I kapitlet resonerar vi kring olika roller för stodgivare och ger exempel på hur ett neuroaffirmativt perspektiv kan vara en utgångspunkt vid utformningen av individanpassade stödinsatser. Ett neuroaffirmativt perspektiv i arbete med autister och ADHD:are bör genomsyra både stödinsatser och stödgivarnas roller. Inledningsvis introducerar vi innebörden av ett salutogent perspektiv, vilket är grundläggande för neuroaffirmativt perspektiv. Därefter presenterar vi två stödroller - den allierade och tolken. Detta följd av redogörelser för olika sätt att arbeta neuroaffirmativt med autister och ADHD:are.

Previous research has established correlations between anti-LGBTQ hate crime, fear of crime, perceived victimization risk, and the concealment of sexual orientation. Aside from correlations, the relationships between these variables remain poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore the relationships between anti-LGBTQ hate crime, perceived risk, and the concealment of sexual orientation in relation to fear of crime. Based on previous research and theory, the authors hypothesize (1) that experiences of hate crime victimization increase fear of crime, perceived victimization risk, and the concealment of sexual orientation; (2) that high levels of perceived risk result in high fear of crime and a more prevalent concealment of orientation; and (3) that the concealment of sexual orientation results in lower fear of crime. The sample consists of LGBTQ students enrolled at a Swedish university. The study uses a mixed method approach, combining survey data (N = 353) and interview data (N = 10). The data are assessed using path analysis and thematic analysis. The path analysis supported the authors’ hypothesis regarding experiences of anti-LGBT hate crime, perceived risk, and fear of crime. The qualitative analysis showed that victims of hate crimes had a reduced ability to process negative emotions because they experienced other traumatic life events parallel to the victimization. Similarly, feelings of being reduced to a negative stereotype resulted in higher levels of both fear of crime and perceived risk. Finally, the path analysis rejected the hypothesis that the concealment of sexual orientation results in lower fear of crime. Rather than being an agency-driven and functional fear response, the interview data showed that while these practices reduced victimization risk, they negatively impacted the overall health of the participants through feelings of lack of authenticity and self-censorship.

This study explores experiences of and refections on sexual harassment in academiaamong students and doctoral students from Belgium, Croatia, Germany, and Sweden. Prevalence studies show that sexual harassment is a common occurrence andhas negative consequences not only on mental health in general but also on academic performance. However, little is known about what kinds of support and prevention are needed. Therefore, the aim of this study has been to develop in-depthknowledge about students’ and doctoral students’ refections on how victims of sexual harassment in academia should be supported, and how sexual harassment in academia could be prevented. To achieve this aim, 54 individual interviews, and 6 focusgroup interviews with 18 participants, were conducted between 2020 and 2022 witha total of 72 participants at the bachelors, masters, doctoral level or state exam level.Based on a thematic analysis three themes emerged: (a) Information on sexual harassment, (b) Prerequisites for reporting and intervening, and (c) Support as a preventive activity. The results show an urgent need for information, since this is perceivedas lacking by students and doctoral students, and suggested strategies for information provision are presented. Further, there are challenges related to reporting, andignorance about how to intervene when sexual harassment is witnessed. Professionalsupport is described as important, along with support from peers, mentors, family,and friends. These fndings are relevant for researchers and for clinicians at university student health centres, to develop relevant preventive and supportive interventions in the context of academia.

Self-reported victimization among young women in the Swedish Crime Survey increased during the early- to mid-2010s, resulting in a gender gap, with young women reporting 10% to 15% higher victimization rates than young men. In this study, we use multi-group confirmatory factor analysis to assess whether the increase in victimization rates is due to declines in measurement equivalence across different cohorts of young women during the period 2009 to 2016. The results show cohort differences in how young women interpret the victimization items in the Swedish Crime Survey, especially with regard to the item about sexual victimization. The results show that the increasing victimization rates are likely the result of changes in perceptions about sexual offences, rather than an actual increase.

