Oslo: Immigrant families account for 70% of domestic abuse cases
Via Nettavisen (h/t Jan Simonsen, Norwegian)
Norwegian news-site Nettavisen wanted to write about the increase in crime and domestic violence on Christmas, but according to Stein Erik Olsen, domestic violence coordinator for the Oslo police, both are myths.
"70% of these cases are of families of non-Norwegian background. The cultures we speak of drink little alcohol and don't celebrate Christmas," Stein Erik Olsen told Nettavisen. "What we've seen in Stovner (borough) is that the number of cases goes down during Ramadan."
He didn't want to speculate why the number of domestic violence cases among Muslims decreases during Ramadan.
For the past decade the Norwegian police have focused on domestic violence, and every police district has its own domestic violence coordinator.
Olsen says one of the challenges with other cultures is that they have their own laws and a different attitude towards women than what is accepted in Norwegian society.
"In the worst of our cases it's quite extreme who the culture rules the family, and how laws and regulations different than the Norwegian ones apply. But we have more information about these cases and it's no longer the case that all women from these cultures accept it. For many of them it's incredibly tough to report it. To speak with us likely means that they must break off with people who are their only anchor in a foreign country," says Olsen.
