Swevic – Together against hate crimes

Organisation

Swedish Police Authority (Polismyndigheten) and Victim Support Sweden (Brottsofferjouren Sverige).

Start and end date

Start date:

1 January 2019.

End date:

31 December 2020.

Scope

National.

Target group(s)

Individuals and groups at risk of hate crime victimisation.

Funding

The project is funded by the EU’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014–2020.

Objectives

• Increase hate crime reporting and awareness of available support services.
• Build trust in the judicial system and confidence in civil society organisations among groups that are exposed to hate crime.
• Increase awareness about what a hate crime is.

Outputs

• Media and social media awareness-raising campaign reaching 1.8 million unique users.
• Regional conferences bringing together local-level police and victim support organisations.
• Final report delivered to the European Commission.
• Web page.

Description

The Swedish Police Authority and Victim Support Sweden jointly developed a project to address the under-reporting of hate crime. The methodology included using the civil society organisation Victim Support Sweden as a bridge to groups exposed to hate crimes.

In this way, the project aimed to build trust and confidence in the police among victims of hate crime.

The project included collecting information on experiences of victimisation at the outset to aid in designing the activities; regional conferences bringing local-level police and victim support organisations together; and outreach media and social media campaigns, which reached 1.8 million unique users.

Critical success factors

• Baseline research to inform activities.
• Establishing a steering group composed of both bodies, with dedicated project team members meeting regularly.
• Subcontracting a media agency to develop a successful social media campaign.
• Adapting quickly to critical risks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Actors involved in the design and implementation of the practice

The idea for the project was based on knowledge obtained from both the Swedish Police Authority and Victim Support Sweden. When the application for funding was accepted, this became the project plan. No further studies were necessary.

Monitoring and evaluation

The analysis and research company Novus was commissioned to supplement the interviews that were conducted for the project. Novus’s professional evaluation of the social media campaign and other communication activities added knowledge about how well the project managed to meet the subgoal of influencing the public.

According to Novus, information regarding hate crimes from the police or Victim Support Sweden has reached 1 in 10 Swedes. The content of the campaign was also well received and has positively influenced attitudes towards both the Swedish Police Authority and Victim Support Sweden. It is not yet possible to see statistically how the project has affected the propensity to report hate crimes as the project has only just been completed. Therefore, it was necessary to carry out this additional work on how people’s attitudes have changed. The project group perceives the result from Novus as very positive.

Publicly available contact details

See: https://www.brottsofferjouren.se/en/swevic-together-against-hate-crimes/