2025-06-06

The school must inform about abductions

The school has an important role in the preventive work against honor-based violence, writes Margareta Munge, governor of Zonta International District 21, Sweden-Latvia, in an opinion piece in, among others, Sydsvenskan.

Now the summer holidays are looming for all of Sweden's schoolchildren. Summer holidays that mean sun, swimming and time off from all that homework. A wonderful feeling of freedom. But not for everyone. For some students, there is instead a great deal of anxiety and fear about possibly being abducted, married off and not being able to see their classmates again after the summer holidays are over. 

Every year at the end of the spring semester, a number of children and young people, mainly girls, are taken out of the country by their parents or relatives to be married off, often to a much older man. This can also involve genital mutilation or so-called upbringing trips to prevent the girls from adapting too much to Swedish culture and traditions and not adhering to standards of honor. 

Sweden lacks a national system for registering and following up on child abductions. The gender equality authority, Jämy, has been tasked by the government to propose how such a system can be designed. In May, the government's investigator presented a series of proposals for tightening the law on marriage trips, forced marriage, child marriage crimes and marriage travel crimes. However, the investigator does not address the issue of the important role of schools in the prevention of honor-related violence.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UD, over 1,088 people have been intentionally abducted or detained by their relatives abroad during the period 2018-2024. 723 were children and the majority were girls. In 33 of the cases, there is information about child or forced marriage. Social services were informed about just over half of the cases and according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, fewer than half of them returned to Sweden. The undercount may be large. 

In 2022, Jämy published an interim report to the government showing that one or more authorities were often aware of the vulnerability of the people, that a common purpose of abductions is to escape authority decisions, and that several abductions could have been prevented if authorities had intervened earlier and acted more promptly.

Being taken away to another country is a serious restriction of a girl's freedom and rights. She is deprived of the opportunity for an independent and free life. Child marriage is also a violation of Swedish law, a violation of human rights and is contrary to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Child and forced marriages are lifelong problems with strong negative consequences and often lead to isolation, unwanted pregnancy, rape, psychological abuse, and sexual and economic exploitation. 

Although the so-called travel ban has been strengthened – that children can not only be banned from leaving the country if there is a risk of forced marriage but also for things like upbringing trips – but as recently as last year, a social welfare committee chairman in a Swedish municipality was able to lift a previous travel ban and a young girl was taken abroad by her parents. The girl is still missing. 
Many municipalities are still helpless and lack procedures to stop children being abducted and married off. This cannot be the case. There are of course municipalities that are carrying out ambitious work to equip school staff to be able to identify and address honor problems – but all municipalities must give greater priority to increasing knowledge in schools in this area. 

Both students and school staff must be given more information about abductions and about what support students can receive when they are involuntarily abroad. The school must in turn inform social services about abductions. Being able to decide for yourself who you want to live with must be a given for everyone.

Margareta Munge, Governor Zonta International District 21