This study examines the role of special representatives for children in Sweden. The research explores how the Act (1999:997) on Special Representatives for Children is applied, particularly in balancing investigative imperatives with children’s rights under Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We have focused on cases involving suspected violations of the country’s ban on female genital mutilation (FGM), but the result is relevant on a more general level. Drawing on interviews with legal professionals and an extensive archive of police investigations, the study highlights the complexities faced by special representatives in safeguarding children’s rights while facilitating criminal inquiries. Findings reveal that although representatives play a crucial role in ensuring children’s participation in legal proceedings, structural limitations often hinder their ability to fully uphold children’s autonomy and best interests. The findings underscore the necessity of enhanced training and clearer guidelines for special representatives to navigate these challenges effectively.

Since 2018, patient complaints in Sweden must primarily be addressed to the healthcare provider,who is legally obliged to respond appropriately and promptly, considering the nature of thecomplaint and the individual's capacity to understand the information. The 2017 reform of thecomplaints system, framed as a patient-centered improvement, was likely driven by resourceconcerns, as the Swedish Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO) faced high caseloads. Thereform limited IVO’s investigative duties and emphasized informal, personal resolution, includingencouraging healthcare providers to apologize. Apologies are highlighted in legislative preparatoryworks and subsequent public reports as meaningful to patients and significant for healthcareprofessionals’ handling of incidents. While not legally mandated there is a strong normative push toissue apologies.This study examines the theoretical understanding of apologies, their role as a formal instrumentsfor patient validation, and how Swedish County Councils use apologies for recognition andresponse

This paper critically examines the disproportionate impact of Sweden’s legal and policy measures aimed at detecting and prosecuting ‘female genital mutilation’ (FGM) within immigrant communities. Despite three criminal court cases related to FGM performed in African countries, forced genital examinations—central to many investigations—have not resulted in any prosecutions. This raises significant concerns about the effectiveness and proportionality of current practices. Drawing on an archive of police case files and interviews with professionals involved in FGM investigations, we explore how legal frameworks, while intended to protect children, apparently indicate a pattern of over-policing and structural injustice. Our analysis highlights the disconnect between policies rooted in suspicion and control and the cultural shifts occurring within affected communities, where attitudes toward the circumcision of girls have evolved due to migration. We argue that Sweden’s reliance on invasive measures risks exacerbating the marginalisation of immigrant groups and underscores the need for more nuanced, trust-building approaches. The findings call for a re-evaluation of current strategies to ensure that interventions are proportionate and sensitive to evolving cultural contexts, while still protecting the rights and well-being of children.

Traditional female genital practices, though long-standing in many cultures, have become the focus of an expansive global campaign against 'female genital mutilation' (FGM). In this article, we critically examine the harms produced by the anti-FGM discourse and policies, despite their grounding in human rights and health advocacy. We argue that a ubiquitous 'standard tale' obscures the diversity of practices, meanings and experiences among those affected. This discourse, driven by a heavily racialised and ethnocentric framework, has led to unintended but serious consequences: the erosion of trust in healthcare settings, the silencing of dissenting or nuanced community voices, racial profiling and disproportionate legal surveillance of migrant families. Moreover, we highlight a troubling double standard that legitimises comparable genital surgeries in Western contexts while condemning similar procedures in others. We call for more balanced and evidence-based journalism, policy and public discourse-ones that account for cultural complexity and avoid the reductive and stigmatising force of the term 'mutilation'. A re-evaluation of advocacy strategies is needed to ensure that they do not reproduce the very injustices they aim to challenge.

Healthcare professionals are expected to understand and apply medical regulations in their daily work. Swedish law governing medicine consists of vague rules, particularly regarding pediatric care. The Patient Act (2014:821), influenced by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, presents several challenges related to interpretation. Key questions arise regarding what should be encompassed within the concept of the “best interests of the child.” The situation is complicated by the fact that pediatric healthcare often involves qualified research across various pediatric subspecialties, regulated in different orders.

This presentation regards an ongoing research project on the implementation of medical law in the daily work among health care professionals at The Centre for Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine at Skåne University Hospital, in the south of Sweden. The project is funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. The main aim has been to investigate how healthcare professionals in Sweden interpret and apply the healthcare regulations' vague provisions regarding medical care of children.

