The #MeToo Movement, Sexual Violence, and the Law in Sweden

Carroll, Caitlin P.

doi:10.1353/ff.2021.0050

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…2 This reform was informed to a great extent by feminist research and experts (Gudrun and Niemi-Kiesiläinen 2001). Further, the "consent reform" -changes in rape law to focus on non-voluntariness instead of force and violence, which entered into force in July 2018 3 -was a result of a long struggle by feminist organisations and politicians, partially engendered by the #MeToo movement (Carroll 2021). As further discussed in the last section of this article, in more recent years, this rather strong position of criminal law as a response to sexual violence has been questioned and framed as part of a larger punitive policy agenda (Lauri et al 2023).…”

Section: A Formal Path To Justice -The Criminal Legal Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Only Path to Justice: The Criminal Legal System and Defamation Judgments Related to #MeToo in Sweden

Wegerstad,

Andersson

2024

Fem Leg Stud

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This article presents a study of court judgments involving women who, in connection with #MeToo, identified alleged perpetrators of sexual violence in social media and were later prosecuted for and convicted of criminal defamation in Sweden. We conceptualise the use of social media to share experiences of sexual violence as an informal path to justice. First, we show that this is supported by how court judgments describe women’s reasons for sharing their information, such as telling their story and sharing it with others. Second, according to Swedish defamation law, a truth defence is allowed only if the defamatory statement is first considered to be justifiable, balancing between the defendant’s interest of freedom of speech and the complainant’s interest of honour and reputation. We show that the courts did not assign the interest of speaking out about sexual violence such a significance that it would make the statement justifiable. In effect, the criminal justice system emerges as the only path to justice for victims of sexual violence, simultaneously making perpetrators invisible and victims responsible for telling without naming.

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Section: A Formal Path To Justice -The Criminal Legal Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%