In Sweden, 23% of young women and girls between 16-24 reports to have been abused at least one time by a current- or ex-partner. Youth intimate partner violence is a critical issue with great negative impact on both individuals and society if not prevented early. Women and girls are recognized as essential actors in the 2030 Agenda, and strengthening the rights women and girls is an important step for achieving gender equality. The Foundation 1000 Möjligheter is a youth centre working to address the issue of youth intimate partner violence through support of young victims of abuse as well as to acknowledge young perpetrators of violent acts. The aim of this thesis was to examine the Foundation 1000 Möjligheter and their project UngaRelationer.se and how their work affects the knowledge gap of youth intimate partner violence in Sweden. Another aim was to investigate the consequences of youth intimate partner violence on sustainable development. This was studied through five qualitative semi-structured interviews; two with the Foundation 1000 Möjligheter, two with volunteers of UngaRelationer.se, and one with an employee of the Swedish Gender Equality Agency. The results were analysed through a literature review of the field of violence against women, feminist social movements and the gender and development theory. This study discovered that the lack of knowledge of youth intimate partner violence among youth, parents and other adults’ in proximity to youth is a hindrance to further initiatives to ending the violence. The Foundation 1000 Möjligheter addresses the knowledge gap on youth intimate partner violence through educating youths and adults on factors and perspective that are essential to understand and recognize violence and abuse. The efforts of the women’s movement to raise the issue and push for policy change is fundamental in the case of both adult and youth intimate partner violence and further mobilization is needed. The health effects as consequences of youth intimate partner violence risk to exclude young women and girls from higher education, meaningful interactions and influential positions in society. As women and girls are important actors of change, these consequences pose a threat to sustainable development.

The aim of this study has been to establish an understanding for the approach and working methods used by Swedish counsellors employed at youth clinics, with a focus on detecting as well as supporting adolescent girls who have experienced violence in couple relationships. The method used was of qualitative form and involved interviews with six counsellors working at different youth clinics across Sweden. The material was analyzed with a qualitative analysis as method and with help of empowerment as a theoretical concept. Results have shown that routine questions to adolescents are crucial part in the working method in regards of detecting violence. Furthermore, have the results shown that violence is not a primary cause for help seeking among adolescent girls, thereby creating a challenge for the counsellors to discover. The most common cause reported have been psychosomatic symptoms which can be linked to being exposed to violence. The essay depicts several ways in which adolescent girls who are victims of partner violence can be supported. This includes talking about the current as well as the desired direction the relationship should take. Strengthening the girl’s network of friends and family is another vital point. Lastly, providing information to the client about her bodily and legal rights to help her setting boundaries to unacceptable behavior in a relationship.

The present study constitutes the qualitative part of a project with aim to evaluate the implementation of Region Skåne’s care program to prevent intimate partner violence. Due to the increasing awareness of youth intimate partner violence in Sweden, the study aim was to evaluate the extent to which the care program has been implemented, as well as what the perceptions of the care program were, in three care settings specialized in young patients. A qualitative focus group study with an inductive approach was chosen. Four focus groups with 12 participants recruited from three care settings specialized in young patients within the region of Skåne county were held. Three of the participants were not explicitly governed by regional guidelines due to working in units which constituted a partnership between the region and the municipality. The data was analysed by using thematic analysis. Two main themes appeared in the findings, with the first being organizational leadership. Factors associated was that the care program had not been fully communicated and/or implemented in any regional unit. Further, the extent to which the professionals had obtained extensive training and/or perceived themselves as supported from the management varied. The second main theme, the clinical practice, reflected the clinical experiences of various types of violence, tasks that could appear challenging such as documenting IPV, screening for IPV online and making reports of concern. The main conclusion is that there are gaps between policy and practice in all contexts where the program is to be used. Recommendations are that organizational leaders should ensure the program to be sufficiently communicated to all professionals, and be responsive to requests for local adjustments and/or insecurities in relation to following the program, in order for neither screenings, nor documentation, nor making reports to fall between the cracks. / Den ingår i en ännu pågående utvärdering av Region Skånes vårdprogram mot våld i nära relationer. Projektet är finansierat av BRÅ.

Den föreliggande uppsatsens syfte är att begripliggöra hur yrkesverksamma inom socialtjänst och ideella föreningar arbetar med våldsutsatta och våldsutövande ungdomar som lever med våld i sina parrelationer. Fokus har lagts vid handlingsutrymmets påverkan för hur de insatser och stöd som finns att tillgå formas och används. Uppsatsen har en kvalitativ ansats, bestående av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med yrkesverksamma som analyserats med hjälp av en tematisk tolkning. För att tolka de inkomna resultaten har de teoretiska begreppen handlingsutrymme, stigma och normaliseringsprocess använts. Två teman identifierades utifrån resultatet: insatsernas utformning och begränsning, där kunskap hos både ungdomar och vuxna visat sig vara av betydelse, följt av bemötandets roll, där ett gott bemötande visat sig vara av stor vikt för att skapa goda förutsättningar för att hjälpa ungdomen på bästa sätt. Faktorer som normer och den hjälpsökandes skamkänslor, påverkar mottagligheten av insatser och bemötandet från den yrkesverksamma kan vara skuldavlastande samt tillitsskapande. Detta främjar samarbetet och mottagligheten för insatserna. Samverkan mellan olika samhälleliga aktörer och att visa sin verksamhet utåt, är två komponenter som kan skapa goda förutsättningar för insatsernas tillgänglighet och kunskap för ungdomar om var hjälp finns att få. / The purpose of the present thesis is to understand how professionals in social services and non-profit associations work with abused and abusive youths who live with violence in their intimate relationships. The focus has been on the impact of the scope of action on how the efforts and support that are available are shaped and used. The thesis has a qualitative approach, consisting of six semi-structured interviews with professionals that were analyzed using a thematic interpretation. To interpret the results obtained, the theoretical outset of scope of action, stigma and the normalization process have been used. Two themes were identified based on the results: the interventions design and limitation, where knowledge in both youths and adults proved to be important, followed by the role treatment have, where a good treatment proved to be of great importance to create good conditions to help youths in the best way. Factors such as norms and the help-seeker's feelings of shame, affect the receptivity of interventions and the response from the professional can be debt-relieving and confidence-building. This promotes cooperation and receptivity to the interventions. Collaboration between different societal actors and showing their activities to the outside world are two components that can create good conditions for the intervention’s accessibility and knowledge for youths about where help is available.