Priority area 1 – Legal safeguards

Young girl, informant in the report Det var ikke bare ferie [It wasn’t just a holiday] by the Expert Group on Children and Young People Who Are Left Abroad Against Their Will (2020) (available in Norwegian only).

The Government will strengthen the legal safeguards of children, young people and adults subjected to negative social control and honour-motivated violence.

The Government is strengthening its efforts and proposing several legal measures to prevent and combat negative social control and honour-motivated violence. Norwegian Official Report (NOU) (2024) 13 Lov og frihet [Law and Freedom] (available in Norwegian only) is an important basis for the Government’s continued efforts. The Committee has made a number of specific recommendations and proposals for legislative amendments to strengthen the legal safeguards of individuals at risk of or subjected to negative social control, honour-motivated violence, and similar practices. The report shows that legislation is indeed an important part of the broad range of measures aimed at protecting the right to freedom and safety from negative social control and honour-motivated violence.

For the Government, the goal is to criminalise more serious acts and ensure that those who commit honour-motivated violence, force others into marriage, or subject children to female genital mutilation are held accountable. The Government also wants a targeted effort for children and young people who are, or are at risk of being, subjected to such acts.

Norway was among the early countries to adopt its own penal provisions criminalising female genital mutilation and forced marriage, and in recent years several legislative amendments have been adopted that have strengthened the legal safeguards of victims, including the following:

• The penal provision on forced marriage has been amended so that it also applies to non-legal forced marriages.
• The duty to avert a criminal act under the Norwegian Penal Code has been extended to include the averting of forced marriages and marriages involving children under 16 years of age, including non-legal marriages involving children under 16.
• A prohibition has been introduced against marriages between first cousins, and the Norwegian Marriage Act has been strengthened to combat child marriages.

Measure 1: Strengthen the legal safeguards of victims of honour-motivated violence, with a particular focus on children and young people

The Government believes that the legislative proposals in Norwegian Official Report (NOU) 2024: 13 Lov og frihet [Law and Freedom] (available in Norwegian only) are an important part of the broad range of measures aimed at protecting the right to freedom and safety from negative social control and honour-motivated violence. There is a need to promptly assess the committee’s proposals and implement any legislative changes deemed necessary. During the Action Plan period, the Government will review the proposals in the NOU. This will be a highly prioritised effort.

• a) A targeted effort for children and young people
• The Government wants to implement the necessary legislative changes to strengthen the legal safeguards of children and young people, with particular consideration given to:
• amendments to the regulation of child marriage and whether forced marriage and child marriage should be included as purposes of exploitation in the Norwegian Penal Code’s provision on human trafficking.
• better protection measures for children subjected to forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
• Responsible government ministries: Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Ministry of Children and Families, and Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion
• b) Strengthen criminal legal protection for victims in cases of honour-motivated violence
• The Government wants to strengthen the criminal legal protection of victims in cases of honour-motivated violence, and will in particular consider:
• amendments to the regulation of honour-motivated crime, and in particular whether the Norwegian Penal Code’s provision on domestic abuse should be better adapted to the special features of honour-motivated violence cases.
• whether the group of people who can be prosecuted for contraventions of the Norwegian Penal Code’s provision on domestic abuse should be extended.
• whether a motive of honour should be specifically mentioned as an aggravating circumstance in the Norwegian Penal Code.
• Responsible government ministries: Ministry of Justice and Public Security and Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion

Measure 2: Legal regulation of the specialised public services that prevent and avert negative social control and honour-motivated violence and provide assistance in individual cases

The specialised services, described in Box 3, carry out preventive work and provide guidance and assistance in individual cases. The cases often contain highly sensitive information that is collected and shared between multiple public bodies. These services are not specifically regulated in the legislation. An external report concludes that parts of the specialised services do not have an adequate legal basis for collecting, storing, using and disclosing personal data, and recommends that the processing of personal data be regulated by law.

The Government will submit for public hearing a proposal for legal regulation of the specialised services that prevent and avert negative social control and honour-motivated violence and the safeguarding of privacy.

Responsible government ministry: Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion