Genus and Crime in the Nordics

One of the many criminology areas the Nordic countries have in common is research and crime policy on Genus and Crime.

In connection to International Women´s Day March 8th, we here highlight a selection of the current research and policy on this theme in NSfK´s Nordic member states.

Sweden
Genus and Crime is one of the profile researchareas at the Department of Criminology at the Stockholm University. The department has compiled some of the studies on this theme published by the researchers at the Department.

PhD student at the Sociology Department at Lund University Oriana Quaglietta’s doctoral research project about female drug buyers and sellers in Sweden: In Her Own Words: Searching for Meaning in Women’s Involvement in Drug Dealing.

Abstract: The project will study the decision-making and meaning-making processes of women who buy and sell drugs in Sweden. The issue of women’s “deviancy” remains controversial within criminology: the narrative has mostly focused on women as victims and helpers rather than offenders, and more so in the context of drug dealing, where scholars have generally underscored women’s marginality and vulnerability. Given that the literature on the topic has mostly employed an androcentric perspective that ignores the experiences of women active in this field, my study will attempt to redress this imbalance by interviewing women convicted of drug-related offences in Sweden. The research will investigate dimensions of women’s agency in drug dealing using a feminist lens centred on deconstructing the concepts of power and agency through a series of informal qualitative interviews. By employing a relational conceptualisation of power and agency, it is hoped that this approach will help to shift the scholarship towards a more balanced narrative that places vulnerability and volition on a continuum rather than a dichotomy. Ultimately, this research will attempt to highlight a rather understudied phenomenon, moving beyond a normative view of gender and taking into greater account the intersection of gender, race, and class in patterns of offending.

Iceland
Ragnheiður Bragadóttir, former chair of NSfK has published a new book,  Rape and other violations of people’s sexual freedom. The book is the result of a comprehensive study by the author on the  Legislation on sexual offenses and Case Law, which includes comparison with Nordic law, the investigation of the provisions of the Criminal Code, the criminal conduct, the penalties for offenses and interpretation of the courts on the law.

The book is divided into six parts. The first part deals with various common points pertaining to rape and other offences against people’s sexual freedom, i.e. offences dealt with in Art. 194–199 of the GPC. These cover various perspectives on legal arguments and protected interests, discussion of the law’s sexual neutrality and definitions of the concepts of sexual intercourse and other sexual interaction. The next four parts deal with specific types of violations: 1) Rape as sexual intercourse and other sexual interaction without consent, under par. 1 of Art. 194 of the GPC; 2) Rape that includes deceiving or abusing the victim’s misunderstanding or misconsceptions, as well as the rape of a mentally ill or handicapped individual and those who cannot defend themselves against the violation, under par. 2 of Art. 194 of the GPC; 3) Sexual abuse, under Arts. 197 and 198; and 4) Sexual harrassment, under Art. 199. All these parts exhaustively explain the act and measures used when the offence is committed, its connection with other provisions of the GPC, including sexual offences against children, and describe the perpetrator and the victim, as well as subjective conditions and punishment. The sixth and final part contains contemplations on a few subjects that have been prominent in society for the past few years.

Finland
A new study from Finland by researchers Karoliina Suonpää and Jukka Savolainen: “When a Woman Kills Her Man: Gender and Victim Precipitation in Homicidein Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Abstract: This research revisited the claim that victim precipitation (VP) is especially prevalent in situations where women kill their male intimate partners. Using administrative data from the Finnish Homicide Monitor (N=1,494), we created a typology of homicide incidents to examine variation in VP across three factors: the gender of the offender, the gender of the victim, and the intimacy of the victim–offender relationship. The results from regression models demonstrated strong support for the assumption that killings by women of their male intimate partners are more likely to have been victim precipitated than other types of homicide. This homicide type stood out as having the strongest association with each measure of VP included in the analysis. We did not observe statistically significant differences in VP among other homicide types. For example, we did not observe gender differences in VP in homicides that did not involve intimate partners. This pattern of results contradicts prior evidence suggesting that VP is a general feature of female-perpetrated killings, independent of the gender of the victim and the intimacy of the victim–offender relationship. As such, the present study underscores the importance of replication in studies of interpersonal violence. Theoretically, the results support the gender–partner interaction hypothesis over gender differences hypothesis of VP.
 

