Vulnerable area () is a term that has since 2015 been applied by the

Swedish Police Authority The Swedish Police Authority () is the national police, police force (''Polisen'') of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under Municipalities of Sweden, local ...

to areas in Sweden with persistent low socio-economic status, impacted by high rates of criminal activity. Within these areas there are, for example, public acts of violence, open drug dealing, and people showing "open discontent against society". The areas are divided in three categories, roughly by the severity of the situation: "vulnerable areas" (), "risk areas" (), and "particularly vulnerable areas" (). According to SVT, Sweden's national public television broadcaster, the special "risk area" category signifies that there is a risk of the situation worsening, while in "particularly vulnerable areas", parallel societies exist, residents show a reluctance to participate in legal processes, there may be systematic threats and violence against witnesses, and the police have difficulty carrying out their duties. In these latter areas, there may also be extremism, violations of religious freedom, and people traveling to participate in war. In December 2023, six areas were removed from the list, and four areas were added. Four of the vulnerable areas that remained on the list were downgraded to less serious categories, while one area was upgraded to a more serious category. This brought the total to 59 areas (of which 27 were "vulnerable areas", 15 were "risk areas" and 17 were "particularly vulnerable areas"). In October 2021, there were a total of 61 areas. In June 2019, there were a total of 60 areas. In 2023, around 550,000 people, or 5 percent of the country's population, lived in one of these areas and in 2017, 200,000 people, or 2 percent of the population, lived in "particularly vulnerable areas". All the areas are situated south of the town of

Gävle Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

; however, only 11.4% of Sweden's total population live in the

Norrland Norrland (, , originally ''Norrlanden'', meaning '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 administrative p ...

region, and most are areas constructed during the

Million Programme The Million Programme () was a large 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 to all Swedish citizens. Th ...

(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 stigmatising 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 categorised 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 (about ) 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. Media has on occasion used the expression "

no-go area A "no-go area" or "no-go zone" is a neighborhood or other geographic area where some or all outsiders are either physically prevented from entering or can enter at risk. The term includes exclusion zones, which are areas that are officially kept o ...

s", as emergency services such as fire engines and

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport 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 ...

s "on occasion" cannot drive into these areas during an elevated 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 (, 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 marks the latest devel ...

, 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

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

, 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 a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

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. At the end of 2023, these areas numbered 15.

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 the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

. 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 may 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 imm ...

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

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

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

which circumscribe rights and freedoms of the population. According to Magnus Ranstorp in 2017,

Salafi jihadism Salafi jihadism, also known as Salafi-jihadism, jihadist Salafism and revolutionary Salafism, is a religiopolitical Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamist ideology that seeks to establish a global caliphate through armed struggle. In a narrower sense, ji ...

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, radical Islamic terrorism, or jihadist terrorism) refers to terrorist acts carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Since at least the 1990s, Islami ...

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

mosques A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were simple p ...

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 usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

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

welfare fraud Welfare fraud is the act of illegally using state welfare systems by knowingly withholding or giving information to obtain more funds than would otherwise be allocated. This article deals with welfare fraud in various countries of the world, and ...

was prevalent in these areas, where benefits administered by

Swedish Public Employment Service The Swedish Public Employment Service () is a Swedish government agency organized under the Ministry of Employment mainly responsible for the public employment service in Sweden and the implementation of labour market policies. Roles The a ...

and the

Swedish Social Insurance Agency The Swedish Social Insurance Agency (, ) is a government agency that administers social insurance in Sweden. Responsibilities Among other the agency is responsible for administering the following benefits. * Immigrant support and allowances ( ...

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 the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

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

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

. 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 Bergsjön is a district in eastern Gothenburg, Sweden. On January 1, 2011, Bergsjön and Kortedala became the Eastern District of Gothenburg as part of a larger reorganization of the city of Gothenburg; the number of district councils was halved ...

, 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 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 () is a public university in Örebro, Sweden. The university has its roots in the Örebro campus of Uppsala University, and became an independent state university college in 1977, Örebro University College (''Högskolan i Ö ...

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

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the G ...

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