Towards understanding the Nordic paradox: A review of qualitative interview studies on intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in Sweden

Abstract

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a major public health problem in countries around the world, including the Nordic region. Contrary to what would be expected, as the Nordic countries are rated among the most gender equal in the world, survey data suggests that the lifetime prevalence rates of IPVAW in Sweden and neighboring Nordic countries are among the highest in the EU. This phenomenon, which has been termed the Nordic paradox, requires elucidation. The aim of this review is to explore what previous qualitative studies, based on interviews with or field observations of victims, perpetrators, or professionals working in the area, primarily in Sweden, have to teach us about the nature of this paradox. Three interrelated themes are discussed. The first is how gender equality is perceived and addressed as linked, or not, to IPVAW in Swedish research and practice. The second is how violence tends to be othered, for example, through assumptions that violence is perpetrated by foreign rather than Swedish men. The third is how causal mechanisms of IPVAW have been described, typically with reference to norms and dynamics of masculinity, femininity, and heterosexual interaction.

A Socioecological Perspective on Intimate Partner Violence Research: A Decade in Review

“…Studies are needed to understand whether this is driven by methodological or reporting biases (e.g., women in more equitable countries may be more forthcoming about IPV victimization) or whether there are other factors that could explain this contradictory pattern. Based on a review of qualitative studies with victims, perpetrators, and service providers, Wemrell et al () put forth the argument that discourse around gender equality in Sweden may obscure continuing power dynamics that disadvantage women. Thus, there may be some disconnect between policies supporting gender equity and actual practices that reinforce gendered power imbalances.…”

Análisis epidemiológico de la violencia de género en la Unión Europea

“…However, this fact contradicts the Nordic Paradox, which reveals that countries with a very high score in the Equality Index (EIGE, 2019) such as Sweden (83.6 points), Finland (73.6 points) and Denmark (77.5 points) have higher levels of GV than other EU countries. No determining explanation has been found for why this is the case (Gracia, Martín-Fernández, Lila & Ivert, 2019;Gracia and Merlo, 2016;Wemrell et al, 2019) but the relationship between hostile sexist attitudes and GV has been demonstrated (Juarros-Basterretxea, Overall, Herrero & Rodríguez-Díaz, 2019). Hostile sexist attitudes also influence health professionals who have a lower level of involvement in identifying women who are victims of GV in their workplace (Noriega, Juarros-Basterretxea & Herrero, 2020).…”

Systematic Review Study: A Comparative Analysis of the State of the Art of Green Criminology

“…This search was restricted to the title and subject of publications. The work proceeded with the reading of abstracts, keywords and the complete content of the publication, when necessary, to construct the theoretical framework exposed in this article, thus constituting a systematic bibliographic analysis of publications (Sampaio & Mancini, 2007;Wemrell, 2019). In this context, the systematic review uses as a data source the publications related to a certain theme (Wemrell, 2019), thus providing a summary -of the evidence related to a specific intervention strategy, through the application of explicit and systematic search methods, critical thinking and synthesis of selected information‖ (Sampaio & Mancini, 2007 p. 84).…”