Response to interpellation 2023/24:842 on deficiencies in municipal work against honor-based oppression
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L argues that honor-related violence and oppression must never be accepted and that the government prioritizes strengthening the knowledge of professionals. 1 L emphasizes that the municipalities have an enormous responsibility to act and that the legislation provides opportunities for sanctions against those who do not fulfill their obligations 1. 2 L states that staff in preschool and school do not intervene due to lack of knowledge, fear of threats, or because they actively uphold honor norms 2. 3 SD argues that municipalities, for example Malmö, neglect the problem by not mapping honor oppression 3. 4 SD believes that staff who uphold honor norms should not be allowed to work with children 4. 2 L argues that the government is working on the issue by developing a new national strategy where honor-related violence and oppression receive its own focus 2. 2 L emphasizes that the responsibility to take measures lies with the municipalities, but that the government shall help them to get the conditions to do so 2. 2 L wants to intervene powerfully now to stop honor oppression from being passed down 2. 5 L underlines that Sweden shall be a country where everyone is allowed to decide over their own lives and bodies 5. 5 L argues that staff who see oppression without acting betray the vulnerable 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! Nima Gholam Ali Pour has asked me if I intend to work to strengthen the municipalities' obligation to counteract honor oppression and how I intend to counter the normalization of honor oppression among certain municipal staff in areas with high concentrations of immigrants. I have also been asked how I intend to act so that certain municipal administrations' and municipal managements' anxiety about highlighting honor oppression does not remain an obstacle to working against honor oppression, as well as how I intend to work to ensure that the threat situation against municipal staff does not lead to honor oppression not being highlighted.
I want to thank the Member of Parliament for the commitment to this issue. Honor-related violence and oppression can and must never be accepted. Individual freedom and human rights shall apply to everyone in Sweden. Everyone has the right to decide for themselves and their own body. This is not obvious for everyone, and therefore this is an issue that I and the government prioritize.
Honor-related violence and oppression is complex and involves specific challenges. One of the keys to addressing the issue is increased knowledge among professionals. This applies to both the possibilities of detecting this and the possibilities of protecting and providing support to those living in an honor context, because honor-related violence and oppression can require a different type of intervention than in cases where honor motives are absent.
In the action program to prevent and combat men's violence against women, violence in close relationships and honor-related violence and oppression, as well as prostitution and human trafficking 2024-2026, a number of measures against honor-related violence and oppression are gathered. The work includes strengthened long-term governance, better support and protection for the vulnerable, tightened legislation, increased knowledge and method development. Let me give some examples.
The Swedish National Agency for Education has a mandate to strengthen schools' systematic work against honor-related violence and oppression. The agency also has a mandate to map the school's work in preventing, detecting, and addressing honor-related violence and oppression.
The Swedish Schools Inspectorate has been tasked with, among other things, reviewing schools' work against honor-related violence and oppression based on the revised curricula in order to further increase the quality.
A special investigator has been tasked with analyzing improved student health, which can facilitate, among other things, for students at risk.
The Government intends to appoint an additional investigation during the autumn of 2024 to counter honor-related violence and oppression in preschools, schools, and after-school centers. Furthermore, the Government has tasked other authorities, including the National Board of Health and Welfare, the Agency for Youth and Civil Society Affairs, and the County Administrative Boards, with the assignment to increase knowledge about honor-related violence and oppression at the municipal level. This includes, among other things, that the social services shall increase the detection of violence against children and young people, provide educational initiatives, and promote the systematic follow-up of interventions for individuals who are exposed to honor-related violence.
The Government has also presented proposals for a new Social Services Act with a focus on preventive work and a more accessible and knowledge-based social service. In addition to this, the National Board of Health and Welfare has been tasked with supporting the establishment of family centers in areas where exclusion is great.
The Government continues to fund a national support line where persons who are subjected to honor-related violence and oppression can turn. The Government also strengthens the work with regional resource centers for persons who are subjected to honor-related violence and oppression.
The Government continues with full force to work to ensure that men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, and honor-related violence and oppression shall cease.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! Even though this government has prioritized the fight against honor oppression in a serious way, for which the government should receive praise, much of the work to counter honor oppression takes place at the local level. Those affected by honor oppression do not turn to the government or state authorities in the first instance; instead, they may turn to school health services, a teacher, social services, or someone working in a municipal capacity.
But what happens if the municipality does not care? What happens if the municipality, for various reasons, does not prioritize the fight against honor oppression? What responsibility does the government have then? Should young people be allowed to suffer because some municipal politicians do not care, or does the government need to act? This is what we are going to discuss today.
In my interpellation, I refer to a report from Malmö City's audit office where it appears that the city's labor market and social committee does not even produce mappings and analyses of the occurrence of honor-related violence. This is something that the municipality is supposed to produce, according to the Socialstyrelsen's regulations and general advice on violence in close relationships.
