(Untitled)

[destroycreate]

Honour violence widespread in Sweden

Published: 9 Jun 08 07:23 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/12306/

Honour-related violence is rampant across the country, according to a new study by Sveriges Radio.
Nearly 60 percent of the country’s social services have helped victims of honour violence

Comments

[deadballet]

Thats a pretty ignorant statement.
I think its the fact that too many uneducated people have been let in.

[quoting_mungo]

Or maybe Sweden accepts that explanation a bit too readily. (Which sounds better, "I wanted to beat my wife because I felt powerless in this new strange country and wanted to assert myself" (IIRC something along those lines has been put forth as a more plausible explanation) or "my wife was shaming me so I gave her a good smack"? In the latter case you're shifting the blame onto the victim, which I imagine would appeal to a lot of perpertrators. See the common "it was her own fault she was raped; she was wearing a short skirt".)

Or maybe those social services have also helped hide at least as many people who are threatened with other types of violence? The article doesn't say.

(Besides, saying "nearly 60%" is reaching -- I don't know what the standard is for assuming the answers of people who abstain from answering a survey, but what those numbers give is that 52.5% of the social services have stated that they've helped people hide who feel threatened by honor-related violent crimes. I don't think 52.5 is "nearly 60".)

-Alexandra

[destroycreate]

I understand why. I'm half American, and there we're taught from day one to accept all religions and cultures and see people equally. At least we try to

[tea_c]

(a) Denmark is not Sweden. Sweden is not Denmark.

(b) The survey only shows how many of the municipalities have encountered honour violence - not how common honour violence is. It could be 1/1000 cases or 999/1000, but we don't know that.

(c) If you'd ask the social services whether they've ever dealt with "Swedish" women getting beaten by their "Swedish" husbands, they'd all say yes. Yet no one wants to deport those men, simply on the grounds of their ethnicity. In fact, no one even addresses their culture or ethnicity as being a part of the explanation.

[quoting_mungo]

♥
Thank you for saying what I was trying to say in a way that is infinitely more comprehensible!

-Alexandra

[turnyourankle]

IAWTC. Additionally, the high statistics could imply that people subject to honour violence feel okay with reporting it and believe that they will get help--and that they do indeed, get help.

[_likelife]

I think that too many ignorant, close-minded people have been let onto LiveJournal.

[krakri]

i second that!