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Together with the Labor Party’s immigration policy spokesman, Masud Gharahkhani, he meets Dagbladet for an interview on the new book ‘Freedom’. There, he affirms that society has failed children who are affected by honor violence and negative social control.
“That this has not been considered an aggravating factor from a legal point of view until now is an obvious negligence on the part of the society at large,” Tajik writes, referring to a 2019 Supreme Court ruling.
He claims that honor was the most important motive in a criminal case, something that, according to the prosecution, had not happened before.
I think many are free
Tajiks believe that there is reason to believe that people who have committed honor killings go free.
– Unfortunately, I think so. Some of the most serious cases are likely to be detected and prosecuted as domestic violence. But some will likely receive lighter sentences than they would have received if the court also saw the full control regime. Many cases will probably never go to court, says the deputy Labor leader.
The question of how many perpetrators go free is impossible to answer. For honor, violence does not have its own code with the police and is not recorded in statistics.
-It’s something we have to change, he says.
Girls are locked up, monitored and threatened with death: – It’s just the tip of the iceberg
Masud Gharahkhani believes that a change of mentality is necessary, not only in the police, but also in the aid apparatus and in society in general.
– In many ways, we have gone no further than when violence in close relationships was called “domestic violence.” Society in general must deal with negative social control and honor violence, he says.
Sharpen the penalties
In addition to equipping honor killings with its own code for keeping statistics, the Labor Party believes that changes should be made to sections 282 and 283 of the Domestic Violence Act. The reason is that today’s sections do not mention honor violence or negative social control.
The Labor Party’s leading MP believes this should help increase penalties.
“Honor violence presupposes a regime of control over the victims that is not fixed in time, that forces them to adjust to the expectations and demands of others regarding their way of life, and that is adequate to generate fear and make great restrictions on the freedom of the victims, ”he says.
Races Against Honor Killing
Mæland opens up to changes
Justice Minister Monica Mæland (H) tells Dagbladet that the government is considering making changes to the penal code. He points out that the work of the action plan against honor violence and social control is in the final phase.
– We will consider all good proposals to combat violence in close relationships, honor violence and negative social control. Here, among other things, a greater use of reverse violence alarms, on which the government has focused, is very important. Victims of violence should feel free from pressure, even after a sentence has been served, he says.
– We will be open to considering stricter punishments for honor-related violence, and we will always focus more on knowledge and competence, continues Mæland.
The Justice Minister is not so positive about the Labor Party’s demands to codify honor killings.
– I don’t think that detailed management and more reporting on how the police encode certain types of crime in their own records is the way to go, and I’m a bit surprised that a Labor Party that spends a lot of time talking about trust reform in the public sector, suggest this. .
Organized crime
In the book, he interviews Attorney General Asbjørn Eritsland, who was the prosecutor in the case that was decided by the Supreme Court in 2019. He believes that honor killings should be able to be investigated as organized crime. This will give the police the right to use intrusive investigative methods.
– The interception of rooms and the interception of communications require a sentence of ten years. The domestic violence clause has only a six-year sentence. Serious domestic violence is fifteen years old. So if the honor regime through legislation had been characterized as serious domestic violence, then it would have been a stronghold for research as well, Eritsland says in the book.
Tajiks agree that honor killings can have signs of organized crime.
– At least in those cases in which there is talk of a coordinated control regime across national borders. This appears to have been the case in the 2019 Supreme Court case. So far, we have defined organized crime and human trafficking in a way that excludes honor killings. We should look at that again.
Housing offer
It is not only on the legal path that the Labor Party will set a new course. Tajiks and Gharahkhani believe that public assistance, such as medical care in schools, should be better able to recognize signs of honor violence.
In addition, aid lawyers need to better understand the mechanisms victims are exposed to, believes the Labor Party.
– Many will choose to return to their families, without this necessarily meaning that they have not been subjected to negative social control. The ties between the young man and the family are like a rubber band that tightens when the young people move away. If it’s tight enough, it’ll be hard to resist, says Tajik.
The Labor Party will also have its own housing and treatment facilities for honor crime victims.
– Many people need more help and a closer monitoring than other young people to be able to become independent and live their own lives, he says.
Own experiences
Masud Gharahkhani notes that the Storting has repeatedly debated honor killings and negative social control, also building on earlier proposals from the Labor Party. But not enough attention has been paid to these issues, he admits.
– We have a job to do, above all to prevent families from sending their children abroad because they have become “too Norwegian”, he says and continues:
– Young Norwegians are quite similar in all areas with one exception: the pressure they face when it comes to who they can and cannot marry, whether they can live openly as gay or not. This is a fight for freedom.
When asked if she has experienced negative social control in a close environment or has experienced it herself, Tajiko answers the following:
– My family is from Pakistan, it is a country where the culture of honor dominates. Since I have relatives there, I have experienced some elements, he says.
Masud Gharahkhani says he was lucky.
– My parents have given me a lot of freedom under responsibility. They came to Norway because they wanted to live in a country of freedom, he says.
The right to love who you want
Tajiks and Gharahkhani believe that the right to choose the person you love, even if this person is of the same sex as you, is absolutely fundamental to the freedom of the individual.
– Social control over time means that you make the expectations of others your own. That at some point you think that the race is over. It can be difficult to get out of this pattern alone. That is why society must stand up, says Tajik.
