But according to a new study from the Crime Prevention Council (Brå), it is largely the law that makes Sweden stand out, reports Dagens Nyheter.
The definition differs
The study has compared Sweden with Norway, Denmark, Germany and England / Wales, and shows that the definition of rape differs greatly from country to country.
Another difference is how the law views sexual abuse of children under the age of 15, where in Sweden it is always considered rape.
Another difference is that several rapes committed by the same perpetrator against the same victim in many countries are counted as a crime.
In Sweden, all individual abuses are counted as separate crimes.
Comparison with Germany
If we in Sweden were to count in the same way as in Germany, we would end up somewhere in the middle of the registration frequency in Europe, according to Brå.
- There is no support for Sweden standing out negatively when it comes to rape reports, says Stina Holmberg, research and investigation council, to DN.