The Legal Framework as A Way of Correcting Attrition in Sexual Offences : Lessons Learned from Sweden

This chapter focuses on the Swedish regulation on rape, with emphasis on a reform of the statutory law in 2018 that introduced involuntariness as the essential part of the actus reus element of rape, and also the new offense of negligent rape. To analyze the current Swedish legal framework on rape, a contextual understanding of the socio-political setting is necessary. The chapter therefore begins by portraying these features. There follows an overview of the actus reus element of rape, including a brief historical and political background of the 2018 reform, and also an overview of the mens rea element of intentional rape and negligent rape. Following this, the chapter highlights and discusses the areas of attrition present in the current Swedish provisionsons on rape.