(Local) The number of reported rapes and other sexual offences has been on the rise in Sweden since 2005 and has seen two distinct spikes: one between 2005 and 2008 and another after 2015.
There is little disagreement on these basic facts. Determining the reason behind these numbers is another matter, however.
Some say it is due to the way in which sexual crimes are reported in Sweden, where all reported events are recorded as crimes and several offences of the same type are recorded separately. In other words, if someone reports being raped by the same perpetrator five times, in Sweden that would be recorded as five potential crimes rather than one.
Others use the spike in rape statistics after 2015 to argue that the increases are due to the large influx of refugees into Sweden.
