To Spain to learn about partner violence

(Note! The first sentence of the preamble was adjusted 23.09.12, after it in one Dagbladet article was presented as if the wording about the proportion of female killings in Norway could be misunderstood with regard to partner killing, and it stated that other sources seem to have reproduced Ny Tid's articles on feminicide unvarnished (NB! The proportion of female killings is not the same as the proportion of female killings in "close relationships"). On a Facebook page, it was claimed from 09.09.12 that the information in Ny Tid's article "is not correct".

It is emphasized that no errors have been identified in Ny Tid's articles and that the articles are therefore unchanged (any errors are corrected in this case continuously, send an email to tips@nytid.no el. etc. ed.). It is otherwise referred to the first article, from 15. February 2007, with regard to information on the proportion of women killed in Norway compared to other countries. It is link to PDF of coversak from 20.01.2009.

Only a selection of Ny Tid's articles is online, see Mediearkivet.no for more articles on the same topic. Information on European countries' homicide rates from the UN body UNECE can, among other things, can be found here. Red. note.)

In September, a three-child mother from Østre Toten became the last number in the Norwegian partner murder statistics. And behind each murder is often years of violence. For every murder, there are thousands who live with violence, perpetrated by those with the greatest confidence and love. It is also a fundamental obstacle to equality:

- If you live in violence and fear, you can not fully realize either, points out Astri Aas-Hansen, State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice.

Now, Norway, considered to be far ahead in the field of gender equality, has had to make the trip to Madrid to learn how to address the abuses.

A murder a week

In Spain, one woman is killed by her partner every week. Partner violence is a big problem here, but there is also an equally big focus on the problem. The country has fought against the statistics, and now the Spaniards are a role model in the world in preventing partner killings and violence against women.

But Aas-Hansen has a scary news: It turns out that Norway has as many partner killings as Spain, in relation to the population. Around 70 partner murders are committed in Spain a year, the same number as in Norway, corrected for population. Almost 30 percent of all murders committed in Norway are murders in close relationships. As Ny Tid wrote in February, Kripos' murder statistics also show that in five of the last ten years, as many, or more, women than men have been killed in Norway. Figures from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which compiles total homicide statistics for more than 50 member countries in Europe, Central Asia and North America, show that there is hardly any other country where the proportion of women killed is as high as in Norway.

Now it turns out that Norway does not submit any figures to the UN body for who is behind the killings of women in Norway.

- Unfortunately, the data from Norway is missing, says Khin Win Thin in UNECE's statistics department to Ny Tid.

While it is easy to find out who has statistically killed women in the last ten years in countries such as Finland, Spain and Slovenia, and over 20 countries in Europe, Norway has been left out of the database. The reason is a lack of reporting of figures from Norway. In December, the UN will collect figures again. But it is unclear whether Norway has enough statistics to contribute.

Neither the Police nor the Police Directorate can explain why the UN has not received the information.

- Norway has few statistics on gender-based violence, something that Amnesty has criticized, says Patricia Kaatee in Amnesty Norway.

- I do not know that there has been an inquiry from the UN specifically on women's killings, says Erling Børstad, section leader for analysis and prevention in the Police Directorate.

shocked

For Secretary General of Amnesty Norway, John Peder Egenæs, it comes as a shock
that Norway, according to UNECE, is at the top of the world:

- We know that this is a big problem in Norway, but that we are on a par with Spain, which will have particularly big problems with this, is shocking.

- Violence against women is about lack of equality in society. We may not have come as far in Norway as we think. It seems as if violence against women is a problem we do not take seriously enough, says Egenæs and points out that we must take more thorough action.

- It is possible to make formal gender equality laws. But we have not been able to touch the built-in patriarchal power structures. This power structure is played out at the micro level in the relationship between women and men. And in Norway we are reluctant to move into the private sphere, he says.

That Norway has so many partner murders per capita is a big crossroads, he says and emphasizes that most murders are committed by ethnic Norwegians. It is thus not a "multicultural honor problem", but is about power structures between the sexes in general.

The Secretary-General reacts strongly to the fact that while the government had many measures in Soria Moria I to combat violence against women, there is only "a narrow line" laid down in Soria Moria II, that the struggle should continue. It gives the impression that the problem is abruptly gone, he says, and adds that the rape committee estimates that between 8000 and 16.000 rapes are committed per year.

- That there is so much gap, shows that we have no idea how big the problem is out there.

The government does not agree with the criticism. State Secretary Aas-Hansen has been in Madrid to learn how Spain has taken up the fight against violence in close relations. Now Spanish methods will be copied in Norway, and "reverse violence alarm" will come next summer, she says.

- I do not agree that Soria Moria II is without new, concrete measures. We will clarify the regulations on the duty to report violence and abuse against children, and the police will use a computer system to assess exposure to violence. The aid apparatus must be better coordinated, and knowledge about violence and abuse must become part of the curriculum for relevant occupational groups, she says.

- Startling

- The attention to the problem is greater and the investment is clearer in Spain than in Norway. In Norway, we draw attention to the individual cases. We do not put it in a system as they have done in Spain – here they have worked structurally, says Aas-Hansen.

- We can ask ourselves whether we more easily accept this violence in Norway. When Spain raises the alarm about what they define as a huge problem, so should we, she says.

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero made violence against women one of his and the Socialist Party's most important areas of focus in his first election. The government believes this is one of the main reasons why they won the election and that they were re-elected in 2008.

Amaya Arnaiz, a specialist in intimate partner violence in the Spanish Ministry of Justice, is surprised that Norway is on a par with Spain.

- The violence is due to a lack of equality. It is strange that Norway is at the same level, says Arnaiz in Madrid.

And what is the Norwegian Secretary of State's solution after being on a training trip to Spain?

- Violence must be defined more clearly as a crime and societal problem than as a private problem, says Aas-Hansen.