An Inquiry Into State Responsibility Through the Lens of the Social Contract Theory and Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights : A Single Case Study Analysis of the Swedish Serial Rapist “Hagamannen”

Abstract: This study is a single case study to investigate the connection between women's fear of sexual violence, human rights, and the state's responsibility to protect women from the fear of sexual violence. The thesis accomplishes this by combining existing research on sexual violence and fear of sexual violence, as well as its relationship to human rights, with a case study based on the Haga Man, a serial rapist in Sweden. The Social Contract Theory was utilized as a theoretical framework to assess the government's responsibility to its citizens. Article 5 of the ECHR is used in this study to argue for the need for state protection. The findings indicate that Sweden as a state has a responsibility to protect women from the threat of sexual violence. This thesis adds to previous research pointing to the necessity to consider sexual assault and the fear of sexual violence as a human rights concern.