Elderly Women Want Female Carers for Intimate Care - Seven Parties Say No

LULEÅ - An elderly woman who needs help with intimate hygiene should be able to count on a female carer being there.

That is the aim of a Sweden Democrat motion in the northern city of Luleå, which also asks the council to look into voluntary cameras in bedrooms and bathrooms.

But in Luleå's social services committee, representatives of seven parties want the full council to reject both proposals.

When the committee handled the motion on 29 October, only Annika Bohman of the Sweden Democrats voted in favour. The Social Democrats, Moderates, Centre, Left, Christian Democrats, Liberals and Greens all backed rejection. The final decision rests with the council.

The motion, filed in February by Ingrid Cannerfelt, would mean a woman needing help washing could get it without being alone with a male employee. A man could still take part in the care.

Home care workers top police review

Two weeks before the motion was filed, public broadcaster SVT published figures from a Swedish Police Authority review.

It covered 143 reports of rape against women over 60 from 2022 to January 2026 in which the suspect was recorded as a stranger to the victim. According to police criminologist Anders Östlund, the largest group of suspects were men working in home care, followed by men working in nursing homes.

READ ALSO: 21 Convicted Criminals Working in Swedish City's Elderly Care

In one case that ended in a conviction, an employee at a nursing home in Värmland raped a woman living there. In September 2025 the appeals court sentenced him to five and a half years in prison for aggravated rape.

Reports of neglect have shown how exposed people needing help with hygiene can be. At a nursing home in Emmaboda, one resident was reportedly left lying in their own excrement for 18 hours.

Staffing before the wishes of the elderly

Luleå's social services department says the wishes of the elderly should in principle be taken seriously. But it considers it more important to assign work by staff skills, working environment and equal treatment.

It points to a state inquiry launched by the government in June on letting elderly people choose the gender of their carers. The inquiry reports by 11 June 2027, and Luleå wants to wait for national rules.

READ ALSO: Afghan Care Worker Jailed for Abusing Alzheimer's Patient at Nursing Home

No cameras either

Cannerfelt's second proposal would let elderly people who want one have a camera in their bedroom or bathroom. The other seven parties want that rejected too.

The department argues that a bathroom camera would film both the elderly person in a very private moment and the employee, and that there is no legal basis for such monitoring.

In Hässleholm in southern Sweden, it was the Christian Democrats who pushed for the right to choose a male or female carer. There, the Social Democrats and Moderates proposed rejection.

If Luleå's council follows the committee, an elderly woman may ask for a female carer in special cases - but she will have no general right to demand one.

READ ALSO: Swedish Council Leaders Oppose Right to Choose Male or Female Home Carers