Stockholm — Sweden announced on Thursday plans to introduce electronic bracelets for children as young as 13 who are deemed at risk of being recruited by criminal gangs. The measure, part of a broader crackdown on escalating gang violence, would allow social services to enforce curfews on an estimated 50 to 100 youths.
Social Services Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall told reporters that the bracelets would be designed to resemble ordinary watches or wristbands, avoiding the stigma associated with ankle monitors used for convicted offenders. “When children are at risk of falling into the clutches of serious criminals, we must have more tools to protect them,” she said in a statement.
Lowering the Age of Criminal Responsibility
The proposal comes alongside a significant legal change: from July 1, Sweden will lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13 for crimes punishable by at least four years in prison. Criminal gangs have increasingly recruited minors to carry out murders and other violent acts, knowing that under the previous threshold they would face no prison time.
Waltersson Grönvall noted that 173 children under 15 are currently suspected of involvement in murders or murder plots. In 2024, there were 52 so-called evidentiary proceedings, a legal process where courts determine guilt for children below the age of criminal responsibility without imposing punishment.
Swedish police have since October 2025 been authorized to wiretap electronic communications of children under 15, a measure that has also drawn scrutiny.
Criticism from Rights Groups
The electronic bracelet plan has faced pushback from children’s rights organizations, Sweden’s National Council for Crime Prevention, and UNICEF, all of whom have voiced concerns about civil liberties. Critics argue that monitoring technologies risk normalizing surveillance of minors and may disproportionately affect vulnerable communities.
Sweden’s minority right-wing government, which relies on support from the far-right Sweden Democrats, has been advancing a series of tough-on-crime and immigration-restriction proposals ahead of the general election on September 13. The government frames the measures as necessary to protect children from exploitation by organized crime.
Gang-related shootings have claimed 23 bystander lives over the past three years, according to official data, intensifying public pressure for action. The country has also seen a rise in bystander deaths in gang shootings, underscoring the urgency of the crisis.
While the government insists the bracelets are a last resort for serious cases, the debate highlights a broader tension across Europe between security measures and children’s rights. Similar discussions are underway in other member states grappling with youth involvement in organized crime.
