The Danish Intervention Projects for Combating Honour-Related Issues The socio-political framework Copyright: Farwha Nielsen. Mail:

2000 – 2011 Best Practices Socio-political context: Increase in the number of migrants Increasing focus on forced and arranged marriages Negative portrayal of ethnic minorities, especially Muslims Changes in legislation and establishment of advising services for youth and professionals working in the field These services are placed mainly at NGO’s, especially women’s shelters or umbrella organisation for the shelters. Copyright: Farwha Nielsen. Mail:

Problems attached to this practice: Quality of life for the youth and their families and consequences of escape for young women Security aspects Problems with sustainability by placing social work among ethnic minority families outside the mainstream Limited capacity building and knowledge sharing between NGO and the public sector Too much focus on young women and not enough involvement of the ethnic minority men or the families Copyright: Farwha Nielsen. Mail:

Cross Cultural Dialogue and Mediation Method Used at two levels: Acute level Used by different municipalities and NGO’s since 2005 Used e.g. by the police since 2007 Examples of cases it has been used on: Forced marriages, divorces, violence against women etc. Long term sustainable psychosocial work through dialogue and negotiations – used by the municipalities In the cases of violence in the families Copyright: Farwha Nielsen. Mail:

What is the method? Cross cultural mediation/dialogue is a method that is especially designed to be used on settings or social relations which are constricted by gender and age hierarchies. By taking the power imbalances into the consideration, the method seeks to promote dialogue between the older and the younger generations. It has been effective in solving e.g. family conflicts/honour-based conflicts among ethnic minorities in Denmark. Copyright: Farwha Nielsen. Mail:

How is the method applied? Acute cases: Through the municipalities, NGOs and the police. The protection, consent and the participation of the vulnerable person/victim in the process are the most important aspects in the method. Long term psychosocial work among the families: Some of the municipalities are using the method to conduct long term work. Copyright: Farwha Nielsen. Mail:

REQUIREMENTS Knowledge/training Strong and well-functioning municipality system Cross-sectors collaborative efforts and teamwork Maximum protection of the vulnerable person (victim) before, during and after the dialogue/mediation with the family members Documentations, following up and evaluations of the cases Copyright: Farwha Nielsen. Mail:

Thank you for listening. Copyright: Farwha Nielsen. Mail: