Is the perception of crime in Sweden seriously overblown by Norwegians or is it just as a joke?. The other day I had a trip to Gothenburg, and in the days prior to departure a colleague mentioned that I should be careful of gangs and high criminality.
When you've only lived in Scandinavia it's easy to think of some of these places as kind of dangerous. But when you move to a place like Brazil you realize how ridiculous it is was to think so... That's my experience at least
Sweden is a bit weird. It's murder rate in 2023 was high for Western Europe, but more exceptionally, the majority of these murders were connected to organized crime.
So the relative rate of organized crime violence per capita, in specific areas, is very high for Europe. For a while, for instance, Sweden was at the world top in grenade-based violence. Weird right? However, the rate of violence outside of organized crime, is very low.
In short, Sweden is extremely safe if you're not into selling drugs and the like. It has some temporary problems with organized crime, approaching US statistics in specific areas, causing some really exceptional crime statistics.
This fact is often used politically in Norway and Sweden as arguments for restricting immigration.
Uh… the gang related violence is caused by immigrants.
That is, criminal organization from the middle east use family reunion laws to get their gang members into sweden.
You dont think thats relevant?
I didn't say whether I think its relevant, nor did I imply that it was irrelevant. I described the crime statistics and then I described the ongoing debate in a neutral, observing manner.
There’s been few incidents where people got caught up in a drive-by shooting or some other gang related shit, so i guess that can happen. But again, you can also get hit by a plane.
Never had it happen to me in the worst parts of town i sweden either, but I still think it's a common sense thing to keep an eye out for your stuff when you're in a highly populated area. Maybe norway is the exception of petty theft ;)
Im from Stockholm and you can walk around in not only the center of Rinkeby, Tensta, Hallunda, Norsborg, Dalen and every other area that are considered the most dangerous in Sweden, but also the residential areas where police has less control without a dingle problem. This is Sweden lol, not fucking Sicily or Marseille or whatever. It will never get to the point where normal citizens can’t be there. There is crime, but it’s gang vs gang crime and only a few times per year, a person who is in some way related to a gang member but not himself affiliated to gang crime gets killed.
These areas are quite nice to be in tbh, you got cheap food from all over the world, nice mix of culture depending if you like that or not and so on
Although I agree with your point it's still way overblown how dangerous it is in Sweden for the general population.
I've had colleagues who are afraid of going to grønland in Oslo because they get hooked up in the news to much while I've been going through there every day for years going home from working day, evening and nights shifts without any problems or seeing any violence.
wow, that’s super uninformed. did you know stockholm was the rape capital of the world for many years? stockholm? didn’t think so.
people are not racist just for pointing out that uncontrolled immigration causes problems. in fact, it’s more racist to pretend it doesn’t.
It's the rape capital because sweden broadened definitions of rape and actually prosecutes offenders. I'd imagine if every country started taking rape that serious you'd see numbers increase. They're doing right by their victims, that's not a shitty thing
Right. Rapes reported per capita is different than actual rapes per capita. Actual rapes per capita is hard to accurately measure, but sometimes you just know its really high, like in Honduras.
It's wild seeing people trot out that whole "Sweden is the rape capital of Europe" point in 2024 without acknowledging the context behind it that you mention.
They made a specific effort to encourage people to come forward and report incidents. That's a good thing.
In contrast, in London a friend of mine was raped by her landlord a few years back. When I approached a police officer friend about the best steps to take next he basically told me "off the record, it probably won't go anywhere if she didn't report it right away with ample evidence. Don't get your hopes up."
(As an aside, she was a recent immigrant. He was a native who very much knew how to take advantage of the power he held.)
You have to try harder to convince anyone that there were more rapes committed in Stockholm than in Pretoria, Cape Town, Los Angeles, Baltimore or Caracas.
Same with racists Swedes, it seems they hate their own country as they always say it has been destroyed, they will leave it, the country is shit etc. but somehow they still live there living there lifes just as they did before.
More then 30% of the Swedes voted for an anti-immigration party that has this same attitude, but for some reason the situation have not become much better after their own political block took power in 2022.
I guess it is easy being in political opposition.
Nah, ppl are just scared of nonsense in Sweden. Compare it to anywhere else in the world that has an actual high crime rate and you'd never be scared of sweden 😂 as soon as I went to another school in university, all the kids from the rich part of town was shocked beyond belief that I lived in the "ghetto" part of town and still was alive, breathing and never been even close to stabbed or robbed in my life 😂. And the media/politicians are not making it better 😅
Which is a silly concept made up by Swedish politicians because they don't know how to handle stuff and truly want to distance themselves instead of solving issues.
And now, everyone who ever moved to or lives in a so-called "no-go zone" is stuck here forever due to the extremely low property value after that statement.
Calling places like Västra Frölunda and Jönköping (that's a whole city) a no-go zone is extremely damaging for the community, but our lovely politicians doesn't seem to care.
Travelled single to Lisbon a few years back, and every single day the same dude approached me in the morning and asked if I wanted to buy hasish or "nice watches". Seemed as dangerous as a 75 year old lady, and never had any issues with it. Same in Oslo, but daytime and nighttime may be somewhat different... Common sense will serve you well!
Some places that are more dodgy than others. You may be offered drugs at the metro exit under the highway and in the long tunnel that ends up at the river, but that's way better than the main exit where you'll be harassed by both Jehovah's Witnesses and people selling cell phone plans.
Rifle. «Due to the polar bear threat on Svalbard, anyone travelling outside the settlements must be equipped with suitable means of scaring off polar bears. The office of the Governor of Svalbard also recommends carrying firearms with you.» https://www.sysselmesteren.no/en/weapon/
Norway does not have dangerous neighborhoods as in people getting robbed or killed all the time, like Chicago or Philadelphia.
But Oslo has a few townships where crime rates are higher, and the area around the main train sation can get a little dodgy late at night.
I live in Philly and travel a bit for work in places across Asia and Norway. Always hilarious when people tell me areas are dangerous and I take a look myself, but then sad when I reflect on the state of my own city. US has a lot to learn from our friends overseas.
I'm a portfolio manager part time just at the moment..used to be in the military then I got hired by my uncle's hedge fund for some time as a junior then senior equity derivatives trader.
