Abstract The present study aims to examine one of the main components of honour-related violence, the previously disregarded – honor-contextualized rumour/gossip, by examining the process with which rumours/gossip advance within and through-out the honour-related social collective and its purposes for, and effects on, the mechanism of violence and oppression that permeates the collective. This study is based on hermeneutic premises and is constructed on ten semi-structured interviews with respondents in the ages 18 – 25 whom for an extensive period of time have been subjected to honour-related violence victimization. The findings show that rumour/gossip is equal to the process of raising the public awareness of individuals who resort to alleged or actual norm-deviant behavior. Consequently there is a connection between rumour/gossip and the publics’ appraisal of its members thus rendering rumour/gossip crucial to the occurrence of honour related violence. Rumour/gossip is utilized by the members of the collective as a means of maneuvering the public eye, as it permits them to control on whom the eye of the public focuses, to various extents. Rumour/gossip is used in offensive and defensive purposes. Rumour/gossip as well as honour related violence occurs with the prospect of influencing the members positioning within the collectives’ status-/power hierarchy, by enabling dethronement and advancement through the appraisal of the public eye. Rumour/gossip is a key component in determining whether an act of violence should be labeled as honour-related, as it attests the appraisal of the public that the perpetrator, in the act of violence, takes in consideration. The social services’ investigatory work and riskassessment must take in consideration the occurrence of rumour/gossip in each case. The present study should be seen as a theoretical instrument for investigatory social workers in social services in their highly complex undertaking of determining whether a case should be met and treated such as conditioned by a variety of parental authoritarian methods of limitation in a youths’ emancipatory process or if the case is conditioned by a social context wherein the victimized members are subjected to a violence and oppression mechanism – if the case should be labeled as honour related violence and oppression. Key words: honour related violence and oppression, honour-contextualized rumour/rumor/gossip, gossip mongering, ostracizing of a third party, reputation, the public eye, public awareness, collective, collective consciousness, status-/power hierarchy / Sammanfattning Föreliggande studies syfte var att undersöka en av hederskulturens, tidigare outforskade, centrala empiriska komponenter – den negativa ryktesspridningen. Detta genom att betrakta ryktesspridningens inverkan på och betydelse för den kollektiva arenan och dess vålds- och förtryckarmekanik. Studien är hermeneutiskt orienterad. Tio semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med intervjupersoner i åldrarna 18-25 år, vilka har långvarig erfarenhet av hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Resultatet visar att ryktesspridning utgör den process med vilken offentligheten varseblivs om avvikande kollektivmedlemmar. Ryktesspridning är således förbundet med offentlighetens individbedömning och är därför fullständigt avgörande för förekomsten av hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Ryktesspridning används av kollektivmedlemmar likt en avledningsmanöver då den ger dem möjlighet att i varierande grad kontrollera mot vem eller vilka offentlighetens öga riktas. Ryktesspridning används i offensivt och defensivt syfte. Ryktesspridning likväl hedersvåldshandlingar sker i förhoppning om att genom offentlighetens bedömning påverka kollektivmedlemmars positionering inom den kollektiva arenans status-/makthierarki, det rör sig om att framkalla detronisering/avancemang. Ryktesspridning är själva navet i definitionen av huruvida en våldssituation ska etiketteras som hedersproblematik. Detta till följd av att den vittnar om förövarens hänsynstagande till offentlighetens bedömning av denna. Socialtjänstens utredningsarbete och bedömning av hotbild måste därför ta hänsyn till, för ärendet aktuell, ryktesspridning. Föreliggande studie ska ses som ett teoretiskt verktyg för utredare inom socialtjänst i åtagandet att bedöma huruvida ett ärendes huvudperson enbart är begränsad i sin ungdomliga frigörelseprocess, med en uppsättning auktoritära gränssättningsmetoder, eller om denne är fången i en kollektiv vålds- och förtryckarmekanism, det vill säga om denne är utsatt för vad som konstituerar hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Nyckelord: hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck, hederskontextualiserad negativ ryktesspridning, ryktesspridning, skvaller, rykte, offentlighetens öga, kollektivt medvetande, den kollektiva arenan, status-/maktstruktur.

The murders of Pela Atroshi, Sara Abed Ali and Fadime Sahindal, started a debate concerning the underlying motives of honour related violence. This paper aimed to describe and explain in what way honour related violence is perceived in publications by academics, public authorities and voluntary organisations to name a few. Different types of literature were thematically analysed as well as analysed using a model by Lorentzon. The scope of this paper was narrowed down to Swedish conditions and excluded men as victims of honour related crimes. The conclusion suggests a definition of honour related violence as a result of general patriarchy with different features. For example, men’s honour is connected to women’s behaviour and retaining of virginity. The only way to restore a lost honour is to eliminate the woman physically or socially. The use of postcolonial theories in analyzing the definition resulted in an understanding of honour related violence perceived as something different from Swedish culture.

