The Government and the Sweden Democrats want to do more to address honor-related violence and oppression. The Government's investigator is now proposing how the law can be tightened on several points.
It involves, among other things, the crime of forced marriage. Forcing someone to get married is illegal. But to be convicted, it is currently required that the crime has been committed through threats or violence, or that someone has exploited a person's vulnerability. The investigator Viveca Lång proposes that the punishable area be expanded, so that it also includes misleading someone into entering into a marriage.
Parents should be punished
Furthermore, it is proposed that the penalty scale for both forced marriage and child marriage be tightened, from imprisonment for up to four years to imprisonment for at least six months and up to six years.
Tightening is also proposed when someone deceives a person abroad for forced marriage. It is currently called "deception to marriage trip", but the investigator proposes a new name: "marriage trip offense". The tightening involves more situations being covered. Additionally, attempts to take someone abroad for forced marriage should also be criminalized.
Marriage trip offenses against children are simultaneously given their own heading, and in those cases, it is not required that, for example, violence has been used.
The penalty scales for marriage trip offenses are proposed to be tightened from imprisonment for up to two years to imprisonment for up to four years.
Secret surveillance
The penalty scale for honor oppression is, on the other hand, not proposed to be tightened.
Neither should forced marriage be criminalized, according to Lång.
But the exception that exists for recognizing certain foreign marriages, such as polygamy, she believes should be removed.
Another proposal is that the police should be allowed to use secret surveillance when investigating forced marriage and child marriage offenses.
The law changes are proposed to come into force on July 1, 2026. The proposals are now being sent out for review.
For far too long, society's reaction has not been strong enough against honor oppression, says Strömmer.
He assesses that the Government will be able to proceed with the legislative proposal according to the investigator's timetable.