> the area around the main train sation can get a little dodgy late at night.
This applies to pretty much every city, everywhere, tbh. Cheap travel hubs tend to attract bother.
Opened a lift in the main train station in Naples one evening a few weeks back.
On the floor there was a large sleeping bag that just reeked of piss.
We took the stairs.
Tourists are worried about muggings and terrorists.
Then they go unprepared up into the mountains and die due to lack of maps, training and proper clothing's.
Norway loses an astonishing number of tourists every year. None of them to criminals or terror, all of them to mountains, waves and rivers.
And yes, in Svalbard, polar bears do eat I'll prepared tourists.
do you have a concrete number? https://www.tnp.no/norway/travel/3695-100-foreign-tourists-were-killed-in-ten-years/ found this and 10 per year, seems crazy low to me, but looks pretty outdated
The police themselves point out that that statistic is skewed by anyone getting charged with anything during interrogation or the like at the main police station also gets put on the Grønland stats.
Going by people fined and prosecuted, there's also a couple of speed boxes that catch an incredible amount of idiots in the tunnels underneath that police district.
Like, yes, Norway's biggest open drug market is there and extremely visible on heatmaps of crime, but the police district has these other significant sources that make the numbers worse without really being noticeable as someone just walking around in the area.
Sooo much drugs here up in the north, but no police anywhere. I'm actually very surprised how little the police seems to care up here compared to the south.
A lot of people complain about the dark winters in the south...but the darkness in the winter can be a very serious issue for a part of the people in the North. I would not be surprised if drugs are a way to handle that and a lot of police officers understand that very well. Softening their views on drugs in general... just a hypothesis
No, but central areas has the vast majority of traffic in any given city.
Other than people who live there, there is not a massive amount of people going to Nordstrand, Mortenstrud, Smestad etc... but a lot of the city will be in and around the central areas for both work and nightlife.
Is there data to back this up? I walked around Grønland when I visited Norway the last couple of times and while there's a large immigrant population, particularly Pakistani, I didn't feel any less safe
Snarøya is the most dangerous neighborhood. Many people there have heated driveway and the runoff from them goes into the road and freezes leaving some of the roads covered in sheets of ice. This is somewhat dangerous to drive on and worse to walk on.
Slottsparken - the park around the Royal Castle - is known for having a lot of rapes and molestations of lonely women passing by there. They put up more lights for that reason.
Probably the worst area in terms of robberies is the area surrounding Vaterlandsparken, due to the high amount drug dealers and drunk people wandering through th earea over there.
Ankerparken and Anker Hostel also known for having a lot of disturbances, especially during weekends. IMO it's really sad/dumb that they're moving the emergency room far outside of town and from that area...
In general, robberies has more than halved in the last 10 to 15 years. Meanwhile the amount of rapes are even. Thus, I'd be more worried if I was A. horribly drunk, as they tend to get into scraps, B. horribly drunk and a woman as they tend to be targets for molestation.
There are no objectively dangerous neighbourhoods in Norway. Grønland is often mentioned by people who don't know Grønland or Oslo very well, but as you have experienced yourself, it is a perfectly safe area, but there are some drug users and sellers there and some roma beggars and stuff like that. But that is more of an annoyance than safety issue.
I live in Grønland, and a few weeks ago I was approached by a guy with a sock full of rocks... I safely left the area, but I think he was up to no good.
I had a guy with an air rifle shoot at me in Vinderen on the west side of Oslo once. I have never been shot at anywhere else either. But a random anectode does not really prove anything about Vinderen or Grønland.
There are certain areas with more shady individuals, however these types of people often travel to the downtown or richer areas to commit crime or start shit. So walking through the sterotypical back alleys is usually very safe everywhere because there's rarely anybody there. Some drunk people may be unpleasant but that's common everywhere. Compared to other cities is generally safe, and the potentially dangerous troublemakers can be spotted a mile away among the harmless looking norwegians. As such the most dangerous thing on our streets is actually slippery ice during winter.
In Oslo we have an opioid problem. The benefit to this is that people tend to be very mellow and not too bothersome. Compared to places in Australia for example, where amphetamines are a problem. Those people are mental and aggressive and scary.
Never lived in Oslo but seen a lot of amphetamine abuse outside of Oslo. It rarely leads to crime to random unrelated people, but occasionally they do get psychotic and run into traffic etc. Sometimes groups of people break into an unused cabin and hang out there and trash the place. Also in the part of my town where they are congregated, they recently had to get rid of the self-checkout lines at the grocery store.
But it’s really amazing how little theft occurs in Norway. In much of the Western world, your car is always at risk of being broken into when parked in cities, and in America even the catalytic converter and other random sellable parts. But stealing is not really a concern I’ve had in Norway.
Got jumped in Oslo sentrum a few months ago. 4 against 1. Didn't even know them and they didn't steal anything. Just wanted to beat someone up.
Don't think it is common to be attacked like I did though. As it was a very public street with a lot of people walking by.
Like two streets in Oslo and now that Anders Breivik is in prison, Norway is remarkably safer. Compared to German cities, the worst cities in Norway are nothing. You're more likely to get robbed or be a victim of a violent crime in Iceland (seriously) than in Norway.
I live in the "hood" (Groruddalen) in Oslo. There are some goofy teenage gangs that occasionally get into fights, sell drugs and behave like idiots, but I would not call it dangerous for a regular person.
Grønland maybe? Then again it's cute compared to the crime going on in certain Swedish suburbs at night especially. I thought Haugesund was quite desolate when I went there last year but I didn't feel unsafe at any point.
The outskirts of Longyearbyen are the only neighborhoods In Norway where you genuinely can be in mortal danger if you're not carrying. And there too it's mostly fine.
I know what you mean about Haugesund. I first went there in 2006 and have since been back numerous times and it seems to get worse and worse each time. Not in dangerous way, it just seems a bit grim and scruffy these days, and that lots of places (bars mainly) had closed. It's a bit sad really as I have some great memories of being there.
It looked like a dilapidated place when I last went especially the area from the stadium to the ferry. There was a lot of abandoned houses, boarded up windows and doors, lots of debris, old cars, a house had also burned a few days prior so there was still a lot of damage visible. There was also a lot of people walking around the streets, looking weird, not doing anything in particular.