<p>The purpose of our study was to give girls who are victims of honor related violence a chance to express their needs experienced after the breakup from their families. Furthermore, the study aimed to examine in what extent the girls' needs have been met, how and by whom? The focus was the girls' own experiences thru the breakup from their families and beyond. The issues we wanted to answer were: What needs of help and support does these girls feel that they have? What are the needs immediately after the breakup and how do they look in the longer term? To what extent do the girls have their needs met, how and by whom? What needs experience the girls have not been satisfied? In order to answer our questions, we used semi-structured life-world interviews. We have used needs as a theoretical concept in an attempt to understand the perceived needs of girls through different perspectives. Our results show that the girls are in: need for security both in connection with the breakup but also seen in the long term, needs of belonging to a community and finally, a need of being confirmed as an individual.</p>

The purpose of our study was to give girls who are victims of honor related violence a chance to express their needs experienced after the breakup from their families. Furthermore, the study aimed to examine in what extent the girls' needs have been met, how and by whom? The focus was the girls' own experiences thru the breakup from their families and beyond. The issues we wanted to answer were: What needs of help and support does these girls feel that they have? What are the needs immediately after the breakup and how do they look in the longer term? To what extent do the girls have their needs met, how and by whom? What needs experience the girls have not been satisfied? In order to answer our questions, we used semi-structured life-world interviews. We have used needs as a theoretical concept in an attempt to understand the perceived needs of girls through different perspectives. Our results show that the girls are in: need for security both in connection with the breakup but also seen in the long term, needs of belonging to a community and finally, a need of being confirmed as an individual.

The purpose of this essay is to explore high school and collage school counselors knowledge and experience of honour related violence and repression. Our study is based on a qualitative method with interviews. The main question in our study is to examine the school counselors education in how to provide support to the exposed adolescents. We have conducted six interviews with school counselors in the southern Sweden. We have used a semi structured interview technique with questionnaires that have been a support to us during the interviews. The results of our study showed that some of our respondents knew that they had limited education and knowledge in honour related violence and also that they wanted more experience about the problemarea. Other respondents said that they had experience enough about the problemar ea. The results also show that the respondents believe that there is more honour related problems in the adolescents families than what the counselors find out about, and that some of the respondents didn´t even know in wich way they could provide help to theese students.

Knowledge concerning the social services’ use of the Care of Young Persons (Special Provisions) Act 1990:52 (CYPA) is relatively scarce, especially when it comes to the protection of adolescents victimized by abuse. The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate and discuss different conceptualisations of abuse, adolescents’ agency regarding abuse, victimization and social intervention, and how abuse and adolescent victimization are responded to, primarily by the social services. This is done from a stance influenced by critical realism as well as victim- and child-centred responses. The dissertation consists of four papers and examines these themes in two samples of judgments and related documents concerning applications for care of adolescents aged 13-17 under the CYPA. The findings from the total study of all judgments in the selected year clearly confirm § 2 CYPA as a rare intervention to protect adolescents. In only 85 of Sweden's 290 municipalities was a CYPA application made, but a main finding is that such care to a large extent was used to protect adolescents from various forms of abuse. In the total study, the applications of § 2 CYPA concerned 196 adolescents, for 70 per cent of whom abuse was described, and where more girls (96) than boys (41) were being considered for care based on abuse. Of all the girls, 79 per cent were described as subjected to abuse and of the boys 55 per cent. Also in the smaller sample consisting of judgments for 37 girls in care under § 2 CYPA and §§ 2 and 3 CYPA, abuse was described for many. For several adolescents in both samples abuse was described as having been exerted to maintain standards of honour, shame and virginity, and/ or to enable a forced marriage. The initiative and agency of the adolescents themselves in both the disclosure of abuse as well as the decision on alternative care is one of the most striking findings in the thesis. The majority of the adolescents, 71 per cent, were categorized as having intentionally disclosed the abuse. The aftermath of the disclosure was for many of the adolescents described as intensely challenging. For the majority the abuse was denied during the investigation, not only by the alleged abusers but also by non-abusing parents and other relatives. The findings relating to the social services responses suggest that the initial response to a high degree could be understood as parent-oriented. For 33 per cent, the judgment also revealed that the abuse had been disclosed to authorities one or several times prior to the investigation leading to the application for care under the CYPA. That the abuse in these cases had been known to the social services for on average 5 years can from a child-centred position be seen as a major failure regarding the system’s ability to reach children and stop abuse. A central conclusion is that the various forms of abuse described seem more connected to domination, fear, power and control than to conflict; to some extent mirroring the kind of systematic oppression described for victimized adults seeking the protection of NGOs and public authorities. The findings imply that interventions under the CYPA may enable more child-centred, safe and stable protection of children subjected to this kind of abuse. Given the findings in the present thesis it is argued that it may be important to differentiate the concept of abuse as well as to acknowledge the agency of children in both research and in practice. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Abstract This study aims at investigating how four different Swedish newspapers produce the phenomenon of honor, creating differences between "we and them" (our own quotation), as well as a summary of the differences between the newspapers'. This is to gain a deeper knowledge of the connection between the honour phenomenon and Swedish media. Method: Eight articles were collected based first on predetermined criteria and then by a random selection from all four newspapers. Analysis: The collected material was divided based on the issues as well as an thematization of the content and then analyzed in order to answer these questions. This study is based on an intersectional perspective with the following concepts: Culture, power, ethnicity, biological and social gender. Conclusion: The conclusions drawn in the following study are that the writers build their text content on factors that are represented as the causes of the honour-related violence. The most relevant factors are culture, religion and ethnicity, where the term gender also creates an additional dimension in the explanations of the honour phenomena. These explanations can further create a division between "we and them" (our own quotation). The victims of the articles are often made as weak and helpless as well as being young girls of different origins. The role of the villain becomes complex, as the practitioners themselves becomes the helper, while honour or culture takes the place as the main villain character in the content of the text. Even society is assigned a meaning through two different roles, patrons and the fraudulent rescuer. Based on this conclusion, a model was formed that might serve to clarify when it comes to the media's presentation of the relationship between the majority society and the victim of the honour violence. From this model, it becomes possible to understand the importance of self-awareness regarding attitudes in society and how it can further affect social work.

