Sexual Harassment
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Men´s violence against women in "equal" Sweden - a prevalence study Eva Lundgren, Gun Heimer, Jenny Westerstrand, Anne-Marie Kalliokoski Men’s violence against women in “equal” Sweden – a prevalence study Eva Lundgren, Gun Heimer, Jenny Westerstrand, Anne-Marie Kalliokoski Brottsoffermyndigheten Uppsala Universitet Box 470 Box 821 S-901 09 UMEÅ S-751 08 Uppsala First published in 2001 as Slagen Dam- mäns våld mot kvinnor i jämställda Sverige - en omfångsundersökning. Translated by Julia Mikaelsson and Geoffrey French Production Grafi c design: Kombi Marketing AB Cover: Daniel Norman Printed by: Åströms tryckeri AB, Umeå 2002 This book is available through Fritzes Offentliga Publikationer Postal adress S-106 47 Stockholm, Sweden Fax: +46 8 690 91 91, phone: +46 8 690 91 90 E-mail: [email protected] ISBN 91-974139-4-1 Index Preface ............................................................................................................ 5 Introduction........................................................................................................ 7 Violent experiences in total .............................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 1 Origins of this study......................................................................................... 11 The research context................................................................................... 11 Design of the questionnaire.........................................................................15 Methodological foundations ........................................................................16 Infl uence on the wording of the questions...................................................19 Method ........................................................................................................21 CHAPTER 2 Violence within sexual relationships..............................................................24 Violence by former husband/cohabitant partner.........................................24 Violence by present husband/cohabitant partner .......................................28 Controlling behavior ....................................................................................30 Linkages ......................................................................................................32 Will it ever end? ...........................................................................................35 Children witnessing and falling victim to violence .......................................36 Violence by boyfriends with whom the woman has not cohabited..............38 CHAPTER 3 Violence outside sexual relationships ...........................................................42 Extent, type of violence and frequency .......................................................42 The most recent violent experience ............................................................44 Worry about violence ..................................................................................46 CHAPTER 4 The most recent violent incident, regardless of relationship......................48 CHAPTER 5 Where do woman seek help? ..........................................................................51 Was the most recent violent experience reported to the police? ................51 Then where do women seek help if subjected to violence by a man in a sexual relationship?...................................................................54 3 CHAPTER 6 Violence, a question of health and living conditions? .................................57 Physical and psychological disorders and violent experiences ..................57 Women’s perceptions of the effects of violence..........................................60 Contemplating and attempting suicide........................................................62 Violence and physical injury........................................................................63 Use of medication........................................................................................63 Violence during pregnancy..........................................................................64 CHAPTER 7 Sexual harassment ...........................................................................................67 The aggregate experience of sexual harassment .......................................68 Who are the victims?...................................................................................68 Who are the perpetrators? ..........................................................................70 CHAPTER 8 Myths about violence?.....................................................................................72 CHAPTER 9 Summary and comments.................................................................................77 Recommendations..............................................................................................87 APPENDIX 1. Questionnaire ..........................................................................................92 2. Preliminaries to the study ......................................................................127 3. Ethical scrutiny.......................................................................................130 4. Method...................................................................................................131 5. Tables.....................................................................................................136 References .......................................................................................................142 4 Preface The Protection of Women’s Integrity reform represents a legal and political milestone which has attracted attention even at international level. However, more rigorous legislation will not of itself solve the serious problem posed by men’s violence against women in our society. The reform was therefore combined with calls for changes in basic education along with efforts at the further education level to disseminate awareness of power and violence in close relationships and thus create wider opportunities for professional treatment of both crime victims and offenders. In conjunction with the Protection of Women’s Integrity reform, the Government commissioned the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority (Brottsoffermyndigheten) to carry out a specifi c study of victims of men’s violence against women. The Authority in turn commissioned Professor Eva Lundgren, incumbent of a government-appointed professorship specialising in violence to women, and Associate Professor Gun Heimer, Head of the Swedish National Center for Battered and Raped Women (Rikskvinnocentrum), to be responsible for conducting the survey. The survey elicited a high percentage of responses despite the fact that many of the questions can only be described as intrusively personal. The era of reticence seems to have passed. Women of all ages are both able and willing to relate their experiences of threats and violence. The overall state of affairs collectively described by these women constitutes a massive challenge to the myth of Sweden as already a land of equality. It is a scenario of threats and violence amounting to serious breaches of women’s human rights. The results of the study lend weight to the government’s remarks in the Protection of Women’s Integrity Bill urging the importance of increasing our understanding of the links between the culture of masculinity and violence against women. These results are of concern to everyone, but they mark a special professional responsibility for staffs working in the judicial system, social services or health and medical services and also for scholars and educationists. Read, refl ect and act for protection of women’s integrity. Britta Bjelle, Director-General 5 Introduction In 1998, the Government and the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority (Brottsoffermyndigheten) granted funds for a study of the extent of violence against women. The study is the first of its kind in Sweden. In the preliminary phase a questionnaire was designed and, after a pilot study, sent to 10 000 women. Selection, distribution and collection were handled in cooperation with Statistics Sweden (Statistiska Central Byrån, SCB). The responses were then processed statistically and the data compiled and interpreted. This initial report presents the main fi ndings of the study. Jenny Westerstrand, Graduate in Law, Uppsala University, acted as coordinator of the project, dealing with all aspects of the study, scientifi c as well as administrative. Anne-Marie Kalliokoski, Department of Sociology, Uppsala University, was responsible for processing the statistics. Maria Eriksson, Department of Sociology, Uppsala University, and Kristina Stensson, of the Swedish National Center for Battered and Raped Women, (Rikskvinnocentrum), Uppsala, took part in the project during the project’s initial and fi nal stages respectively. Thanks are due for their contributions to this project. We also offer sincere thanks to all those women who responded to the questionnaire and by so doing helped to bring to light new and important knowledge on the subjects of men’s violence against women, of women’s experiences of violence, and of the connections between the various kinds of violence. We are convinced that the knowledge which we have gained and is now presented here will be of great service in combating violence. Eva Lundgren Gun Heimer Professor of Sociology Associate Professor/Chief Physician 7 Violent experiences in total Physical and sexual