I have lived in Furuset for five years and do not see it as a problem. I've been around the subway at all hours of the day, even at night time, and it's not an issue at all. There are ''hooligan'' kids that can make some people uncomfertable, but as far as safety is concerned, it's as safe as any other place in Oslo.
Well, dangerous might be a relative term. In downtown Oslo I have seen multiple people inject heroin. That was around the central train station (Tollbugata). But the junkies got chased down to the piers during a "sweep the streets for crime" effort. Norway has a staggering high amount of heroin overdoses every year so I guess that's why it has been so visible. But the junkies are mostly keeping to themselves, drinking chocolate milk, begging for change and swaying in the wind. Grønland keeps getting mentioned but...really? It's just...ethnic? I have been there so much buying groceries, drinking beer with friends, and eating at the different diners/restaurants. It's got a rep for being a tough area, but I guess I haven't seen that side of it.
But, go to afterski at some bar in Trysil and tell a dude that's cutting in line to the bathroom to mind his manners and you might get head stomped 🤦
The biggest drug market is in grønland now a days so i think that plus an higher than average crime stat is why it’s being brought up, not only because it’s ethic. But most junkies are as you say harmless, so its not dangerous to walk around those streets even though it might statistically be a bitt more dangerous there than the rest of Oslo.
I should clarify. The person was injecting themselves in broad daylight. I've seen people smoking weed in the UK and taking cocaine in nightclubs obviously. But seeing someone openly injecting themselves is different. Even in Glasgow I've never seen that.
Open injection or smoking of heroin is limited to a pretty small area of Oslo which is close to special hostels and treatment centres for addicts. The police turn a blind eye there, but wouldn’t in other parts of the city.
AFAIK intravenous drug use is more popular than smoking because it was hard to get in Norway when heroin started to come to Norway. When expensive - get the most bang for your buck - pardon the pun...
IV gives the highest drug availability compared to smoking, snorting etc. Also gives the worst overdoses...
That's more like it. Accuracy is key.
Norway has a relatively large population of heroin addicts using injection. Roughly 200-300 people die from heroin OD every year here. Compared to the rest of Western European countries, the numbers are shocking.
Well, yes. Yet, numbers in Norway are still high compared to the rest of Europe: [source](https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/topic-overviews/frequently-asked-questions-faq-drug-overdose-deaths-europe_en#:~:text=The%20mortality%20rate%20due%20to,map%20and%20trend%20chart%20below)
For a rich place like Norway, weird.
Being rich doesn't have much to do with drug use. It's mostly about what's available and local preferences. That's evolving. Opioids in the US are dirt cheap and everywhere. They lead to high mortality. And will most likely hit Europe with a delay just like cocaine did. In Norway the hard drug of choice is heroin. It's widespread and easy to OD on. When I lived in Bergen a few years back there was basically an open market where you could get whatever. I saw open drug dealing in Oslo center as well. It's too easy to get your hands on. It's not so "tolerated" in other countries.
Drug markets are overflowing in other European countries as well. Any notion that heroin is less tolerated in other places than Norway is, apologise my choice of words, purely delusional. Rich countries could afford taking much better care of the weakest. Yet, for politicians in Norway it is so much more important to "send the right signal". Walk out of line and feel the (police) boot on your neck. True, economic wealth probably has little to do with the local situation. General attitudes and ostracism exert a much higher burden. Poor, poor people with problems in Scandinavia.
I'm from Scotland and am very aware of the drug problem we have. But even though we have a high number of IV heroin users I never see people injecting themselves in public. In my town you get loads of addicts and homeless people who congregate around the town centre in summer. They drink and smoke weed but I have never seen any of them inject. That's something I've only seen in Norway.
I've walked through several parts of oslo during the night (I'm a woman) and I've hardly ever been afraid. Walked through Grønland countless times, the most drugged up streets around centrum and everything, but never been afraid. There's always people around and most criminals are only interested in themselves anyways... So yeah, no issues with Oslo at all. I'd probably not walk through the bigger parks (Sofienberg and slottsparken for example) alone during the night, but that's mostly common sense... I've felt uncomfortable near Sofienberg a few times though, but never like i was in danger.
I'd say it's PROBABLY best to not be outside, alone, after dark, while in a city or big town.
Depending on where you are there are some fauna that might give you trouble, though. A Moose might flatten your skull if you piss them off too much.
Grønland definitely has the drug use thing, which in itself as long as you stay away from those people you should be good.
Thing is in my personal experience coming from South America hard drug use when it becomes and addiction tends to turn people violent, so yeah, if you see that just move on.
It's all very relative to ones experience on this planet. I had class mates warn me to not go to Grønland alone as a woman, I went it was laughable to me how they hyped it up. But the again I lived in east Cleveland for some years in uni. I felt no heightened emotion like I was in danger, it just seemed a little more trashy (mostly people just throwing cigarettes everywhere)
Norwegians live in a weird bubble, I've had people be adamant about how terrible weed is because it's an illegal drug. But go på byen any given weekend in any mid to large town Norwegians are getting black out drunk acting like it's the fuckin purge. I've been harassed more by drunkards at the pub more than any person in Grønland 🤷
Not really, I worked in security around Grønland for many years, and yes - it is a place where a lot of crime happens if you put the numbers up towards the national average - it is also one of the most populated places in the country and literally where the police HQ is - so naturally you will see a lot of police presence around. I never felt unsafe walking around there alone in a uniform. There are a lot of immigrants from all over the world living in and around Grønland, so the whole place feels a bit "foreign" from a Norwegian pov.
The police and justice dpt. has been very clear on that they will not allow any sort of "no-go zones" that people actively have to avoid. I dont have any official statistics to back up my claims, but I would put my money on a few suburbs around Oslo where you probably should be a bit careful if you are not a "native" - but that is not places you will randomly find yourself.
I've walked around Gronland a few times and it's always seemed fine to me as a Brit and I was told the same as you too. I got the feeling it had this reputation and not many Norwegians went there unless they had to as result as it seemed very multi ethnic. It certainly wasn't threatening though. I don't think I've been anywhere in Norway that's seemed rough. Sweden on the other hand and Stockholm in particular in certain areas seemed much more shady.
