Vad är det värt? - En brottsofferinriktad rättsfallsstudie över straffvärdet för grov kvinnofridskränkning
(2024) JURM02 20241Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Brottet grov kvinnofridskränkning går ut på att brottsliga gärningar begångna av en man mot en kvinna som han är eller har varit gift med eller som han bor eller har bott tillsammans med under äktenskapsliknande förhållanden ska bedömas allvarligare om var och en av gärningarna utgjort led i en upprepad kränkning av personens integritet och gärningarna varit ägnade att allvarligt skada personens självkänsla, än om gärningarna bedömts var för sig. Brottet infördes i brottsbalken 1998 med det uttalade syftet att motverka mäns våld mot kvinnor och främja jämställdhet. Fördelen med en ny brottskonstruktion skulle vara att just helheten i kvinnans situation, om än i belysning av enskilda gärningsmoment, tydligt skulle bli föremål för domstolens... (More)
- Brottet grov kvinnofridskränkning går ut på att brottsliga gärningar begångna av en man mot en kvinna som han är eller har varit gift med eller som han bor eller har bott tillsammans med under äktenskapsliknande förhållanden ska bedömas allvarligare om var och en av gärningarna utgjort led i en upprepad kränkning av personens integritet och gärningarna varit ägnade att allvarligt skada personens självkänsla, än om gärningarna bedömts var för sig. Brottet infördes i brottsbalken 1998 med det uttalade syftet att motverka mäns våld mot kvinnor och främja jämställdhet. Fördelen med en ny brottskonstruktion skulle vara att just helheten i kvinnans situation, om än i belysning av enskilda gärningsmoment, tydligt skulle bli föremål för domstolens prövning. Sedan införandet har minimistraffet höjts två gånger, senaste gången 2022, för att enligt lagstiftaren bättre återspegla straffvärdet på en lägsta nivå.
Den här uppsatsen analyserar fällande tingsrättsdomar från 2023 med brottsrubriceringen grov kvinnofridskränkning genom att tillämpa genusrättsvetenskaplig teori och metod. Syftet är att studera straffvärdebedömningarna och deras motiveringar för att undersöka om lagstiftarens intentioner avspeglas i hur lagrummet tillämpas samt föra en diskussion kring vad bedömningen kan få för konsekvenser utifrån ett brottsofferperspektiv. Granskningen görs därtill med ansatsen att föreslå förbättringsmöjligheter.
Undersökningen visar att straffvärdet i majoriteten av fallen bedöms ligga i den nedre delen av straffskalan och att straffvärdebedömningarna generellt är undermåligt motiverade. Många domar saknar helt motiveringar av straffvärdet och i de fall där motiveringar finns är de förhållandevis sällan formulerade med ett tydligt beaktande av brottsoffrets situation eller perspektiv. Vikten fästs vid de konkreta gärningarna och det efterfrågade helhetsperspektivet är inget som tydligt framgår av motiveringarna.
Slutsatsen är att domstolarna inte i tillräcklig utsträckning gör den helhetsbedömning utifrån kvinnans situation som efterfrågas. Rättsskyddssubjektet relateras sällan varken till den kontext hon befunnit sig eller att den kontexten har strukturella orsaker. Bedömningen av straffvärdet behöver tydliggöras. Den borde motiveras i alla domar och ges mer utrymme och en annan språklig utformning än idag. Språket borde ta större hänsyn till brottsoffrens, i mina ögon, legitima krav på upprättelse. Idag förekommer det att brottsoffrens upplevelser relativiseras på ett sätt som jag anser har direkt motsatt effekt. De grundläggande tankarna om ekvivalens, proportionalitet och förutsebarhet i rättssystemet får faktiskt heller inget tydligt genomslag i den dömande praktiken när det finns stora kvalitativa skillnader mellan brott som har bedömts ha samma straffvärde. Lagstiftarens intentioner om en mer differentierad straffvärdebedömning och ett större utnyttjande av straffskalan hörsammas inte. (Less) - Abstract
- The crime of gross violation of a woman’s integrity is based on the fact that criminal acts committed by a man against a woman to whom he is, or has been, married or with whom he is, or has been cohabiting under circumstances similar to marriage, are to be assessed more seriously if each of the acts was part of a repeated violation of the person’s integrity and the acts were liable to severely damage the person’s self-esteem, than if the acts were assessed individually. This crime was introduced into The Swedish Penal Code in 1998 with the explicit aim of combating men's violence against women and promoting gender equality. The intended advantage of a new legal construction was that the entirety of the woman's situation, albeit in the... (More)
- The crime of gross violation of a woman’s integrity is based on the fact that criminal acts committed by a man against a woman to whom he is, or has been, married or with whom he is, or has been cohabiting under circumstances similar to marriage, are to be assessed more seriously if each of the acts was part of a repeated violation of the person’s integrity and the acts were liable to severely damage the person’s self-esteem, than if the acts were assessed individually. This crime was introduced into The Swedish Penal Code in 1998 with the explicit aim of combating men's violence against women and promoting gender equality. The intended advantage of a new legal construction was that the entirety of the woman's situation, albeit in the light of individual offenses, would clearly be subject to the court's assessment. Since its introduction, the minimum sentence has been increased twice, most recently in 2022, in order to better reflect the penalty value at a minimum level, according to the legislator.
