Over 100 Reports of Abuse at Swedish Youth Homes in Four Years

A report has claimed there have been at least 106 reports of abuse, often sexual, in Sweden’s homes for disadvantaged youths in the last four years.

The details come from Sweden’s HVB homes, with claims that at least 133 people under the age of 25 have been victims of either sexual assaults or rapes in the last four years, SVT reports.

The youngest to have been affected by abuse is said to have been a mere four years old and that most of the abuse came from other young people living in the homes, but some staff have also been alleged to have committed assaults against young residents.

In one case, a 25-year-old named Amanda said that it was her therapist who had abused her saying, “It is so hard to go into therapy and talk to someone that you have been exposed to by a therapist. No therapy works. It’s the worst thing that happened to me.”

“It has ruined everything. I lost all my trust for the care,” she added.

Lawyer Silvia Ingolfsdottir Åkermark, who specialises in sexual assault cases, expressed outrage at the report saying, “The state is obliged to protect young people who are placed in HVB homes. That is why these homes exist. No one should be subjected to sexual abuse, neither by staff nor by someone with whom they live.”

The data on the reports was gathered using court documents, filings, complaints, and inspections that took place from 2014 to 2018. Information on verbal sexual harassment was not included.

Similar sex attacks have also been reported in asylum homes for unaccompanied minor migrants in Sweden including a case in Malmö in February 2016 when a 15-year-old Afghan boy was raped in a field near the asylum centre in which he and the attackers were living.

Another more recent case saw a 45-year-old female Social Democrat politician accused of having sexual relations with a 16-year-old asylum seeker at a HVB home in Western Sweden.

Some, including Moderates MP Hanif Bali, later criticised Swedish broadcaster SVT for not including the fact the 45-year-old had been a local member of the Social Democrats in their report on the story.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com