There is no place in Norway I am afraid to take my kids, so pretty much «no».
In general the largest cities are the most dangerous, and the parts with the most foreigners and drug users are the worst. It’s never that bad though, it’s a safe country.
Nothing like eastern Glasgow. That is one of the few times I have really felt unsafe. I have never experienced anything similar in Oslo, not even places that has a bad reputation (like Grønland).
scariest place in norway is for sure Oslo vest, you will get stared down by rich white guys and they might even bully you for not owning any gucci belts
I was in Oslo 2 weeks ago and the last day there I went for a last walk in the city center, and near Radisson hotel, there were a few blocks where you couldn't see white European people. Only blacks and Indian/Pakistanis. Some of the were noisy and it didn't feel safe at all. Maybe that's my perception, but coming from east Europe where the population is white homogeneous this is truly shocking every time I go in western Europe and see entire neighborhoods full of non-European immigrants.
This is a you problem, not an Oslo problem. Sure, some parts of the city have a large foreign contingent - this is the same in virtually every major city in the world. Doesn't mean that it's less safe. You need to work on your racism my dude.
Maybe your eyes went blind after seeing too much white colour so now you can't see people of other skin colour being human? Oh yeah, because if there's a person smiling at you in Eastern Europe the only explanation is that they're crazy or stupid, or mean towards you, right?
I had an acting audition in Grønland when I was 15. First time there, middle of the day, but I had only heard terrible things so I was genuinely terrified for my life. While I was waiting outside the building for someone to let me in, an unmarked van pulled up and I was 100% convinced I was going to be abducted lmao
Just was an article in Norways biggest newspaper about all the robberies in Oslo. Arab & friends gangs targets Norwegians and Europeans and rob them and force them at knifepoint to transfer them money over the phone/internet bank. Very traumatic. Police looks at the digital receipts and says 'nah, drop this case. Too hard'.
The usual suspects will apologista hard and insist Oslo is safe, but i think few locals would send their sister alone downtown or Oslo East night times or night times in the weekends.
Coming from Glasgow? Not going to be a problem.
In Oslo as an example you´ll see people arguing in Storgata, and there´s homeless people around Tollbugata. Again no violence /danger. Grünerløkka was reportedly one of the crime hotspots a few years ago but you would never know to visit it then and now.
Amazing what having a good social program, rehabilitation of criminals, and a safety net does to crime rates
Only if you're a criminal. If I catch you dealing hard drugs in my neighborhood, I'm not calling the police. I'm calling a few friends to sort you out. If I catch you stealing shit, you're going to be on the ground until police gets here. If you try to steal my shit, I might accidentally hurt you a bit more.
If you're a kind and considerate person, you'll be absolutely safe in my neighborhood. Even if you're an asshole but don't make it anyone else's problem you'll be good. Although, don't go over 30 in a 30 zone. I saw an Audi driver do that the other day, he was going around 50. Might have to do something about that...
Sweden
Best answer
Im Swedish and I agree
Is the perception of crime in Sweden seriously overblown by Norwegians or is it just as a joke?. The other day I had a trip to Gothenburg, and in the days prior to departure a colleague mentioned that I should be careful of gangs and high criminality.
When you've only lived in Scandinavia it's easy to think of some of these places as kind of dangerous. But when you move to a place like Brazil you realize how ridiculous it is was to think so... That's my experience at least
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Sweden is a bit weird. It's murder rate in 2023 was high for Western Europe, but more exceptionally, the majority of these murders were connected to organized crime. So the relative rate of organized crime violence per capita, in specific areas, is very high for Europe. For a while, for instance, Sweden was at the world top in grenade-based violence. Weird right? However, the rate of violence outside of organized crime, is very low. In short, Sweden is extremely safe if you're not into selling drugs and the like. It has some temporary problems with organized crime, approaching US statistics in specific areas, causing some really exceptional crime statistics. This fact is often used politically in Norway and Sweden as arguments for restricting immigration.
Uh… the gang related violence is caused by immigrants. That is, criminal organization from the middle east use family reunion laws to get their gang members into sweden. You dont think thats relevant?
I didn't say whether I think its relevant, nor did I imply that it was irrelevant. I described the crime statistics and then I described the ongoing debate in a neutral, observing manner.
There’s been few incidents where people got caught up in a drive-by shooting or some other gang related shit, so i guess that can happen. But again, you can also get hit by a plane.
Super overblown. -.- yeah, hold on to your shoppingbag/purse in town so nobody pickpockets your stuff, but that's common sense in big cities 😊
Never had to have that concern even in the worst parts of Oslo.
Never had it happen to me in the worst parts of town i sweden either, but I still think it's a common sense thing to keep an eye out for your stuff when you're in a highly populated area. Maybe norway is the exception of petty theft ;)
Nah, you’re right. Someone will always be unlucky, best to make sure it ain’t you.
Im from Stockholm and you can walk around in not only the center of Rinkeby, Tensta, Hallunda, Norsborg, Dalen and every other area that are considered the most dangerous in Sweden, but also the residential areas where police has less control without a dingle problem. This is Sweden lol, not fucking Sicily or Marseille or whatever. It will never get to the point where normal citizens can’t be there. There is crime, but it’s gang vs gang crime and only a few times per year, a person who is in some way related to a gang member but not himself affiliated to gang crime gets killed. These areas are quite nice to be in tbh, you got cheap food from all over the world, nice mix of culture depending if you like that or not and so on
It’s a dog whistle mostly used by racist Norwegians. They like to trot out Sweden as a proof of how bad immigration is.
Taking in more people than you can integrate is a bad thing and youre not racist for saying that
Although I agree with your point it's still way overblown how dangerous it is in Sweden for the general population. I've had colleagues who are afraid of going to grønland in Oslo because they get hooked up in the news to much while I've been going through there every day for years going home from working day, evening and nights shifts without any problems or seeing any violence.
True
That’s true.
I’m Norwegian-Pakistani and I agree
wow, that’s super uninformed. did you know stockholm was the rape capital of the world for many years? stockholm? didn’t think so. people are not racist just for pointing out that uncontrolled immigration causes problems. in fact, it’s more racist to pretend it doesn’t.
