At a glance
Key figures — the most important numbers on this page
Young people 3–25
≈ 240,000
Researcher estimate, Schlytter / City of Stockholm 2018
2009
≈ 7 %
14–18-year-olds with honour-based restrictions (urban sample)
2018
≈ 20 %
Jämy urban study — nearly tripled in nine years
Year
2022
Honour-based oppression becomes a specific offence in the Penal Code
Annually
100+
Reported honour-related offences since the legal change (Brå, short series)
Penal Code
Ch. 4 § 4 e
Honour-based oppression — control or coercion against several relatives
What does the data show?
Objective observations — not interpretations
- Scale: no agency systematically counts honour-based violence. The most cited figure, about 240,000 young people aged 3–25, is a researcher estimate by Astrid Schlytter for the City of Stockholm (2018/2019).
- Change over time: two urban studies (Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society 2009 and Jämy 2018) suggest the share of 14–18-year-olds under honour-based restrictions rose from about 7 % to about 20 %. These are two point measurements, not an annual series.
- Legal development: Sweden introduced honour-based oppression as a distinct criminal offence in 2022. Brå's statistics on reported honour-related offences are therefore too short for trend analysis.
- Methodical reading: 'reported honour-related offences' is not the same as 'confirmed cases'. Control and threats in a honour context are likely heavily under-reported.
Definitions
How the numbers are counted — and what they do not cover
- Honour-based violence
- Violence, threats or control against a person — usually a woman or young person — intended to defend or restore family or clan honour. May cover choice of partner, clothing, social life, sexuality and freedom of movement.Source: Jämy, the National Board of Health and Welfare, National Competence Team on Honour-Related Violence.
- Honour-based oppression (Penal Code ch. 4 § 4 e)
- Criminal offence introduced in 2022. The act means repeatedly or over a longer period exercising serious controlling behaviour or coercion against several relatives, or against a relative with a connection to a child.Penalty: up to four years' imprisonment, or six years for gross offence.
- Honour-based restrictions (Jämy / Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society)
- The pupil cannot choose partner, clothing or social life freely, or does not participate in swimming or sex education for family-honour reasons. The 2009 and 2018 urban studies measure exactly this category of restrictions.Source: Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society 2009; Jämy 2018.
- Schlytter estimate (240,000)
- Researcher estimate of the number of young people aged 3–25 in Sweden living in families where honour norms may restrict their lives. Based on school surveys and expert assessments in Stockholm, extrapolated nationally.Source: Astrid Schlytter, Stockholm University / City of Stockholm. Not an agency register.
- Reported honour-related offences (Brå)
- Number of police reports classified as honour-based oppression or other honour-related offence. The series started in 2022 and is therefore too short to draw conclusions about increase or decrease.
- Under-reporting
- The assumption that only a fraction of honour-based violence and control reaches the police or social services. Shame, fear, family pressure and uncertainty about legal protection contribute to a dark figure.Source: Jämy, National Competence Team on Honour-Related Violence, National Board of Health and Welfare.
- Collective control
- The term used in agency literature for several relatives — not only a single perpetrator — exercising control over a person's life, choices and freedom of movement. Central to the Penal Code offence of honour-based oppression and distinguishes honour violence from other intimate-partner violence.Source: Jämy, National Competence Team on Honour-Related Violence.
- Child marriage
- Marriage or marriage-like union where at least one party is under 18. Since 2020 child marriage is a standalone offence in Sweden (Penal Code ch. 4 § 4 c) with up to four years' imprisonment.Source: Government bill 2019/20:131.
- Forced marriage
- Offence under Penal Code ch. 4 § 4 c where a person is coerced or induced to enter into marriage or a marriage-like union. Penalty up to four years' imprisonment. Counted separately from child marriage, though the two often overlap.
- Virginity norms
- Ideas that a girl's or woman's 'virginity' before marriage is family property and honour. Can lead to control of clothing, social life, sex education, virginity tests or so-called hymen surgery. Included as an indicator in the Jämy and Origo studies.Source: Jämy, Origo, National Board of Health and Welfare.
- Female genital mutilation
- Procedures against a girl's or woman's genitals for non-medical reasons. Prohibited in Sweden since 1982 (Act 1982:316). The National Board of Health and Welfare estimated in 2015 that about 38,000 girls and women in Sweden may have been subjected, of whom ~7,000 under 18 — a modelled estimate, not a register.Source: National Board of Health and Welfare 2015 + situation update 2022.
- Confirmed vs estimated
- 'Confirmed' refers to cases recorded in crime or healthcare statistics. 'Estimated' refers to modelled estimates (e.g. Schlytter's 240,000 or the Board's 38,000). Estimates carry wide uncertainty intervals and should not be presented as exact values.
- Risk indicator
- Survey answer or agency assessment pointing to elevated likelihood of honour-based violence — e.g. no free choice of partner, no sex education, controlled leisure time. Risk indicators identify vulnerability, not confirmed offences.
How to read this
Data in context
How to read this
The charts below show what the numbers say — not an interpretation. Where data point in different directions (e.g. stable trust but rising insecurity) we show both series rather than pick a narrative.
- 2009*Ungdomsstyrelsen/Örebro universitet — ≈ 7 % 14–18-åringar med hedersrelaterade begränsningar (storstadsurval)
- 2018*Jämy / Stockholm-Göteborg-Malmö-studierna — ≈ 20 % (storstadsurval)
How to read this chart
Definition
The timeline shows the share of 14–18-year-olds in urban samples with honour-based restrictions in 2009 and 2018. Intermediate years are interpolation, not data.
Method
The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society 2009 and Jämy 2018 carried out separate school surveys in the Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö regions. The methods differ somewhat, so the figures should be read as two point measurements rather than an identical trend.
What the chart shows
- The urban studies 2009 (≈ 7 %) and 2018 (≈ 20 %)
- That there is no annual national measurement
- That the 2022 legal change has not yet produced a long enough Brå series
Limitations
- Only two measurements, nine years apart.
- Sample from metropolitan regions — cannot be generalised to the whole country.
- The definition 'honour-based restrictions' may have been interpreted differently in the two studies.
Where research shows strong associations, they are cited. Where the evidence is uncertain or contested, this is stated. The page draws no causal conclusion beyond what the data supports.
The Nordics — same metric
Ingen jämförbar nordisk tidsserie finns publicerad för denna mätning. Se bildtexten ovan för detaljer.
Human consequence
Persona
A head teacher at a lower secondary school in a metropolitan municipality.
Then
- All pupils took part in swimming and sex-education lessons.
- Outdoor days and sports events were planned without religious or gender-based exemptions.
- Parents' meetings treated every family as individuals, not as a collective with group rights.
Now
- Parents request gender-separated swim times or excuse girls from swimming (Swedish Schools Inspectorate, qualitative documentation).
- Outdoor days are replanned around halal meals, prayer times and gender-segregated groups.
- Girls say they cannot choose their own partner or friends — an honour-based restriction the school cannot always handle.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to what is most often discussed
2035
When collective control is treated as family culture — whose rights to choose are actually protected?
The next comparable data point is expected when Jämy updates the urban-area study.
Sources for this page
The data comes from official primary sources.
Jämställdhetsmyndigheten · Irregular
Jämställdhetsmyndigheten — hedersrelaterat våld och förtryckHedersrelaterat våld och förtryck — definitioner och nationella kartläggningar
Latest data point · Source published
Read the full investigation of how Sweden has changed.
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