Victimological perspectives on police reporting among elected representatives in Sweden

Violence, threats and harassment against politicians is a serious and global concern. Research indicates that such violence and threats can lead politicians to adapt, self-censor or even choose to resign. While previous research has examined the prevalence, causes and consequences of violence against politicians, comparatively little is known about the reporting of such crimes and how reporting patterns vary according to politicians’ age, gender and party affiliation. This article is based on an empirical study of law enforcement responses to crimes against politicians in Sweden. It analyses the number of police reports made concerning crimes against politicians, and variations based on crime type and the politician’s age, gender and party affiliation, in relation to victimological theory on reporting. The article provides descriptive statistics based on a unique dataset consisting of all reports (2,684) of crimes targeting politicians from 2020 to 2022. The article shows that the most common crimes reported are molestation, defamation and unlawful threat, that the gender difference is limited while elder representatives are significantly less likely to appear in reports and that representatives from the Green Party, Sweden Democrats and the Moderate Party are overrepresented in the reports. The results point to the need to explore further the criminal justice system’s response to crimes against politicians.