In Sweden as in most other Western countries, violence against women has become a public issue. However, most social programs for dealing with the problem are so recent that definitive evaluations of their impacts are impossible. The Swedish Parliament appointed a commission to study and make recommendations regarding the problem, and several proposals from its 1983 report have been designated for providing assistance specifically to assaulted women. Thus, battered women usually seek help at the usual public agencies. Therefore, the government has funded training for professionals in these agencies who will come into contact with battered women. Some projects are also under way to provide psychotherapy for battering men and to study the effects of violence on children. Nonspecific preventive measures such as education on personal relations in the school curriculum and measures combating alcoholism may serve to reduce the violence. Future efforts will include disseminating more information about this newly recognized problem and continuing efforts to address it. (Author abstract modified)