SVT News meets "Malin" on a gray cloudy day in a city in Western Sweden. She lives with a protected identity - on the run from a man who, for several years, exposed her to mental terror, rape and abuse, she says.

Three years have passed since she took courage and left him and reported him for abuse.

"The kick in the back was the drip, if he could do it then maybe I would get the knife in the back next time," she says.

Hard to get damages

Almost a year after the report, the man was convicted of assault and she was awarded a damages. The money, she thought, would help her and her children begin a new life. But it would prove to be a tough job to get the damages.

- You have to take care of everything yourself and you can't cope. You have just gone through a trial and you have to go through so much so you just want to throw in the towel, she says.

Long way

Since the perpetrator did not voluntarily pay the damages, "Malin" needed to get help from the Crown Magistrate to recover it. But pretty soon she found out that the man had no assets. The alternative for her then was to turn to her insurance company. There she received a lump sum that covered some but not all of the damages.

Now, as the last alternative, she had to turn to the Crime Victims Authority. There, she received a so-called criminal damage compensation, but neither did it so that she came up with the doomed amount of damages, she says.

- It takes 10,000, but I haven't taken it.

Why?

"I can't cope," she says.

What do you think about getting no help here?

- That it's sad, but that's how it works in today's society. You get no help. You are alone simply.