When such a mapping is missing, the city's politicians cannot see at all how large the problem is. This obviously suits the city's governing Social Democratic politicians, who have a habit of hiding the problems, but when one does not map the honor-based oppression, one also does not know how to help those who are affected and what the interventions should look like.
What makes this even more outrageous is that it has been known for several years that Malmö specifically is a city where honor oppression is a bigger problem than it is in other municipalities. Nevertheless, the municipality has chosen to sideline creating the basic tools needed to counter honor oppression.
If Malmö can neglect the victims in this way, what can one then expect from smaller municipalities, where the problem is not as large and where the resources are fewer than in the city of Malmö? I even believe it is likely that some municipality with less experience of this problem will look at how the city of Malmö handles honor oppression. If the city of Malmö does not pay greater attention to this problem, it will become a trend among the country's municipalities to not care about the victims of honor oppression.
That is why I ask the Minister if she intends to work towards strengthening the municipalities' obligation to counter honor-based oppression. In the case of Malmö, it is evident that the municipality does not feel any greater obligation to address this problem.
What is truly frightening is that the report from Malmö City's audit has been met with criticism from the city's governing politicians. Instead of the city's governing politicians taking the criticism to heart, they argue that too few employees were interviewed when the report was prepared.
What does the government intend to do when there are municipalities that refuse to act when they are criticized for neglecting honor oppression? We know that there will be more such municipalities the more certain foreign values gain a foothold in Sweden. How will the government handle such a situation?
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! To begin with, I want to say that I agree with the interpellor that it is a huge problem that many municipalities are far too passive towards this enormous issue.
As I see it, the fundamental problem is that we have let this go far too long. The oppression has become normalized in many preschools and schools in Sweden. The report from Malmö city states that more than every fifth ninth-grader in Malmö is considered to live under honor oppression. Examples are given from Malmö's preschools, where it has been noted that children of different genders are not allowed to play with each other. Girls are not allowed to wear short sleeves or short pants—not even in the summer. There are boys who say that they do not need to listen to the female staff because they are women.
All these examples show with all clarity how extensive this issue is. These are occurrences that should not occur in Sweden at all. The municipalities have an enormous responsibility to act in this area.
The report I am now speaking about concerns Malmö, but we must remember that Malmö is unfortunately not unique when it comes to this issue. There is a similar report from Gothenburg, and we know that the same problems exist in many other places in Sweden.
Madam Speaker! There is legislation today that the municipalities can rely on to act in a much clearer way. There is an obligation, for example for staff in preschools and schools, to make a report of concern when one suspects that a child is being harmed. I want to be very clear that a child who is in a context of honor and is subjected to honor-based oppression is being harmed.
The legislation also provides opportunities to implement sanctions against those who do not follow the legislation. One can, for example, speak of official misconduct when someone does not do what they are required to do according to the legislation.
The government, as is well known, cannot interfere in individual cases and perform the municipalities' tasks. But through the measures I presented in my interpellation answer, it is hoped that the government can map out the extent of this in a clearer way and clarify that the knowledge exists so that one cannot excuse oneself by saying that one did not know or understand. There should never be any excuse whatsoever to continue to remain passive towards this issue, because every time this happens, we fail these vulnerable children. This is one of the absolutely most vulnerable groups in Sweden, and I am quite frankly furious that this continues in the way it does in Sweden.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! A problem that occurs in several municipalities where there is a large immigrant population from countries where honor oppression is common is that staff employed by municipalities themselves begin to uphold honor norms in their workplaces. It can involve staff who themselves have grown up with honor norms and therefore uphold honor norms in preschools and schools in conflict with the governing documents that exist. The phenomenon itself is not strange. If a mass immigration occurs, the newcomers often take their values with them, especially if the integration process is failed, as it has been in Sweden.
There is a great challenge here for the government. What do we do when honor norms become the prevailing norms in society? What do we do when honor oppression is normalized due to demographic changes in society? This is exactly what has happened in Malmö, and there they have no answer to these questions. Those who support honor oppression work under the municipality's auspices, and no one has acted against this. For every day that passes, honor oppression is normalized more and more due to the passivity of the governing municipal politicians. When we know that this is happening, how can the government counteract and prevent this?
Another consequence of such normalization is that the staff who do not uphold the honor oppression do not dare to speak out because they are afraid of the threat posed by certain guardians. Who can then protect the children from the honor oppression they are exposed to from preschool all the way until their forced marriage and beyond? It is completely unacceptable and a loss for democratic society when those who strengthen the honor oppression are paid by the municipality.
There must be an order where people who uphold honor oppression are not allowed to work with children. Just as certain criminals are not allowed to work with children, it is a self-evident matter that those who uphold honor norms should not be allowed to work with children. Yet, this still takes place in areas with high concentrations of immigrants. The most oppressive norms are upheld by preschool staff employed by the municipality, that is to say, staff who in many people's eyes have a certain authority and represent a norm-setting behavior.
