Support and help
This section contains examples of different types of support provided by professional actors and civil society organisations. Victims of terrorism are entitled to receive support immediately following the incident, and for as long as is necessary. Any person who has been affected by a serious incident must be offered crisis support, which is an emergency measure intended to mitigate serious psychosocial, psychosomatic and social consequences, and to strengthen the person’s ability to manage their life.
The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (Myndigheten för Samhällsskydd och Beredskap, MSB) is responsible for matters of crisis preparedness, and coordinates actors who can provide support and information in a crisis situation. The website krisinformation.se, run by MSB, will publish a notification if a special crisis support centre is opened to provide support and help in connection with the incident in question. The website also has information about other forms of support provided by different civil society actors.
Help and support to affected persons
Here are some examples of providers of care and support services:
Employers
Employers have to provide crisis support to employees who have been subjected to a crime in their work. This is done via company health care services, for example. Contact your boss or HR manager for information about your specific workplace.
Crime victims' helplines
Crime victims’ helplines provide information and personal support to the victims of crime and their families, and to witnesses. Victim Support Sweden (Brottsofferjouren Sverige) is a website with information about where you can find help. Victim Support Sweden also has a national helpline you can call on 116 006. The Support in Your Own Language function lets you get help in several different languages.
Bris
Barnens rätt i samhället, Bris, is an organisation that defends children’s and young people’s rights. If you are under 18 you can call 116 111 to speak to a counsellor. Bris also offers professional support by several other means, including via email or webchat.
Insurance policies
Insurance policies sometimes include crisis support provision, which means that you don’t have to pay for the support you get. Check with your insurance companies to see if your policies include this.
The health and medical care
The health and medical care services can be reached via your health or medical care centre or an accident and emergency ward. If you need medical or support you can also visit the 1177 website or call 1177 for guidance.
Jourhavande medmänniska
Jourhavande medmänniska is a helpline and a webchat service run by volunteers for people who just need to talk to someone.
The Red Cross
The Red Cross provides crisis support in connection with serious incidents.
The social services
The social services share the responsibility for ensuring that crime victims and their families receive support and help. The social services can be reached via the municipality where you live. On skr.se, the website of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, you can find contact information for all of Sweden’s municipalities.
Faith communities
Faith communities have a lot of experience of bringing people together at difficult moments and of providing support in grief and crises. The Church of Sweden has an SOS helpline and also provides individual counselling with a priest or a deacon. The Church of Sweden’s website has contact details for parishes all over the country. The website of the Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities has contact details for faith communities in Sweden that receive state support.
RFSL
RFSL, the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Rights, offers support services to LGBTQI persons who have been subjected to threats and violence.
Ask people around you for help
People around you, such as family and friends, can help in many ways. Things that feel difficult can become easier to deal with if you talk to someone you feel safe with. If you feel like you are being overwhelmed, you may need to ask people close to you to help you manage practical things like paying bills or contacting public authorities.
Local groups for psychiatric care and support
POSOM is an acronym for Psykiskt och Socialt Omhändertagande, or Psychiatric and Social Care and Support. There are POSOM groups in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Sundsvall, Umeå and Luleå, and they are usually made up of representatives from the social services, medical care services, the police, schools and charity organisations, as well as a priest and deacon.
The Swedish Crime Victim Authority
On the Swedish Crime Victim Authority’s website you can find contact details for various support and help services. You can also view or download the multilingual brochure Information to Crime Victims, which has information in 14 languages.
Support for the family of someone who has died
If you are a member of the family of someone whose death was a direct consequence of a terrorist crime you are entitled to receive support immediately following the incident and for as long as is necessary. There are several providers that offer grief support and practical help, including:
Bris
Barnens rätt i samhället, Bris, has an adult helpline that adults can call for support, information and guidance on how to talk about these things to children. The number is
077 – 150 50 50.
Efterlevandeguiden
Efterlevandeguiden, the Guide for Survivors of a Deceased Person, has advice and practical information that may be helpful to families in which a member has died.
Faith communities
Faith communities have a lot of experience of bringing people together at difficult moments and of providing support in grief and crises. The Church of Sweden and many other faith communities can offer support when you are grieving, through counselling and grief coping groups. The Church of Sweden’s website has contact details for all its parishes around the country, and the website of the Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities has contact details for faith communities in Sweden that receive state support.
Riksorganisationen för Anhöriga till Våldsdödade (RAV), the National Organisation for Families of People Killed in Violence
Riksorganisationen för Anhöriga till Våldsdödade (RAV), the National Organisation for Families of People Killed in Violence, works to improve the support offered by public authorities to families of people killed by crime. They arrange family meetings where grieving people can speak to others in the same situation.
Victim Support Sweden
Victim Spport Seden can provide support in several languages to family members via their helpline 116 006.
Crisis support centres
Crisis support centres may be set up following incidents handled as terrorist crimes. The people employed in such centres can provide information and support to victims and their families, witnesses, and to bereaved families in the event of fatalities.