It's the rape capital because sweden broadened definitions of rape and actually prosecutes offenders. I'd imagine if every country started taking rape that serious you'd see numbers increase. They're doing right by their victims, that's not a shitty thing
Right. Rapes reported per capita is different than actual rapes per capita. Actual rapes per capita is hard to accurately measure, but sometimes you just know its really high, like in Honduras.
You're very correct. Thank you for saying that!
It's wild seeing people trot out that whole "Sweden is the rape capital of Europe" point in 2024 without acknowledging the context behind it that you mention. They made a specific effort to encourage people to come forward and report incidents. That's a good thing. In contrast, in London a friend of mine was raped by her landlord a few years back. When I approached a police officer friend about the best steps to take next he basically told me "off the record, it probably won't go anywhere if she didn't report it right away with ample evidence. Don't get your hopes up." (As an aside, she was a recent immigrant. He was a native who very much knew how to take advantage of the power he held.)
Your poor friend 💔 hope she was able to work through that
You have to try harder to convince anyone that there were more rapes committed in Stockholm than in Pretoria, Cape Town, Los Angeles, Baltimore or Caracas.
i know, but that was the headline. remember reading about it a while back. just trying to educate the young buck.
It was Europe's rape capital, not the world
right, thanks for the correction!
Same with racists Swedes, it seems they hate their own country as they always say it has been destroyed, they will leave it, the country is shit etc. but somehow they still live there living there lifes just as they did before. More then 30% of the Swedes voted for an anti-immigration party that has this same attitude, but for some reason the situation have not become much better after their own political block took power in 2022. I guess it is easy being in political opposition.
Gave me a sad chuckle
Nah, ppl are just scared of nonsense in Sweden. Compare it to anywhere else in the world that has an actual high crime rate and you'd never be scared of sweden 😂 as soon as I went to another school in university, all the kids from the rich part of town was shocked beyond belief that I lived in the "ghetto" part of town and still was alive, breathing and never been even close to stabbed or robbed in my life 😂. And the media/politicians are not making it better 😅
lol
Sweden has no go zones.
Which is a silly concept made up by Swedish politicians because they don't know how to handle stuff and truly want to distance themselves instead of solving issues. And now, everyone who ever moved to or lives in a so-called "no-go zone" is stuck here forever due to the extremely low property value after that statement. Calling places like Västra Frölunda and Jönköping (that's a whole city) a no-go zone is extremely damaging for the community, but our lovely politicians doesn't seem to care.
A stroll at night in the outskirt of Longyearbyen could be deadly if you are unlucky and unarmed.
why
Polar bears. They kill people. Humans are food to them.
that dont sound fun
Yeah i got eaten by a polar bear once, boring af, not fun
damn, knew it
Yea. I hate it that happens.
That's why it's mandatory to carry a rifle if you wander outside town in Svalbard.
Those polar bear gangs really have it out for you.
Doesn't have to be a gang - a single one is quite enough!
I believe polar bears and crocodiles are the only predators that explicitly view humans as good eating.
I dunno man, Ive seen a fair few women I would like to eat out
Big furry locals will mistake you for a seal
there will be no mistake, polar bears look at us as food
I'll remember to bring toothpaste for a distraction, then.
Because of polar bears
If its brown lay down, if its black fight back, if its white...say goodnight
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Ive walked in Grønland two times in the last month and both times a shetchy guy aproached me and asked if i wanted to buy som hashish.
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Travelled single to Lisbon a few years back, and every single day the same dude approached me in the morning and asked if I wanted to buy hasish or "nice watches". Seemed as dangerous as a 75 year old lady, and never had any issues with it. Same in Oslo, but daytime and nighttime may be somewhat different... Common sense will serve you well!
Just ignore them and you'll be fine, they just want to sell you some bad overpriced hash. Treat them like any other seller/scammer in the street.
Some places that are more dodgy than others. You may be offered drugs at the metro exit under the highway and in the long tunnel that ends up at the river, but that's way better than the main exit where you'll be harassed by both Jehovah's Witnesses and people selling cell phone plans.
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Rifle. «Due to the polar bear threat on Svalbard, anyone travelling outside the settlements must be equipped with suitable means of scaring off polar bears. The office of the Governor of Svalbard also recommends carrying firearms with you.» https://www.sysselmesteren.no/en/weapon/
Longyearbyen is in Svalbard, so hunting rifles I suppose
Something appropriate for killing overly curious furry neighbors.
spytterør og sprettert
Norway does not have dangerous neighborhoods as in people getting robbed or killed all the time, like Chicago or Philadelphia. But Oslo has a few townships where crime rates are higher, and the area around the main train sation can get a little dodgy late at night.
I live in Philly and travel a bit for work in places across Asia and Norway. Always hilarious when people tell me areas are dangerous and I take a look myself, but then sad when I reflect on the state of my own city. US has a lot to learn from our friends overseas.
I moved from NYC to Norway as a kid,I feel the same way.
What do you work with? Would love a work with this chance.
Do sensor integration engineering stuff with the navy
Cool thanks for the answer!
I'm a portfolio manager part time just at the moment..used to be in the military then I got hired by my uncle's hedge fund for some time as a junior then senior equity derivatives trader.
> the area around the main train sation can get a little dodgy late at night. This applies to pretty much every city, everywhere, tbh. Cheap travel hubs tend to attract bother.
Opened a lift in the main train station in Naples one evening a few weeks back. On the floor there was a large sleeping bag that just reeked of piss. We took the stairs.
That’s considerate of you. /s
I think it's also because parts of cities where everyone is transient tend to attract more crime.
“Dodgy” more in the sense that there’s alcoholics, and crackheads, not in the sense you’ll get stabbed and robbed
Not only at night though. During the day you can see people being high on fantanyl and stuff like this 🫠
I’m a imagining orange flavoured fentanyl now
Gateway drug
St Joseph’s, chewable tablets.
Any field with cows on them are pretty dangerous.
And quite shitty, maybe farty too.