This essay analyzes district court convictions from 2023 with the criminal classification of gross violation of a woman’s integrity by applying the theory and method of gender jurisprudence. The purpose is to study the courts’ assessments of penalty value and their justifying reasons for the assessments to examine whether the legislator's intentions are reflected in how the law is applied and to discuss what the assessments and the justifying reasons may mean from a victim's perspective. The study is also conducted with the aim of suggesting possible improvements.
The study shows that in the majority of cases the penalty value is assessed to lie in the lower end of the penalty scale and that the penalty value assessments generally are poorly substantiated by justifying reasons. Many judgements lack justifying reasons of the penalty value all together, and in cases where the assessment is supported by justifying reasons, they are relatively rarely formulated with clear consideration of the victim's situation or perspective. The emphasis is on the specific offenses and the required holistic perspective is not clearly evident in the justifying reasons.
The conclusion is that the courts do not sufficiently make the holistic assessment of the woman's situation that is called for. The subject of legal protection is rarely related either to the context in which she found herself or to the structural causes of that context. The assessments of the penalty value need to be clarified. They should be supported by justifying reasons in all judgements and given more space and a different language than today. The language should take greater account of the victims', in my view, legitimate demands for redress. Today, victims' experiences are relativized in a way that I believe has the direct opposite effect. The fundamental ideas of equivalence, proportionality and predictability in the legal system do not have a clear impact in the judicial practice when the qualitative difference between offenses deemed to have the same penalty value is substantial. The legislator's intention of more differentiated assessments and greater use of the penalty scale is not heeded. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9152871
- author
- Åstrand, Clara LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Is it valued? - A victim-oriented case study of the penalty value of gross violation of a woman's integrity
- course
- JURM02 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- straffrätt, genusrättsvetenskap, straffvärde, grov kvinnofridskränkning, brottsoffer
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9152871
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-03 09:09:48
- date last changed
- 2024-06-03 09:09:48
@misc{9152871,
abstract = {{The crime of gross violation of a woman’s integrity is based on the fact that criminal acts committed by a man against a woman to whom he is, or has been, married or with whom he is, or has been cohabiting under circumstances similar to marriage, are to be assessed more seriously if each of the acts was part of a repeated violation of the person’s integrity and the acts were liable to severely damage the person’s self-esteem, than if the acts were assessed individually. This crime was introduced into The Swedish Penal Code in 1998 with the explicit aim of combating men's violence against women and promoting gender equality. The intended advantage of a new legal construction was that the entirety of the woman's situation, albeit in the light of individual offenses, would clearly be subject to the court's assessment. Since its introduction, the minimum sentence has been increased twice, most recently in 2022, in order to better reflect the penalty value at a minimum level, according to the legislator.
This essay analyzes district court convictions from 2023 with the criminal classification of gross violation of a woman’s integrity by applying the theory and method of gender jurisprudence. The purpose is to study the courts’ assessments of penalty value and their justifying reasons for the assessments to examine whether the legislator's intentions are reflected in how the law is applied and to discuss what the assessments and the justifying reasons may mean from a victim's perspective. The study is also conducted with the aim of suggesting possible improvements.
The study shows that in the majority of cases the penalty value is assessed to lie in the lower end of the penalty scale and that the penalty value assessments generally are poorly substantiated by justifying reasons. Many judgements lack justifying reasons of the penalty value all together, and in cases where the assessment is supported by justifying reasons, they are relatively rarely formulated with clear consideration of the victim's situation or perspective. The emphasis is on the specific offenses and the required holistic perspective is not clearly evident in the justifying reasons.
The conclusion is that the courts do not sufficiently make the holistic assessment of the woman's situation that is called for. The subject of legal protection is rarely related either to the context in which she found herself or to the structural causes of that context. The assessments of the penalty value need to be clarified. They should be supported by justifying reasons in all judgements and given more space and a different language than today. The language should take greater account of the victims', in my view, legitimate demands for redress. Today, victims' experiences are relativized in a way that I believe has the direct opposite effect. The fundamental ideas of equivalence, proportionality and predictability in the legal system do not have a clear impact in the judicial practice when the qualitative difference between offenses deemed to have the same penalty value is substantial. The legislator's intention of more differentiated assessments and greater use of the penalty scale is not heeded.}},
author = {{Åstrand, Clara}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Vad är det värt? - En brottsofferinriktad rättsfallsstudie över straffvärdet för grov kvinnofridskränkning}},
year = {{2024}},
}