I am very surprised by the numbers, says Anders Östlund, criminologist at the Mitt police region, to Upsala Nya tidning.
Östlund has reviewed all reports from 2021, which shows that only 112 of the reports concerned cases where the suspect knew the victim. In the remaining cases, it concerned an “unknown person” or a person who was in a “different relationship” with the plaintiff.
The suspected crimes are being committed indoors, according to the reports.
Being raped indoors by an unknown perpetrator is normally very unusual – except among women over 60, he tells UNT.
He has reviewed around 20 of the reports against "unknown person" or in "another relationship", and sees that home care staff are identified as perpetrators in all cases.
Östlund emphasizes that these are reports and not judgments.
The fact that there are 398 reports does not mean that there have been 398 rapes. It should be borne in mind that some elderly people are confused or have dementia. But for the same reason, there is a fear that there is a gigantic hidden number here, in that some elderly people either do not remember or cannot tell what they have been subjected to. Or that those around them do not believe them.