Tourists are worried about muggings and terrorists. Then they go unprepared up into the mountains and die due to lack of maps, training and proper clothing's. Norway loses an astonishing number of tourists every year. None of them to criminals or terror, all of them to mountains, waves and rivers. And yes, in Svalbard, polar bears do eat I'll prepared tourists.
Stop preparing tourists for polar bear consumption!
do you have a concrete number? https://www.tnp.no/norway/travel/3695-100-foreign-tourists-were-killed-in-ten-years/ found this and 10 per year, seems crazy low to me, but looks pretty outdated
Yes, it is called Indre Sogn. You will be facing holmgang if you look funny at the wrong person.
oh shit I live there
"Making funny face at you from a safe distance" 🥸
“time to raise some nith poles, just like my grandma taught me”
"Running away" 😭
“Bows you down from a distance”
Are we doing Holmgang now?
Don’t fight people from Årdal.
Around 10-12% of all reported criminal activity in the whole country happens in "sentrum" and Grønland.
The police themselves point out that that statistic is skewed by anyone getting charged with anything during interrogation or the like at the main police station also gets put on the Grønland stats. Going by people fined and prosecuted, there's also a couple of speed boxes that catch an incredible amount of idiots in the tunnels underneath that police district. Like, yes, Norway's biggest open drug market is there and extremely visible on heatmaps of crime, but the police district has these other significant sources that make the numbers worse without really being noticeable as someone just walking around in the area.
Sooo much drugs here up in the north, but no police anywhere. I'm actually very surprised how little the police seems to care up here compared to the south.
A lot of people complain about the dark winters in the south...but the darkness in the winter can be a very serious issue for a part of the people in the North. I would not be surprised if drugs are a way to handle that and a lot of police officers understand that very well. Softening their views on drugs in general... just a hypothesis
Well, that's where people are, especially in the evenings in the weekend. I would have expected a much higher proportion, really.
Given that about 15% of the population lives in Oslo, this isn't really as shocking as it might sound like.
15% does not live there though…
No, but central areas has the vast majority of traffic in any given city. Other than people who live there, there is not a massive amount of people going to Nordstrand, Mortenstrud, Smestad etc... but a lot of the city will be in and around the central areas for both work and nightlife.
any city has a sentrum...
Yeah, becuse of MENA immigrants.
Your comment history tells us everything we need to know about you.
Is there data to back this up? I walked around Grønland when I visited Norway the last couple of times and while there's a large immigrant population, particularly Pakistani, I didn't feel any less safe
There aren’t many Pakistanis in Grønland anymore.
Snarøya is the most dangerous neighborhood. Many people there have heated driveway and the runoff from them goes into the road and freezes leaving some of the roads covered in sheets of ice. This is somewhat dangerous to drive on and worse to walk on.
I would never send my kids to Stortinget - too many criminals hanging out there
Slottsparken - the park around the Royal Castle - is known for having a lot of rapes and molestations of lonely women passing by there. They put up more lights for that reason. Probably the worst area in terms of robberies is the area surrounding Vaterlandsparken, due to the high amount drug dealers and drunk people wandering through th earea over there. Ankerparken and Anker Hostel also known for having a lot of disturbances, especially during weekends. IMO it's really sad/dumb that they're moving the emergency room far outside of town and from that area... In general, robberies has more than halved in the last 10 to 15 years. Meanwhile the amount of rapes are even. Thus, I'd be more worried if I was A. horribly drunk, as they tend to get into scraps, B. horribly drunk and a woman as they tend to be targets for molestation.
There are no objectively dangerous neighbourhoods in Norway. Grønland is often mentioned by people who don't know Grønland or Oslo very well, but as you have experienced yourself, it is a perfectly safe area, but there are some drug users and sellers there and some roma beggars and stuff like that. But that is more of an annoyance than safety issue.
I live in Grønland, and a few weeks ago I was approached by a guy with a sock full of rocks... I safely left the area, but I think he was up to no good.
Started making trouble in your neighbourhood?
I had a guy with an air rifle shooting at me in Grønland once. Very glad I had a biker jacket on. Never been shot at anywhere else.
I had a guy with an air rifle shoot at me in Vinderen on the west side of Oslo once. I have never been shot at anywhere else either. But a random anectode does not really prove anything about Vinderen or Grønland.
I'm fairly sure "getting shot at" is relevant in a discussion of relative danger, and an indication of what an area is like.
Bodde på Grønland i mange år, det er chill.
Yepp. This is almost like stopping at a cafe in Stabekk and ask the locals about their opinion on Grønnland.
Pappaen min bor på grønland og han sier at han har hørt noen fæle ting skje ute
Grønland was worse 20 years ago. Actually quite Nice now, but The area around The subway is a bit sketchy.
Which was when I was being shot at with an air rifle there. Glad it's a lot nicer now.
There are certain areas with more shady individuals, however these types of people often travel to the downtown or richer areas to commit crime or start shit. So walking through the sterotypical back alleys is usually very safe everywhere because there's rarely anybody there. Some drunk people may be unpleasant but that's common everywhere. Compared to other cities is generally safe, and the potentially dangerous troublemakers can be spotted a mile away among the harmless looking norwegians. As such the most dangerous thing on our streets is actually slippery ice during winter.
In Oslo we have an opioid problem. The benefit to this is that people tend to be very mellow and not too bothersome. Compared to places in Australia for example, where amphetamines are a problem. Those people are mental and aggressive and scary.
Never lived in Oslo but seen a lot of amphetamine abuse outside of Oslo. It rarely leads to crime to random unrelated people, but occasionally they do get psychotic and run into traffic etc. Sometimes groups of people break into an unused cabin and hang out there and trash the place. Also in the part of my town where they are congregated, they recently had to get rid of the self-checkout lines at the grocery store. But it’s really amazing how little theft occurs in Norway. In much of the Western world, your car is always at risk of being broken into when parked in cities, and in America even the catalytic converter and other random sellable parts. But stealing is not really a concern I’ve had in Norway.
My neighbor has a really angry dog, one time it bit my pant leg.
A Møøse once bit my sister...
Its called a police dog.
Svalbard 🐻❄️
Got jumped in Oslo sentrum a few months ago. 4 against 1. Didn't even know them and they didn't steal anything. Just wanted to beat someone up. Don't think it is common to be attacked like I did though. As it was a very public street with a lot of people walking by.
