Sweden just became the 10th European country to define rape as sex without consent.
The previous legislation required proof that the victim had been subjected to physical violence or threats or was in a vulnerable state. But after years of pressure, Sweden’s parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of changing the law, and the new text, ratified July 1, says that sex must be voluntary. If it’s not, then it’s prima facie illegal.
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Momentum for the change dates back to 2013, when four women joined together in outrage after a Swedish court acquitted three men of raping a 15-year-old girl with a wine bottle, a case they saw as evidence of failure with the justice system. They named their group Fatta — or “Get it” — and grew into a nonprofit organization that promotes messages about consent and gender norms through urban culture.
For Fatta, the law change was only a first victory, chairperson Elin Sundin told VICE News. “We need to go from a rape culture to a consent-based culture… what we really need is a change in male behavior and in the toxic masculinity,” she said.
Anne Ramberg, who heads the Swedish Bar Association, has no problem with the goal of changing attitudes around sex, but she says the new rape law leaves everything up to interpretation and gives victims false hope.
“I’m convinced the courts will have huge problems with this,” Ramberg said. “You extend the criminalized area, and in doing so, people easily get the idea that we will receive more convictions and we firmly believe that will not be the case,” she added.
Ramberg isn’t the only one who sees problems with the new law. At a training for Swedish prosecutors and police officers, many of the participants had questions about how to implement it.
“You have to get the people involved to describe the whole situation. There is a lot to remember for the people involved. That’s the bit I think will get really hard for us… it will be difficult to figure out what the boundaries are,” Anna Hugosson, a domestic violence investigator for the Swedish Police Authority, said.
Tony Halldin Hultkvist says the line between yes and no can be difficult for men to understand. He’s a Fatta board member and works for an organization called MEN that’s hosting all-male workshops throughout Sweden to educate men about consent. “I think the big task ahead is for men to start listening and thinking about their own behavior… actually that’s a great starting point,” Hultkvist said.
This segment originally aired July 2, 2018 on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