That is why I ask the Minister how she intends to counter the normalization of honor oppression among certain municipal staff in areas with a high concentration of immigrants. It is true that it is not the government that makes the decisions that occur in the municipalities, but when the municipalities act lawlessly, the government must act. This normalization is happening here and now, and with every passing day, honor norms are becoming more and more common in institutions in areas with a high concentration of immigrants.
In addition to this normalization of honor norms having its victims, it also means that the cultural alienation in these immigrant-dense areas is exacerbated.
How does the government intend to protect children from employees who currently work in preschools and expose children to honor-based oppression?
Even though this is not a state responsibility, I mean that staff who uphold honor norms should not be allowed to work with children. If the state can prevent criminals from working with children, one should also be able to prevent staff who uphold honor norms from working with children.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! There are, as I see it, three reasons why staff in preschools and schools do not intervene despite clear signs of honor-related oppression. One is a lack of knowledge. There is staff who do not see the clear signs and therefore do not use the legislation that exists, for example the legislation on travel bans, which is a good and important tool to prevent children from being taken abroad for, for example, forced marriage or female genital mutilation. If this legislation is to be applicable, one needs to have knowledge of honor norms in order to understand when one must act.
Lack of knowledge is only one of the reasons. Just as the interpellor pointed out, another reason is anxiety among the staff. One can be afraid of threats from guardians, and one can also have been influenced by the LVU campaign that is conducted continuously in Sweden and feel anxiety about what happens if one acts.
A third reason, and the absolutely most serious one, which the interpellor is also touching upon: that we today in Sweden have staff in preschool and school who themselves actively uphold honor norms.
Madam Speaker! Let me be clear that Swedish preschool and school shall not be a place for honor oppression. It shall be a free zone from honor oppression, without exception. That is not the case today, however. On the contrary, we see that honor oppression is being upheld.
The Government is working on this issue from several different angles, and I mentioned some specific parts. We have also given an inquiry a directive to produce a new national strategy regarding the sixth gender equality sub-goal: Men's violence against women shall cease. We have tasked the inquirer with finding ways to place greater focus on the fact that honor-related violence and oppression are of such a distinct nature that they cannot fall under this sub-goal in the way they have until now. We must instead find ways to truly emphasize that this is a problem that requires its own focus.
We will continue to work on developing various measures in this way, because as I said, the government cannot intervene in specific municipalities. The municipalities must take their responsibility. The government can do everything it can to help the municipalities to get the conditions to take their responsibility, but the responsibility lies with the municipalities themselves.
This is, of course, important for the vulnerable children because, as mentioned, this is one of society's most vulnerable groups. But if we are to truly reverse the very worrying development where honor oppression is spreading across our country, we must also ensure that this is not passed down as an inheritance. Children who are subjected to honor oppression in both the home and the school will, naturally, carry these norms with them for the rest of their lives and risk passing them on to their own children as adults. The most important thing we can do to prevent this problem from continuing is to intervene much more powerfully here and now to put a stop to this development.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the Minister for this debate and for her work and statements against honor oppression. I do not believe we have ever had a government with such a sincere will to counter honor oppression. Much is being done. The problem is, however, very complex, and there are still passive Social Democratic municipal politicians all over the country who fail those who are affected by honor oppression.
If the normalization of honor oppression continues in areas with high concentrations of immigrants, it will be difficult to reverse the development. Staff who want to protect children and counteract honor oppression must feel that they have support from both authorities and the government, and also in legislation. That is not how it looks today. Staff who want to counteract honor oppression do not always feel that they have support, while staff who uphold honor oppression feel secure in their employment. That is not how it should be.
Honor-based oppression harms children. It is completely unreasonable that staff who uphold honor-based oppression and thereby harm children should be allowed to work with children at all. I mean that it should be stated in some regulation or legislation in a very clear way. When a principal or supervisor sees that staff are upholding honor norms, it should be grounds to prevent the employee from coming into contact with children, because if we allow such an employee to come into contact with children, we allow that person to continue harming children. Those who uphold honor-based oppression should know that they are not welcome in Sweden or in Swedish workplaces.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! This should be obvious, but despite that it needs to be said: Sweden shall be a country where everyone - boys and girls, men and women - are allowed to decide entirely for themselves over their lives and bodies.
We have, as a country, made great gains in equality over the years. As Minister for Equality, I will never accept that we begin to move backwards, but I feel a real fear that it is a reality for some in our country and that the rights that many of us take for granted do not, in practice, apply to everyone.
Every person who works in preschool, school, or social services and who sees this oppression without acting bears a heavy responsibility and fails those who are vulnerable.
I and the government will continue to ramp up this work. It must be clear to everyone that this oppression has no place in Swedish society. We will never, ever compromise on fundamental values of equality and equity in Sweden.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.