Changes in the way sexual assault and rape is recorded in Sweden means there has been an increase in the number of reports over the last ten years.“In the Swedish system, individual reports regarding a great number of offences may affect and give rise to variations in the statistic,†the body says.
“For instance, when a single case is reported that turns out to involve hundreds or even thousands of instances of offences committed against an individual over the course of many years, every single incident is recorded as an offence in the year it was reported.
“It is also important to remember that non-reporting is particularly extensive for sex offences and changes in the inclination to report can affect the number of rapes in the statistic,†Brå says.
In 2015 there were 18,100 sex offences reported to police - an 11% decrease compared to 2014.Of these, 5,920 were classified as rape. Per capita that equates to 60 cases per 100,000.
In comparison, per capita there were 100 reports of rape per 100,000 people in the UK between April 2015 and March 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics.
I'm kind of disgusted I actually had to go onto the Huffington Post site.
Not a lot of definitive facts in there, mostly speculation.
There were legislative changes which resulted in the definition of rape being changed to record each individual incident separately which have likely inflated rape cases.
"According to Bra's figures, 10,500 incidents of sexual molestation were reported in the country in 2016 – a striking increase of 20 percent on 2015 (when 8,840 were reported)."
So instead of counting the years pre definition change compared to post definition change, there was a 20 percent increase of sexual assault from 2015 - 2016.
Originally posted by Geistalt
The change in how sexual assault is reported should only account for a fraction of the 1,472% increase.
Not if you understand how percentages work, actually. The article says that "For instance, when a single case is reported that turns out to involve hundreds or even thousands of instances of offences committed against an individual over the course of many years, every single incident is recorded as an offence in the year it was reported."
If every case involves at least 15 instances it would explain it by itself, not even counting population increase and the increase in incident reports.
Originally posted by The Ellimist
Are we seriously debating whether low-income communities in less developed countries have higher sexual assault rates?
Since when is Sweden a less developed country?