The empirical material is gathered through a legal ethnography, where the researcher participates and observes the daily work in different clinics. Pediatricians and pediatric nurses are also interviewed. Legal realism serves as the theoretical base, highlighting legal pluralism and the difference between law in books and law in action. In practice, the written law does not dictate behavior top-down. Instead, the norms created in the daily work of the healthcare professionals is in the foreground. The approach is exploratory, where specific problems regarding legal implementation have been identified during the observations and interviews.

Denna kunskapskatalog är ett resultat i ett forskningsprojekt som finansierats av forskningsrådet Forte 2020-2023: Samhällets åtgärder vid misstänkt könsstympning i Sverige: en proportionalitetsanalys av myndigheters handläggning av misstänkta fall, genomfört av professor Sara Johnsdotter och lektor Lotta Wendel vid Malmö universitet.

Katalogen är ett komplement till befintliga riktlinjer och handledningar som erbjuds av Socialstyrelsen, Jämställdhetsmyndigheten och andra myndigheter som erbjuder vägledning och stöd för professionella i olika samhällssektorer när dessa ska hantera ett ärende som gäller misstänkt könsstympning. Katalogen kan vara till stöd i den bedömning som professionella har att hantera vid misstanke om olaglig könsstympning. För många länder är det stora skillnader i praktiken beroende på geografisk region, och etnisk eller religiös bakgrund. Sådana faktorer bör därför beaktas i riskbedömningen i enskilda fall.

Innehållet har tagits fram efter diskussion med polisutredare, åklagare, socialutredare och särskilda företrädare för barn som har intervjuats i projektet. Vi resonerade om vad vi från forskningshåll skulle kunna bidra med, som skulle fungera som stöd i hanterandet av misstänkta fall. Just mer detaljerad information om vilka former praktiken tar sig i olika länder efterfrågades. Även vården har efterfrågat kunskap av det här slaget.

Det huvudsakliga innehållet i den här kunskapskatalogen handlar således om praktiken i olika länder: hur stor andel av flickor och kvinnor som berörs, i vilka regioner och i vilka etniska och religiösa grupper det är vanligast, åldrar då flickor omskärs, vem som vanligen utför omskärelsen samt något om vilka normer som gör att traditionerna upprätthålls.

I slutet av denna publikation finns hänvisningar till några internationella publikationer som kommit ur forskningsprojektet. Katalogen ges ut av Centrum för sexologi och sexualitetsstudier vid Malmö universitet och kan laddas ner fritt från mau.diva-portal.org.

• The scarcity of criminal court cases on FGM aligns with research indicating that migration often leads to abandoning the practice.
• The prevailing public discourse around FGM paves the way for epistemic injustice.
• An analysis of Swedish FGM prosecutions reveals a risk that stereotypes based on ethnicity and religion may influence court decisions.
• The legal handling of suspected cases must be conducted in accordance with the rule of law.

Research topic/aim

Students’ degree project could if involving research on people, risk infringing on individual´s privacy, processing sensitivepersonal data and encompassing difficult ethical issues, not least regarding informed consent. If these projects would havebeen performed by researchers, the projects would have required prior approval by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority inaccordance with the Swedish Act (2003:460) concerning the ethical review of research involving humans. However, since theprojects are performed by students, who are not obliged to undergo this review, it is unclear how an ethically acceptableapproach is to be guaranteed. It is well known that such student projects are carried out, but the extent to which this happens has not previously been investigated, neither in Sweden nor in other countries. We thereby present our experiences of a formalized ethical review process at a Higher Institution site in Sweden.

Theoretical framework

Establishing such formalized ethical review can lead to a greater consensus on which materials and methods are suitable forthe students, which in turn leads to increased equal treatment. Also serve as a pedagogical support resource for supervisors, who may experience ambiguities regarding research ethics issues and student projects. By gathering and building up ethics expertise at the university, a specialised support function is also developed that can offer advice and guidance, perspectives, and training. Through interaction and cooperation, the support function can contribute to an active learning environment, where students and supervisors are stimulated to reflect on their own decision-making (Fosnot, 2005). Experimental and experiential learning emphasizes that didactics is best achieved through active participation where participants deal with realproblems (Kolb, 1984). Ethically reflective learning specifically emphasizes the development of the student's ability to reflecton their own values, ethical dilemmas, and decision-making on ethical issues (Gill & Thomson, 2020). Common to these theories is the perspective that a formalized assessment offers students and teachers the opportunity to exchangeperspectives and to deal with ethical issues in a more concrete way.

