For the past few years, we have seen an increase in violent crimes, mainly in big cities like Stockholm, Gotenborg and Malmö, but the crime statistics have risen in smaller towns and villages as well. Some say Sweden’s high crime statistics is due to a large number of immigrants that have been granted asylum in Sweden in the past few years. Others say that people are better at reporting crimes now than in the past.
Although the reason behind the risen unrest has not been determined, Sweden now stands out by western standards as a developed country struggling with violence like rape, bombings and shootings on an unprecedented level. The safety platform Swedishshield reports that the demand for self-defence products will skyrocket in 2020 and the Swedes are brought closer to each other than never before.
As a result of the unrest sales of products like assault alarms, defence sprays a modified version of pepper spray have gone up dramatically, some vendors claim that they expect sales increases with as much as 90%. And new players arise on the market with new products to fill the increasing demand.
Especially young women are buying these products since they feel unsafe walking alone at nights and many finds comfort in knowing that they have a chance to defend themself if they face an imminent threat.
Since Swedish law forbid the usage of regular pepper spray new alternatives as sprung up at the Swedish market using different formulas with menthol as one of the most used ingredients in their defence.
Although the Swedish spray is not as powerful as the regular pepper spray, they have come up with smart features that can be very useful for example red colour that makes identifying the suspect much easier for the police.
Another defence spray has a built-in GPS function that sends a text message to a group of selected peoples phone. Telling them the location of the usage and alerting them to come to and aid the person using the spray.
The legal defence spray is only allowed to use in self-defence, failure to do so can result in assault charges according to Swedish law.
Sweden is getting more divided than ever, with high unemployment in areas dominated with people with a foreign background compared to areas dominated by ethnic swedes. Creating a new underclass and contributing to more significant tensions than Sweden has ever seen before.
Sweden might find itself in a similar situation like South Africa with a booming security industry and a profoundly divided country separating the rich from the poor, with gated communities and private security guards guarding the entrance.
As the unrest seems to escalate with more than 200 bombings during 2019 witch is unique compared with other developed countries with similar standards. The people of Sweden is getting fed up with their politicians who does not have any concrete solutions to the problem. The prime minister said in an interview “We did not see this coming” while critics claim that this development was impossible to miss.
One thing is obvious, the coming years for Sweden will be tough and filled with turmoil. Drastic measures are needed to put Sweden back on track and to make the Swedish population feel safe again.