Last week Swedish Radio News revealed that Stockholm Police had kept a secret database with names and details of 2000-3000 female victims of domestic violence. The illegal database, named Kvinnoregistret(Women’s Register) by the press, has been used for about 10 years and an estimated 20 police officers have contributed towards it. Though officially labelled a register over suspected abusers, the database contains details such as the victim’s name, age, ethnicity, country of birth, religion, history of abuse and hobbies, as well as details about their family members. Police officers have also made notes about possible psychiatric diagnoses and the credibility of the victim’s story. Many of the women have been brandedtricky,difficultandparticular.
Here are some excerpts from the database:
- Claimant sometimes socialises with drug addicts. Has difficulty keeping her story together. Has a daughter with intellectual disability.
- Claimant has visited inappropriate places.
- Claimant’s half-brother has a dodgy background.
- In my personal opinion, the claimant seems to have mental health issues.
- Claimant has, according to her sister, problems with alcohol abuse and mental health issues.
- She is very frightened and the fear is not in proportion to the assesed risk.
- Louise is a little girl with issues. Not our problem.
- Both parties give credible stories, however, the woman’s story is a bit “embroidered”
- Claimant has been here for 10 years, from Iraq. Fled Saddam Hussein’s regime, politically active. Member of Iraqi Artists Association in Sweden. Gives same old story about ex husband recently finding her. Social services believe she might have mental health issues, delusional.
- Claimant is a mentally retarded Roma.
- The greatest victim in this situation is the man himself.
Anna-Karin Rybeck, the head of the Sisters’ Shelter Somaya for women and girls, told Swedish Radio News:
“I am really surprised and am really upset, because the information that is registered here, is not interesting at all. The only thing it reveals is discrimination and racism and it reveals an antiquated view of women. I can, of course, understand that the police want to register indicators for arresting an offender, or if they want to minimize further acts of violence, but the information that is registered in this register is really just horrible. It also reveals lack of knowledge within the police force about the whole situation of violence against women.”
Police in the US responsible for nearly 1 in 10 adult male homicides
That’s according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and Cornell.
“A new study has found that police kill twice as many people as reported in official statistics, and that black men are 3 ½ times more likely to be killed by police than white men.
The study, carried out by the University of Washington and Cornell University, used a variety of data sources and found that police officers are responsible for about 8 percent of all homicides of adult males in the United States - or about 2.8 homicides every day on average.”