In this chapter, I will explore autiqueer experiences of BDSM. I will focus on desire for authentic wholeness, communication as the invocation of lust and also how to develop a terminology for BDSM practices that align with autiqueer experiences. I will use an autobiographical method combined with feminist and intersectional analysis with the aim to invite the reader to view BDSM from an autiqueer standpoint. There is a growing interest in knowledge production about autism and sexuality, but existing work primarily focuses on autistic practices of conventional sex and dating. Very few of them venture outside of that scope to explore autism and queerness. A possible reason for this relatively narrow focus might be a misplaced desire to avoid a pathologization of autistic sexuality. However, using an overly simplistic description of autistic sexual desires offers more harm than protection. It adds obstacles where there could be a curious, exciting, nonjudgmental, and autiqueer exploration of sexual practices anchored in appreciation and care for autistic experiences of bodily input, emotional responses, and mental states.

Introduction

Experiences of sexual harassment are common among university students. At the same time, research shows that victims and bystanders find it difficult to determine when an incident meets the criteria for sexual harassment. The aim of this study therefore was to obtain a richer and deeper understanding of the obstacles that university students encounter in identifying sexual harassment in the academic environment.

Methods

Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with a total of 85 students at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level in five European countries (Belgium, Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden) between 2020 and 2022. Thematic analysis was used to identify obstacles in identifying sexual harassment.

Results

The obstacles described by participants were found to fall into three main categories: (1) preconceived notions about what constitutes sexual harassment that did not necessarily concur with lived experiences, (2) navigating an often blurred or ambiguous line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and (3) the existence of competing interpretations of what had happened.

Conclusions

The results point to a gap between the participants’ lived experiences and their interpretations of them, which include difficulties positioning their experiences within their theoretical understanding of sexual harassment.

Policy Implications

Measures to counteract the obstacles faced by victims and bystanders in identifying sexual harassment in academia should target this cognitive gap, for instance by addressing the stereotypes that characterize preconceived notions about sexual harassment.

According to the Swedish legislation, hate crimes should result in a penalty enhancement since these offences constitute an attack on fundamental democratic principles, such as the freedom and equality of all people. However, clearance rates for hate crimes have been in decline for a long time. Statistics presented by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention show that clearance rates have decreased over time, to a level of 3-5% in the more recent reviews. To further complicate matters, previous research shows that the penalty enhancement provision for hate crimes is applied in as few as 1-2% of reported cases in Sweden. The problems identified in the Swedish case mirror the results from the international research front, which point to several stages at which hate crimes are filtered out throughout the justice system.

Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore how the presence of a hate motive can be investigated and proven in more hate crime cases. The analysis is based on hate crime reports to the police, investigations, court cases and interviews with hate crime specialists from the Swedish Police Department.

Research and official statistics alike identify women from racial minoritiesas a high-risk group for racial hate crime. Still, the construction of womenin racial hate crime remains largely unstudied and the current knowledgeon racial hate crime against women can at best be described as fragmentary. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore the constructions ofrace and gender from the perspective of female victims of racial hatecrime. The study draws on intersectional theory and consists ofa discourse analysis based on nine interviews with women who havebeen targets of racial hate crime. The results show that the constructionof race in hate crimes targeting women differs distinctively from theconstruction of race in hate crimes targeting men. The female victims ofracial hate crime often find themselves entangled in racial power struggles between men: a power struggle in which men may show their statusvis-á-vis out-group men by sexually controlling or abusing women.Thereby, women’s bodies are used as a tool in racial status conflictsbetween groups of men, as identities, scripts, and stereotypes foundprimarily within conservatism and right-wing ideology are enacted onthe bodies of the victims.

Twenty years ago, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention presented a report that highlighted serious problems with regard to identifying, investigating, and sentencing offenders for hate crimes. The same problems have also been described in international research from several other countries. Since then, several measures have been taken to remedy these problems, but it remains unknown whether these measures have been successful. The aim of the present study is therefore to trace developments over time, using Sweden as a case study, and to evaluate the extent to which the problems identified earlier have been remedied. The results show that the problems identified by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention still remain despite a continuous process of reform. Theoretical links and parallels to international research are discussed throughout the article.