It has been found that society sometimes fails to protect its citizens from being exposed to honor-related violence and oppression (HRV). A contributing factor is suggested to be lack of knowledge about HRV among practitioners within various fields of social work. This could inhibit practitioners’ ability to act on any signs of oppression among clients who may be exposed to HRV. The current thesis aims to explore this problem further by studying three projects which provide education on HRV to practitioners. Interviews have been conducted with both project managers and project participants in order to access experiences of incorporating education as a preventive factor of HRV, as well as access information on whether the target group, primarily children, have been affected by the work of the projects. The results show that informants respond differently to the term HRV which could infer limitations of the provided education. However, all informants agree that there is a need of education on HRV, especially in order to properly attend to clients who are perceived as pertain to a honor context. Some results show potential obstacles within preventive work against HRV. Such obstacles may be practitioners’ receptiveness to education, as well as practitioners’ perceived difficulties in attending to children between two cultures. All informants agree that education should be viewed as part of an long-term process of preventive work against HRV which needs continuous attention.

There are many cultures where honour is of central value, with strict ideas about how an individual should be and act. These are based on heteronormative views on gender and sexuality. This often effects lgbtq individuals because of their tendency to deviate from these norms. This results in them becoming victims of honour based violence. The aim of this thesis was to study social work practice with lgbtq individuals who are subject to honour based violence, with a focus on the practitioners’ experiences with this work as well as the types of support provided for this client group. To collect our data we interviewed practitioners who encounter lgbtq individuals living in an honour-centred context. Relevant research for this thesis is limited and often only covers either lgbtq related struggles or honour based violence. To analyse our data we used Erving Goffman’s theory of social stigma combined with research on these areas. The result shows that practitioners can see a certain vulnerability amongst these individuals because of their lgbtq identity and the honour-centred context that surrounds them. Heteronormativity also plays a large role in how the individual is viewed by their community and they often get stigmatized because of this. Practitioners explain how gender neutral language is of great importance when meeting the client group. They also highlight the lack of knowledge when it comes to working with this specific group. The amount of support available for and adapted to these individuals is also lacking, however, there is support provided for individuals affected by honour based violence which can also be accessed by those who identify as lgbtq.

The purpose of this study was to examine professionals' experiences of working with youngwomen who are exposed to honor-related violence and oppression. The study also aimed toexamine how these professionals' approach the issue of honor. To answer the questions, aqualitative method was used. The method involved semi-structured interviews withprofessionals who work with the target group in question. The professionals inquired for thestudy were eight people including: social workers that work at women's aid, school nurses,and counselors. To conduct the study, the researchers arranged telephone interviews withtwo of the professionals. The remaining candidates were interviewed in physical attendance.Furthermore, the analysis method used on the empirical data was coding and thematization.Additionally, the empirical data was examined by using previous research and selectedtheories. First, the results of the study showed perceived difficulties among the interviewees,in making an assessment and acting righteously in different situations regarding honorissues. Second, the results also showed the importance of having a well-functioningrelationship between authorities and organizations, and how their alliance according to theinterviewees hypothetically work. Moreover, the study emphasizes the necessity for expertsto expand their expertise in order to effectively comprehend and assist women inhonor-related situations.