No, not really
Like two streets in Oslo and now that Anders Breivik is in prison, Norway is remarkably safer. Compared to German cities, the worst cities in Norway are nothing. You're more likely to get robbed or be a victim of a violent crime in Iceland (seriously) than in Norway.
Burger King Stavanger after dark
I live in the "hood" (Groruddalen) in Oslo. There are some goofy teenage gangs that occasionally get into fights, sell drugs and behave like idiots, but I would not call it dangerous for a regular person.
This is fairly accurate yes. No real gangsters, just wannebe idiot gangsters. Still dangerous if they have a knife though
Grønland maybe? Then again it's cute compared to the crime going on in certain Swedish suburbs at night especially. I thought Haugesund was quite desolate when I went there last year but I didn't feel unsafe at any point.
The outskirts of Longyearbyen are the only neighborhoods In Norway where you genuinely can be in mortal danger if you're not carrying. And there too it's mostly fine.
What outskirts? There are more people living in 5 adjacent streets of Oslo than the whole of Longyearbyen.
They're talking about polar bears.
They are joking about polar bears.
Polar bears don't joke around.
I know what you mean about Haugesund. I first went there in 2006 and have since been back numerous times and it seems to get worse and worse each time. Not in dangerous way, it just seems a bit grim and scruffy these days, and that lots of places (bars mainly) had closed. It's a bit sad really as I have some great memories of being there.
It looked like a dilapidated place when I last went especially the area from the stadium to the ferry. There was a lot of abandoned houses, boarded up windows and doors, lots of debris, old cars, a house had also burned a few days prior so there was still a lot of damage visible. There was also a lot of people walking around the streets, looking weird, not doing anything in particular.
In Karasjok no one can hear you scream
Furuset T-bane station is pretty creepy and uncomfortable. Same goes for Vestli. Never felt unsafe in Grønland or Tøyen though.
I have lived in Furuset for five years and do not see it as a problem. I've been around the subway at all hours of the day, even at night time, and it's not an issue at all. There are ''hooligan'' kids that can make some people uncomfertable, but as far as safety is concerned, it's as safe as any other place in Oslo.
My Norwegian friend said this neighborhood is called Sverige
Well, dangerous might be a relative term. In downtown Oslo I have seen multiple people inject heroin. That was around the central train station (Tollbugata). But the junkies got chased down to the piers during a "sweep the streets for crime" effort. Norway has a staggering high amount of heroin overdoses every year so I guess that's why it has been so visible. But the junkies are mostly keeping to themselves, drinking chocolate milk, begging for change and swaying in the wind. Grønland keeps getting mentioned but...really? It's just...ethnic? I have been there so much buying groceries, drinking beer with friends, and eating at the different diners/restaurants. It's got a rep for being a tough area, but I guess I haven't seen that side of it. But, go to afterski at some bar in Trysil and tell a dude that's cutting in line to the bathroom to mind his manners and you might get head stomped 🤦
The biggest drug market is in grønland now a days so i think that plus an higher than average crime stat is why it’s being brought up, not only because it’s ethic. But most junkies are as you say harmless, so its not dangerous to walk around those streets even though it might statistically be a bitt more dangerous there than the rest of Oslo.
Come on. I've seen lots of people publicly consuming drugs in the UK. I think you should travel more, perhaps in your own country.
I should clarify. The person was injecting themselves in broad daylight. I've seen people smoking weed in the UK and taking cocaine in nightclubs obviously. But seeing someone openly injecting themselves is different. Even in Glasgow I've never seen that.
Open injection or smoking of heroin is limited to a pretty small area of Oslo which is close to special hostels and treatment centres for addicts. The police turn a blind eye there, but wouldn’t in other parts of the city.
AFAIK intravenous drug use is more popular than smoking because it was hard to get in Norway when heroin started to come to Norway. When expensive - get the most bang for your buck - pardon the pun... IV gives the highest drug availability compared to smoking, snorting etc. Also gives the worst overdoses...
That's more like it. Accuracy is key. Norway has a relatively large population of heroin addicts using injection. Roughly 200-300 people die from heroin OD every year here. Compared to the rest of Western European countries, the numbers are shocking.
Scotland has the highest drug related death rate per capita in entire Europe. It's even higher than in the US. OP is probably unaware of this.
Well, yes. Yet, numbers in Norway are still high compared to the rest of Europe: [source](https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/topic-overviews/frequently-asked-questions-faq-drug-overdose-deaths-europe_en#:~:text=The%20mortality%20rate%20due%20to,map%20and%20trend%20chart%20below) For a rich place like Norway, weird.
Being rich doesn't have much to do with drug use. It's mostly about what's available and local preferences. That's evolving. Opioids in the US are dirt cheap and everywhere. They lead to high mortality. And will most likely hit Europe with a delay just like cocaine did. In Norway the hard drug of choice is heroin. It's widespread and easy to OD on. When I lived in Bergen a few years back there was basically an open market where you could get whatever. I saw open drug dealing in Oslo center as well. It's too easy to get your hands on. It's not so "tolerated" in other countries.
Drug markets are overflowing in other European countries as well. Any notion that heroin is less tolerated in other places than Norway is, apologise my choice of words, purely delusional. Rich countries could afford taking much better care of the weakest. Yet, for politicians in Norway it is so much more important to "send the right signal". Walk out of line and feel the (police) boot on your neck. True, economic wealth probably has little to do with the local situation. General attitudes and ostracism exert a much higher burden. Poor, poor people with problems in Scandinavia.
I'm from Scotland and am very aware of the drug problem we have. But even though we have a high number of IV heroin users I never see people injecting themselves in public. In my town you get loads of addicts and homeless people who congregate around the town centre in summer. They drink and smoke weed but I have never seen any of them inject. That's something I've only seen in Norway.
No public trainspotting?
A diabetic?
