From police report to prosecution. Incidents of sexual harassment reported to the Swedish police

Description

In this paper, we present findings from a study on incidents of sexual harassment that were reported to the Swedish police. The study uses pre-trial investigation files to explore what characterizes such incidents and what happens to these incidents after they were reported. Nine percent lead to prosecution (either indictment or a summary fine being imposed by prosecutor). Differences and similarities between cases that are terminated with no further action and cases that are prosecuted have been analysed, considering both legally relevant circumstances and extra-legal factors.
The findings are discussed from three points of view. First, Liz Kelly’s framing of sexual harassment as part of the continuum of women’s experiences of sexual violence is used. A key idea for the continuum analysis is that sexual violence consists of a series of events that cannot be readily distinguished nor hierarchically ranked according to their seriousness. An inherent logic of criminal law is to grade sexual violence according to its perceived seriousness: rape is considered the most severe crime while verbal harassment is one of the least severe. Against the background of this tension between criminal law logic and a feminist understanding of sexual violence, we compare the findings with previous research about incidents of rape reported to the police. Secondly, we compare the findings with previous studies on discrimination within the criminal justice system. Finally, from a legal doctrinal perspective, we analyse the extent to which formal criminalisation corresponds with substantial criminalisation: Is sexual harassment a de facto matter for the criminal justice system?

Period	2023 Sept 7
Event title	Eurocrim 2023: 23rd Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology
Event type	Conference
Location	Florence, ItalyShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International