Methodological design

Essays that have passed examination during the years 2014-2017 were included. A total of 1215 essays were read through,and the presence of ethically sensitive content was coded in a pre-established protocol.Expected conclusions/findings Out of a total of 1215 reviewed essays, 277 (22.8%) contained ethically sensitive content; the most common was sensitivepersonal data relating to health 165 (13.6%). In accordance, one in five undergraduate students completed studies that would have required the approval of the Ethical Review Authority, had they been researchers. Ethically sensitive content was proportionally more common in essays at the advanced level (32.9%) than at the first level (20.4%). Only 191 of the 277 essays (68.9%) that should have undergone a formalized ethical review process did so. The implementation of formalized ethical review of thesis projects seems to work best when the student's supervisor has their own experience of ethical review. Different institutional/disciplinary cultures also seem to have a large impact.

Relevance to Nordic educational research

The implementation of ethically acceptable approaches in student projects is an under-researched area, nationally andinternationally. The relevance is thereby urged. 

Hur vanligt är det att studenter bedriver projekt som inbegriper etiskt känsligt innehåll? I denna artikel redogörs för en undersökning rörande ett högskolepedagogiskt utvecklingsarbete som avser formaliserad etikprövning av studentuppsatser. Undersökningen inbegriper uppsatser som examinerats och godkänts vid fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle vid Malmö universitet under åren 2014–2017. Med etiskt känsligt innehåll avses här känsliga personuppgifter samt intervenerande metoder, som vid forskning kräver etikprövning enligt lag (2003:460) om etikprövning av forskning som avser människor. Av totalt 1215 granskade uppsatser hade 277 (22,8 %) etiskt känsligt innehåll; vanligast var känsliga personuppgifter avseende hälsa. 165 (13.6 %) uppsatser innehöll sådana uppgifter. Etiskt känsligt innehåll var mer vanligt förekommande i uppsatser på avancerad nivå (32,9 %) än på grundnivå (20,4 %). Var femte student på grundnivå genomförde alltså studier som skulle ha krävt Etikprövningsmyndighetens godkännande om de hade varit forskare.

Enligt fakultetens riktlinjer ska samtliga studentarbeten med ett innehåll som skulle ha krävt förhandsprövning vid forskning förhandsprövas av fakultetens etikråd för studentarbeten. Men endast 191 av de 277 uppsatser (68,9%) som borde ha genomgått sådan handläggning passerade etikrådet. Implementeringen av formaliserad etikprövning av uppsatsprojekt tycks fungera bäst då studentens handledare är forskarutbildad och kan antas ha egen erfarenhet av etikprövning. Vår undersökning visade också att etikprövningen implementerats i olika grad vid olika institutioner. I artikeln diskuteras möjliga förklaringar till denna skillnad.

Ethical Review of Student Projects: The Responsibility of Higher Education Institutions

How common is it for students to undertake projects involving ethically sensitive content? This article presents a study on higher education pedagogical development project concerning the formalized ethical review of student essays. The survey included essays that were examined and approved at the Faculty of Health and Society, Malmö university during 2014–2017. Ethically sensitive content refers here to sensitive personal data and intervention methods that, in research, require ethical review according to the Act (2003:460) on ethical review of research involving humans. Out of a total of 1215 examined thesis, 277 (22.8%) contained ethically sensitive content; the most common being personal health-related data. 165 (13.6%) essays contained such information. Advanced level theses had a higher prevalence of ethically sensitive content (32.9%) compared to undergraduate theses (20.4%). This indicates that a significant proportion of undergraduate students undertook projects involving content that would require ethical review if they were researchers.

The faculty’s guidelines stipulate that all student works containing content requiring prior ethical review in research, should be reviewed by the faculty’s ethics council. However, only 68.9% of the essays that necessitated such review passed the ethics council, indicating a gap in compliance with ethical review processes. The study suggests that the effectiveness of formalized ethical review of thesis projects is enhanced when the student’s supervisor holds a doctoral degree, likely due to their familiarity and experience with ethical review procedures. Furthermore, the research highlights variations in the implementation of ethical review across different departments within the faculty. The article delves into possible reasons for these discrepancies.