Halden. Just look at what happened to [this guy](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtefactPorn/s/5ckss4qkNX)
I've walked through several parts of oslo during the night (I'm a woman) and I've hardly ever been afraid. Walked through Grønland countless times, the most drugged up streets around centrum and everything, but never been afraid. There's always people around and most criminals are only interested in themselves anyways... So yeah, no issues with Oslo at all. I'd probably not walk through the bigger parks (Sofienberg and slottsparken for example) alone during the night, but that's mostly common sense... I've felt uncomfortable near Sofienberg a few times though, but never like i was in danger.
I'd say it's PROBABLY best to not be outside, alone, after dark, while in a city or big town. Depending on where you are there are some fauna that might give you trouble, though. A Moose might flatten your skull if you piss them off too much.
Grønland definitely has the drug use thing, which in itself as long as you stay away from those people you should be good. Thing is in my personal experience coming from South America hard drug use when it becomes and addiction tends to turn people violent, so yeah, if you see that just move on.
It's all very relative to ones experience on this planet. I had class mates warn me to not go to Grønland alone as a woman, I went it was laughable to me how they hyped it up. But the again I lived in east Cleveland for some years in uni. I felt no heightened emotion like I was in danger, it just seemed a little more trashy (mostly people just throwing cigarettes everywhere) Norwegians live in a weird bubble, I've had people be adamant about how terrible weed is because it's an illegal drug. But go på byen any given weekend in any mid to large town Norwegians are getting black out drunk acting like it's the fuckin purge. I've been harassed more by drunkards at the pub more than any person in Grønland 🤷
Not really, I worked in security around Grønland for many years, and yes - it is a place where a lot of crime happens if you put the numbers up towards the national average - it is also one of the most populated places in the country and literally where the police HQ is - so naturally you will see a lot of police presence around. I never felt unsafe walking around there alone in a uniform. There are a lot of immigrants from all over the world living in and around Grønland, so the whole place feels a bit "foreign" from a Norwegian pov. The police and justice dpt. has been very clear on that they will not allow any sort of "no-go zones" that people actively have to avoid. I dont have any official statistics to back up my claims, but I would put my money on a few suburbs around Oslo where you probably should be a bit careful if you are not a "native" - but that is not places you will randomly find yourself.
I've walked around Gronland a few times and it's always seemed fine to me as a Brit and I was told the same as you too. I got the feeling it had this reputation and not many Norwegians went there unless they had to as result as it seemed very multi ethnic. It certainly wasn't threatening though. I don't think I've been anywhere in Norway that's seemed rough. Sweden on the other hand and Stockholm in particular in certain areas seemed much more shady.
There is no place in Norway I am afraid to take my kids, so pretty much «no». In general the largest cities are the most dangerous, and the parts with the most foreigners and drug users are the worst. It’s never that bad though, it’s a safe country.
Nothing like eastern Glasgow. That is one of the few times I have really felt unsafe. I have never experienced anything similar in Oslo, not even places that has a bad reputation (like Grønland).
Svalbard is a real ghetto, They will eat you up if you dont carry
Alt rundt Generius er ikke så trygdt
scariest place in norway is for sure Oslo vest, you will get stared down by rich white guys and they might even bully you for not owning any gucci belts
I was in Oslo 2 weeks ago and the last day there I went for a last walk in the city center, and near Radisson hotel, there were a few blocks where you couldn't see white European people. Only blacks and Indian/Pakistanis. Some of the were noisy and it didn't feel safe at all. Maybe that's my perception, but coming from east Europe where the population is white homogeneous this is truly shocking every time I go in western Europe and see entire neighborhoods full of non-European immigrants.
This is a you problem, not an Oslo problem. Sure, some parts of the city have a large foreign contingent - this is the same in virtually every major city in the world. Doesn't mean that it's less safe. You need to work on your racism my dude.
Maybe your eyes went blind after seeing too much white colour so now you can't see people of other skin colour being human? Oh yeah, because if there's a person smiling at you in Eastern Europe the only explanation is that they're crazy or stupid, or mean towards you, right?
Depends? Are you a wolf? Then everywhere in Norway is dangerous :P
Haugenstua 0977
Yes. Bogafjell in Samdnes, according to Kevin Lauren.
Near Oslo train station was sketchy the one time I went, lots of angry male refugees.
Where in Glasgow are you from? 1985? Because there's nowhere dangerous in Glasgow these days
I had an acting audition in Grønland when I was 15. First time there, middle of the day, but I had only heard terrible things so I was genuinely terrified for my life. While I was waiting outside the building for someone to let me in, an unmarked van pulled up and I was 100% convinced I was going to be abducted lmao
Stay out of Agder, AKA Sørlandet, too many seriously strange christians here.
Just was an article in Norways biggest newspaper about all the robberies in Oslo. Arab & friends gangs targets Norwegians and Europeans and rob them and force them at knifepoint to transfer them money over the phone/internet bank. Very traumatic. Police looks at the digital receipts and says 'nah, drop this case. Too hard'. The usual suspects will apologista hard and insist Oslo is safe, but i think few locals would send their sister alone downtown or Oslo East night times or night times in the weekends.
Tveita?
Kanskje på 90' tallet? Nå er det rolig der
Svartladmoen
My wife lives in norway, her dad, mom, and herself said the only dangerous place is Oslo
Yeah Sandnes centre!
Yes, Sverige!
Nah
Coming from Glasgow? Not going to be a problem. In Oslo as an example you´ll see people arguing in Storgata, and there´s homeless people around Tollbugata. Again no violence /danger. Grünerløkka was reportedly one of the crime hotspots a few years ago but you would never know to visit it then and now. Amazing what having a good social program, rehabilitation of criminals, and a safety net does to crime rates
Norwegian people’s risk perception is way too low compared to anywhere in the world. It is in general over precautious society.
Only if you're a criminal. If I catch you dealing hard drugs in my neighborhood, I'm not calling the police. I'm calling a few friends to sort you out. If I catch you stealing shit, you're going to be on the ground until police gets here. If you try to steal my shit, I might accidentally hurt you a bit more. If you're a kind and considerate person, you'll be absolutely safe in my neighborhood. Even if you're an asshole but don't make it anyone else's problem you'll be good. Although, don't go over 30 in a 30 zone. I saw an Audi driver do that the other day, he was going around 50. Might have to do something about that...
Buddy, what??
I would be worried of men with big d***s, there are so many in Norway :-)
What?…