”Vi tänker inte vara tysta längre” - En undersökning av brottet sexuellt ofredande och sexualbrottsoffers krav på rättvisa med utgångspunkt i #metoo-upprop

Sammanfattning: During the autumn of 2017 thousands of Swedish women and non-binary signed petitions under #metoo and shared their experiences of sexual harassment and assault and demanded a change. The #metoo-movement changed the discussion concerning sexual offences and therefore the question can be asked, what constitutes a sexual molestation according to chapter 6 section 10 in the Swedish Penal Code, the limit for what counts as a sexual offence. When so many shared their experiences of sexual harassment and assault it is also possible to discuss whether the petitions hold any claims for justice and restitution. With the #metoo-movement as the general theme, the purpose of this thesis is to, from a critical development per-spective, study how the view on sexual molestation has changed in order to determine what constitutes a sexual molestation in Swedish established law. The purpose of this thesis is furthermore to survey and study justice needs and which understanding of justice, victims of sexual offences, in particular sexual molestation, have and to examine whether these needs and claims can be found in the #metoo-petitions. The second part of the thesis focuses on six selected petitions, which are: #medvilkenrätt, #nustickerdettill, #sistaspikenikistan, #tystnadtagning, #utanskyddsnät and #vikokaröver. In order to fulfil the second part of the purpose, the thesis applies a method inspired by textual analysis. The needs and claims of justice of victims of sexual offences that have be shown in academic research are interpreted in relation to the selected petitions, in order to study and discuss whether the petitions express the search for justice and restitution. The offence sexual molestation has only gone through minor changes, from the founding of the Swedish Penal Code in 1962 until the Swedish established law of today, concerning which actions are punishable. The greatest difference concerns how sexual integrity is valued. Today chapter 6 section 10 in the Swedish Penal Code criminalises exhibitionistic behaviour and other violations of a person’s sexual integrity that is not included in any other provision in the chapter. In Swedish established law there is a demand for a sexual purpose, then the perpetrator's sexual drive is also of im-portance. The legal regulations therefore overlook the fact that sexual vio-lations can be an expression of power and sexist verbal remarks are not included in the provision. Scholars in the fields of law, criminology and psychiatry accentuates that the needs of victims of sexual offences are not met in the criminal justice system. The thesis shows that the needs of justice of greatest importance to victims of sexual offences are validation of the experience, vindication to show that the offender’s actions were wrong, voice, offender accountability and prevention, the search for a collective justice focusing on a cultural, social and structural change in society. The theories of justice that better harmonise with the understanding of justice of victims of sexual offences are restorative justice, kaleidoscopic justice, transformative justice and informal justice through the internet. Even though the #metoo-petitions not explicitly talk of justice, it is possi-ble to draw parallels between the needs of justice of victims of sexual offences and what is being said in the petitions. Those how have signed the petitions use their own voices as a tool go gain validation and to demand an end to the culture of silence and the unbalanced power structure in their industries. It can also be said that they are in the search of a collective informal justice, provided outside of the criminal justice system, where they seek a structural change of society. The final chapter of the thesis ties together the results of each chapter and it is stated that when sexual molestation according to Swedish established law do not include sexual violations as an expression of power, the feeling of justice and restitution that can be offered in the #metoo-petitions is particularly important, given the culture the petitions describes.