Rapes that are not reported to the police.
Offenders who remain employed, or get a new job elsewhere.
It is a recurring feature in Expressen’s review of sexual abuse in care for the elderly.
Minister for the Elderly Anna Tenje believes that municipalities sometimes hide behind rules on employment law and confidentiality – because it is most convenient.
Minister for the Elderly Anna Tenje says that she is outraged and touched by the abuse.
Photo: PELLE T NILSSON / SPA SPA | SWEDISH PRESS AGENCY
Recently, Upsala Nya Tidning reported that 398 rapes against women over 60 have been reported from 2021 until now. In many cases, it is home care staff who are singled out.
This year alone, eight employees in home care and nursing homes have been convicted of rape and other serious sexual assaults against women they were assigned to care for, Expressen can reveal.
– There are few things that make me so provoked and pissed off, but also so deeply touched, says Minister for the Elderly and Social Insurance Anna Tenje (M).
The government proposes extended register checks
The government has proposed that municipalities should be allowed to carry out register checks on people who are offered jobs in elderly care. The checks must include the charge register and in some cases also the suspicion register.
Today, there is no explicit legal support for it, although some municipalities carry out checks in any case.
– The elderly must be able to feel safe and secure with whom they let in over the threshold of their own home. Just like children and young people, whom we have protected in the same way for a long time, the elderly are particularly vulnerable, says Anna Tenje.
The Riksdag votes on the proposal in January, and the rules are proposed to come into force in March.
The proposed rules are not binding on employers. In parallel, the government has appointed an investigation into mandatory controls.
Rapes are not reported to the police
Most of the perpetrators in Expressen’s review have not previously been convicted of crimes and thus had not been caught in a criminal record check.
– Register checks do not relieve employers of their responsibility to carry out reference checks and proper interviews, says Anna Tenje.
A recurrent feature in Expressen’s review is that the municipalities have not reported the abuses to the police.
– Then it is completely ineffective with extracts from the charge register and the suspicion register. If you have not filed a police report, you are not there. Then it is easy for the individual, we have seen this in several different places, to move on to the next employer, says Anna Tenje.
Blame it on secrecy
Some municipalities refrain from reporting some suspected crimes with reference to confidentiality.
Recently, the regulations were changed so that confidential information can be provided to the police if it relates to suspected crimes with a minimum penalty of at least six months in prison. Previously, the bar was one year in prison.
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But according to Anna Tenje, it happens that municipalities use confidentiality regulations to sweep problems under the carpet.
– I have worked in municipal politics for a long time and know how it sounds sometimes. You don’t want to get bad media attention and it’s easier to just get rid of them. But then you really don’t solve the problem in the long term.
“Doesn’t dare take the right measures”
Sometimes designated perpetrators are allowed to continue working with reference to employment law reasons. Instead, employers choose less intrusive measures, such as telling an employee not to work with a certain person or not to help women with intimate hygiene.
Anna Tenje states that the workers’ position under labor law is strong in Sweden, but also believes that the rules can become something that the municipalities hide behind.
– You don’t dare to take the right measures because you are afraid that it will be a bit of a hassle.
