youth robbery
- In Brå 2021:19: reported robberies where the victim is under 18. The definition is based on the victim's age, not the offender's.
- Aggravating circumstance
- A circumstance increasing the penal value under chapter 29, section 2 of the Penal Code, such as an intent to violate the victim's security and trust, or the victim being defenceless.
Primary sources
Agencies and research institutions behind this page
2
agencies/institutions
3
reports & studies
2
primary datasets
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to what is most often discussed
Related topics
Logical next steps if you want to understand the background
Crime and insecurity
The wider crime picture that youth robberies are part of.
Children in gang environments
Recruitment of ever younger people into criminal networks.
Vulnerable areas and parallel society
The area dimension Brå highlights in the mapping.
Punishment, reoffending, capacity
What happens after the crime — sanctions and reoffending among young people.