Below a compilation mainly concerning policy making on the theme Genus and Crime in NSfK`s memberstates (Texts mainly in Nordic languages).

Norway
Ny forskningsrapport om bruk av besøksforbud i saker om vold i nære relasjoner
Justis- og beredskapsdepartementet har mottatt en forskningsrapport fra Velferdsforskningsinstituttet NOVA om besøksforbud. Rapporten viser at det er utfordringer knyttet til praktisering og håndheving av denne ordningen.
Rapporten viser at besøksforbud er godt etablert som et forebyggende beskyttelsestiltak i norsk rett. Den peker imidlertid på utfordringer knyttet til praktisering av ordningen, bl.a. er terskelen for å ilegge et besøksforbud høy. Regjeringens ambisjon er at ofre for vold og trusler i nære relasjoner skal gis større frihet og oppleve en trygg hverdag uansett hvor de bor i landet.
– Sikkerheten til den som er utsatt for vold eller trusler må bli bedre. Offeret er den som skal være i fokus, ikke overgriperen. Derfor er det en selvfølge at det er trusselutøver som skal ilegges begrensninger, ikke offeret, sier justis-, beredskaps- og innvandringsminister Tor Mikkel Wara (FrP).
Rapporten blir nå oversendt Politidirektoratet og Riksadvokaten.
– Jeg legger til grunn at Politidirektoratet og Riksadvokaten følger opp rapporten i sitt videre arbeid, sier Wara.

Denmark
Kriminalisering af “psykisk vold” i nære relationer
– Kronik af Professor Jørn Vestergård, KU
Justitsministerens lovforslag om kriminalisering af såkaldt ”psykisk vold i nære relationer” (se nyhedsbrev fra januar 2019) har givet anledning til en hel del polemik. Helt grundlæggende er det imidlertid velbegrundet at indføre en bestemmelse, som allerede kendes fra vore nærmeste nabolande. En sådan bestemmelse vil kunne få en positiv holdningsdannende effekt. Strafferetten er ikke noget universalmiddel til løsning af alle mellemmenneskelige konflikter og problemer; men man skal ikke underkende signalværdien af kriminaliseringer, der mere eller mindre tydeligt markerer grænserne for, hvad der er samfundsmæssigt acceptabelt.

Finland
Justitieministeriet inleder en totalreform av våldtäktslagstiftningen
Justitieminister Antti Häkkänen tillsätter en arbetsgrupp för att se över våldtäktslagstiftningen. Målet är att ändra strafflagen så att betydelsen av samtycke lyfts fram tydligare än i dag i rekvisitet för våldtäkt. En annan central uppgift för arbetsgruppen är att bereda ändringar genom vilka samlag med ett ungt barn blir straffbart som ett våldtäktsbrott. Läs mer här.

Ministerierna vill ha en utredning om praxis för förebyggande av våld i nära relationer
Social- och hälsovårdsministeriet och inrikesministeriet har tillsatt två utredare för att lägga fram förslag om hur man kan ingripa i våld i nära relationer och om hur god praxis för förebyggande av våld i nära relationer kan etableras i hela landet. Läs mer här.

Greenland
Nyt undervisningsmateriale skal hjælpe forebyggelse af vold i hjemmet
I denne uge lancerede Projekt Kattunneq i samarbejde med Maryfonden et nyt undervisningsmateriale, der skal hjælpe studerende og fagfolk i forebyggelsen af vold i hjemmet. Ansatte på landets krisecentre mener, at der generelt er mangel på viden og metoder til, hvordan de arbejder med kvinder og børn, der har været udsat for vold i hjemmet. Derfor hilser de det nye materiale velkommen.

Mangel på krisecentre – et nyt i Nuuk på vej
Seneste befolkningsundersøgelse i Grønland, viser at 62 pct. af de kvinder, der indgik i undersøgelsen, har oplevet vold udøvet af deres partner. Mens 27 pct. af de 15-18-årige har oplevet, at deres far har slået deres mor. På et dialogmøde om voldsramte familier fremgik det, at der er behov for flere krisecentre. Ud af 17 byer findes kun krisecentre i 7 byer.

På dialogmødet i denne uge kom det frem, at socialforvaltningen i Nuuk har planer om at opføre et nyt krisecenter. Det nuværende krisecenter har plads til fire familier, og centeret har ikke været i stand til at modtage alle de kvinder der flygtede fra en voldelig mand. Læs mere her.