The Government has commissioned the report from the Equality Ombudsman to fill knowledge gaps about honor-related violence and oppression linked to child and forced marriages.
"The survey shows that the occurrence of child and forced marriages risks entailing a lifelong vulnerability, if society does not act," it states in the report.
Lise Tamm, head of the Equality Ombudsman, points to an important conclusion about what those who are forced into marriage are exposed to.
There is so much violence, she says.
Can do more
The survey consists, among other things, of a review of 144 court rulings, 39 interviews with people who in their profession come into contact with honor-related violence and with professionals and three exposed women.
According to Tamm, society can become better at detecting and helping women and girls in forced marriages. It's about those who work in municipalities, regions, and authorities having to ask more questions to those they meet about, for example, life situation and choice of partner. It's also about intervening earlier, applying the existing legislation, and providing more and longer-term protection to the women who break free from forced marriages.
The report has not been able to answer how widespread forced and child marriages are in Sweden.
Honor-related violence and oppression are a serious social problem, says Minister for Gender Equality Paulina Brandberg (L).
It is one of the greatest threats to equality in Sweden today.
171 polygamous marriages
Since child marriage is prohibited in Sweden, they are no longer registered.
Total, during the period 2014-2021, there are 556 registered marriages where one of the spouses was under 18 years old at the time of the wedding. The number of police reports of child marriage offenses was 87 in 2021, 72 in 2022, 57 in 2023, and 46 in 2024.
When it comes to forced marriages, the number of police reports has varied between 28 and 118 per year since 2014.
The report also addresses the occurrence of polygamous marriages. The Tax Agency has, in a review of the population register, identified 171 polygamous marriages, of which approximately two-thirds still exist. It's about religious marriages, since you can only be married to one person in Sweden.
