HELSINKI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Sweden launched a new program Wednesday to combat what Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called "one of the largest and most frightening social problems" facing the nation: men's violence against women.
Speaking at a press conference in Stockholm, Kristersson said he will chair a new ministerial council on kvinnofrid ("women's peace"), aimed at strengthening coordination across government agencies.
Kristersson said the new effort will address violence linked to severe mental-health problems, domestic abuse, and so-called honor-related violence, in which women are targeted by family members. He added that the cabinet has already decided to tighten parole rules and strengthen how repeat offending is assessed.
Women's safety returned to the centre of public debate in late December 2025 after two widely followed cases -- one in Ronninge, a district south of Stockholm, and another in Boden, a town in northern Sweden. The incidents renewed scrutiny of how authorities assess risk and handle repeat violent offenders.
In Ronninge, police launched a large search after a 25-year-old woman was reported missing during the night into Dec. 26 last year. She was found dead on Dec. 27, and the investigation was reclassified as murder. In Boden, police responded to a call at a residence on Dec. 25, 2025 and later confirmed that a woman had died after being subjected to extensive violence.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said it "should not be life-threatening to be a woman in Sweden," adding that "dangerous men should be locked up" so women can feel safe in public.
The term kvinnofrid has deep roots in Swedish legal tradition. Historical accounts often link it to 13th-century "peace laws" intended to curb assaults and abductions of women, though original texts are not preserved.
