Guest contributor Evelina Hahne: Being a Woman in Sweden Today

There is no other single factor that has restricted women’s freedom of movement, safety, and everyday behavior in Sweden to the extent that mass immigration has.

I grew up in what was considered a relatively safe and stable suburb of Stockholm. On the surface, it was a good place to grow up. Yet insecurity was always present in subtle but persistent ways. The bus lines from my neighborhood continued into areas with high immigrant populations, which meant that the buses were always crowded with immigrants. Already fifteen years ago, it was common for me to be the only Swede onboard.

Sometimes someone would try to get your attention, most often Somali men. You learned to keep your eyes down, to remain alert without reacting. When you stepped off the bus into the darkness, you instinctively looked over your shoulder to see if anyone was following you. Sometimes there was. You kept the emergency number ready on your phone and clenched your keys between your fingers in the other hand. Not because it would truly help, but because it was the only form of defense available. In Sweden, pepper spray is illegal. So are all other means of self-defense. The result is that law-abiding citizens are disarmed, while criminals who engage in shootings, bombings, and gang violence face little consequence. The final stretch home is often done at a run, while your heart is pounding hard out of fear.

That sense of insecurity in society only intensified as I grew older. During my university years, I was called a “tall, blonde whore” by a group of immigrant men walking behind me in broad daylight while I was on my way to the grocery store. Just 50 meters from my dorm, a girl was robbed. In the neighborhood, there were two more robberies targeting girls, a rape, and car burnings where my own car was parked. On two occasions, I called the police after being woken in the middle of the night by explosions so powerful that my entire room lit up. The response from the police was indifferent.

These personal experiences reflect a larger trend. Statistics confirm what many women already know from lived experience: rapes in Sweden have increased dramatically, including violent assaults committed by strangers. In several cases, immigrant perpetrators have claimed that women “wanted it” because of how they dressed, or that they were unable to control themselves. This is not an isolated mindset held by one individual; it is a cultural mindset. The idea that men cannot restrain themselves at the sight of women’s skin may belong in societies where women are heavily restricted and covered, but it has never belonged in Sweden. Swedish society was more egalitarian a thousand years ago than many Middle Eastern countries are today.

When I compare my life to that of my grandmother, the difference is striking. She told me that in her youth, she used to cycle home in the middle of the night without the slightest worry. She felt no fear, no need to look over her shoulder, no need to plan escape routes. That Sweden is one I have never seen. I have never experienced it. I grew up with constant warnings. Never go home alone late at night. Always be careful. Always assume risk.

This is what life in Sweden has become. We live in parallel societies. Swedes continue to behave toward one another as they always have, following social rules built on trust, restraint, and mutual accountability. But entirely different standards apply when it comes to immigrants. A Swede might angrily confront another Swede during a dispute in a public space. That same person would never confront a group of immigrants over the same thing. The risk is simply too high. People have been beaten or killed for far less by immigrants. This fear shapes everyday behavior in ways that are rarely acknowledged. This is why immigrant gangs can shout, harass others, and disturb entire train cars without anyone saying a word. This is why they can walk closely behind law-abiding Swedes through ticket barriers to avoid paying. Public space is no longer shared on equal terms. It is dominated by immigrants, while most Swedes retreat.

There are areas of Sweden I have never set foot in. Rosengård. Tensta. Rinkeby. Even when I was growing up, these places were already considered dangerous. Today, they function like separate societies within the country. Swedish law does not apply there. Instead, there is honor culture, informal justice, black market economies, and gang control. These structures are not random. They closely resemble the very conditions that have destabilized the countries many immigrants come from. These problems have been imported and do not belong in Sweden.

Swedes have adapted to this new reality. Women in particular have been forced to do so for our own safety. But instead of addressing the source of the problem, mass immigration, blame is redirected toward men as a whole. Yet Sweden did not suffer from these problems before mass immigration. We were one of the safest countries in the world. Swedish men have not suddenly transformed into violent, sexually uncontrollable predators. If anything, they have become more restrained, more cautious, and increasingly pushed aside in a society that openly targets and vilifies the White man. The problem is not all men. The problem is immigrant men.

The refusal to make this distinction has consequences. Women become more guarded toward men in general, measuring our words, suppressing friendliness, and hardening ourselves to avoid being perceived as vulnerable. This erosion of trust contributes to the growing divide between men and women and damages social cohesion at every level.

That Swedish women so often vote for political parties that want to continue this trajectory is, to me, incomprehensible. Many still believe they are doing something good, something compassionate. In reality, they are helping to dismantle the safety that allowed previous generations of women to live freely. They are sacrificing the future of their own children.

Evelina Hahne, 30, political commentator and Master of Science in Engineering (Industrial Engineering and Management). Married to William Hahne and a mother of three young children (soon four).