Vulnerable area ( sv, Utsatt område) is a term applied by police in Sweden to areas with high crime rates and

social exclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipli ...

. In the December 2015 report, these areas numbered 53. In the June 2017 report, these totalled 61. The increase is reported to be due to better reporting, not a changing situation. The overall trend is that these areas are improving. All the areas are situated south of the town of

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Sw ...

, however only 11,4% of Sweden's total population live in the

Norrland Norrland (, "Northland", originally ''Norrlanden'' or "the Northlands") is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any adminis ...

region, and most are areas constructed during the

Million Programme The Million Programme ( sv, Miljonprogrammet) was an ambitious public housing program implemented in Sweden between 1965 and 1974 by the governing Swedish Social Democratic Party to ensure the availability of affordable, high quality housing t ...

(MP), although there are towns north of Gävle having MP areas they do not experience the crime rate of some southern MP areas. In April 2019, the publication of the list by police was criticised by municipality politicians as it was stigmatizing and dissuaded investors. Police responded that they saw no reason to make the list a secret and that the list served the purpose of providing a uniform basis of evaluating districts across the country. Interior minister Morgan Johansson stated that the list will continue to be public information. In June 2019, an update was released by police and three vulnerable areas were reclassified risk areas, two vulnerable areas were removed from the list entirely and a previously unclassified area was added as a vulnerable area. Therefore the total number of categorized areas decreased from 61 in the 2017 report to 60 in the 2019 update. Work on improving the areas requires cooperation with several parties like local landlords and organisations, but fear of gentrification may cause problems. In November 2020, Gothenburg municipality announced they would dedicate 11 billion Swedish Krona (about 1 billion euro) towards regenerating the six especially vulnerable areas in the Gothenburg area.

Characteristics

A vulnerable area is described as being geographically defined and having a low socioeconomic status and criminals negatively affecting society. The three categories of vulnerable area are divided according to severity: vulnerable areas, risk areas and especially vulnerable areas. These areas are sometimes called no-go zones, as emergency services such as fire engines and

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

s "on occasion" cannot drive into these areas during a tense situation without a police escort as they will be attacked by criminal gangs. The population in these areas have higher rates of unemployment: whereas about 67% of the general population is in employment, the proportion in vulnerable areas is about 49%. Most stores and shops are small and run by locals, with few major chains. According to a 2017 report by

Swedish Defence University The Swedish Defence University ( sv, Försvarshögskolan, FHS) is situated on Drottning Kristinas väg 37 in Östermalm, Stockholm City Centre, next to the campus of the Royal Institute of Technology. History Today's Swedish Defence University ...

, of those who have travelled from Sweden to conflict zones to participate in terrorist activities, 70% were residents in vulnerable areas. According to a 2018 report by

Swedish Television Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, the overall trend is that these areas are improving. Employment rates, income and school results are generally rising. Vulnerable areas have a low participation in elections: for instance in the Gårdsten district in Gothenburg only a third voted in the 2014 election. Journalists who visited Gårdsten to interview locals on why they didn't vote struggled to complete their task, as many locals they encountered spoke neither Swedish nor English. By 2018 gang violence, which had long been a feature of vulnerable areas, had begun to spill out into the wider society: hospital staff reported armed confrontations in emergency rooms and school authorities reported that threats and weapons had become commonplace.

Vulnerable area

An area in the vulnerable category is characterised by a low socioeconomic status; and criminals have a negative impact on society and public institutions. Criminals may use direct threats and

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

or indirect methods such as public displays of violence which place bystanders at risk of injury or narcotics openly traded in public spaces. The effect of their activities is that inhabitants experience lower levels of security, which may make them less willing to participate or witness in judicial proceedings against criminals.

Risk area

A risk area fulfills all criteria for a vulnerable area and may become an especially vulnerable area if no interventions are put in. In October 2021 these areas numbered 14.

Especially vulnerable area

Inhabitants of these areas suffer a potential threat from criminals in the area, which has led to an overall disinclination to participate in judicial proceedings against criminals. In especially vulnerable areas there are systematic threats and violence against witnesses and victims or complainants. These circumstances make it very difficult or impossible for police organisations to complete their mission of

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

. In December 2015 these areas numbered 15. In June 2017 this had increased to 23 as some areas were reclassified primarily due to more refined information, not due to a changed situation. An especially vulnerable area also experience: *

Parallel society Parallel society refers to the self-organization of an ethnic or religious minority, often but not always immigrant groups, with the intent of a reduced or minimal spatial, social and cultural contact with the majority society into which they immi ...

structures exercising their own form of justice and control * Extremism such as systematic violations of

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...

which circumscribe rights and freedoms of the population. According to

Magnus Ranstorp Per Magnus Ranstorp (born 13 March 1965 in Hästveda) is a Swedish scholar who has written about Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda and other militant Islamic movements. He is the Research Director of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the ...

in 2017,

Salafi jihadism Salafi jihadism or jihadist-Salafism is a transnational, hybrid religious-political ideology based on the Sunni sect of Islamism, seeking to establish a global caliphate, characterized by the advocacy for "physical" (military) jihadist and S ...

is present in some of these areas. In the especially vulnerable areas there are individuals among the radical Islamic community who contribute to recruitment and financing of

Islamic terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities ...

. These individuals have access to youth via lectures, study groups or as an imam. Some

mosques A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) are performed, in ...

located in or close to these areas may be a contributing factor to radicalisation. * inhabitants travelling to conflict areas to participate in combat * a high concentration of criminals. Employment levels in February 2017 were around 47%. Many inhabitants are immigrants or children of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

; in this category the proportion of immigrants in the district is around 50-60%. In its 2017, police stated that

welfare fraud Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

was prevalent in these areas, where benefits administered by Swedish Public Employment Service and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency were targeted. Police identified that resident registry figures were manipulated, for instance 2% of all apartments in Rinkeby have between 10-30 persons registered as residents, which leads to an inflated number of people receiving welfare benefits.

Education level in especially vulnerable areas

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Var ...

levels are lower than the general population in these areas, where 40% of the population has not completed

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

. According to BRÅ statistics, persons with only primary education (Swedish: ''förgymnasial utbildning'') are 5.7 times more likely to be registered for crime compared to persons with post secondary education (Swedish: ''eftergymnasial utbildning'') On average in 2017, less than half of 15-year-olds in Gothenburg especially vulnerable areas qualified for secondary education. In district Bergsjön, 69.8% of 15-year-olds of ''Bergsjöskolan'' left primary education without achieving grades in numeracy and literacy to enter secondary education, the number being 67.3% for the ''Sjumilaskolan'' school of

Biskopsgården Biskopsgården is a district (''stadsdelsnämndsområde'') in Gothenburg Municipality, Sweden. History Today you can find the first trace of humans by the hillsides that was once beaches in an archipelago. The border between Sweden and Norway ...

district in Gothenburg compared to the national average of 17.5%. The results were lower compared to five years earlier and interpreted as a worsening trend by researcher Anders Trumberg at

Örebro university Örebro University ( sv, Örebro universitet) is a state university in Örebro, Sweden. The university has its roots in the Örebro campus of Uppsala University, which became an independent state university college in 1977, Örebro University Col ...

. A high share of preschool staff in vulnerable areas have lacking

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic cou ...

skills.

Districts

According to the national operations section (sv: ''Nationella operativa avdelningen'') the districts and their classification are:

Characteristics

Vulnerable area

Risk area

Especially vulnerable area

Education level in especially vulnerable areas

Districts

See also

References

Further reading