Differentiating the Nordic Baseline

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Word count: 13907 Pages: 39

Differentiating the Nordic Baseline

Differences in state responses to violence against women in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden

By Hilda Broqvist

Master Thesis, 15 credits.

Department of Political Science Uppsala University

Supervisor: Helen Lindberg Spring 2020

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Abstract

In international humanitarian discourse, gender-based violence against women have long been recognised as a human rights violation and described as the most extreme expression of unequal power relations between men and women (UN 1993). Using a qualitative content analysis to examine the GREVIO reports of Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, the aim of this thesis is to outline the differences between and within these states regarding their response to violence against women. Drawing on insights from feminist political theory, and especially Nordic feminist theorists, these differences are made visible using the three concepts:

hegemonic discourse, contradictory effects, and boundaries (Kantola and Dahl 2005). The theoretical background is complemented by theoretical contributions from feminist understandings of violence against women.

In analysing the main differences between the states, many of these differences can be derived from the fact that the three states frame the violence differently, with Sweden adopting a gender-based frame while Denmark and Finland adopt gender-neutral frames of the violence. In analysing differences within states, there are two distinct forms of differences: differences due to a gap between principle and practice, and differences between various parts of the country. The findings of this thesis may provide a base for future in-depth studies of the Nordic, women-friendly, welfare states.

KEYWORDS: Violence against women, Istanbul Convention, GREVIO, Nordic welfare states

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Introduction

Violence against women have long been recognised in international humanitarian discourse as a human rights violation that impairs the fundamental freedoms of women. Moreover, gender- based violence against women has been described as the most extreme expression of unequal gender relations and one of the greatest obstacles in achieving gender equality (UN 1993).

One of the most comprehensive frameworks on how to tackle violence against women is the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (from here on referred to as the Istanbul Convention), which is currently ratified by 34 countries. The Istanbul Convention sets out prevent, protect, prosecute, and provide compensation for all acts of physical, psychological, or sexual violence against women, including domestic violence (Istanbul Convention 2011, 8f). In order to assess how the countries are doing in the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, a group of experts called GREVIO are assigned the responsibility for monitoring and evaluating the measures taken by the parties of the Convention (Istanbul Convention 2011, 28). With GREVIO currently in the process of their first baseline evaluation, the by-country reports they produce offer an overview of how each state respond to violence against women.

In the case of violence against women, Enrique Gracia and Juan Merlo (2016) argues that the Nordic countries pose a particularly puzzling case with the Nordic region being considered the most gender equal region in the world while at the same time reporting a remarkably high the prevalence rate of domestic violence against women. With an EU average of 22 %, Finland and Sweden are above average with 30 % and 28 % respectively, and Denmark even reporting the highest prevalence in the EU with 32 %. Gracia and Merlo call this the Nordic paradox, namely that Nordic countries have high levels of gender equality while simultaneously reporting high prevalence rates of domestic violence (Gracia and Merlo 2016, 27f). Although pointed out by a number of researchers, there is no definite explanation for the Nordic paradox and it remains unresolved (Wemrell et al. 2019, 2). One explanation might be that the Nordic countries have focused on achieving high levels of gender equality in the public spheres while largely ignoring unequal power relations within the private sphere.

Another suggestion is that the women-friendliness of the Nordic welfare states actually creates obstacles for addressing violence against women (Wemrell et al. 2019, 9ff).

Regardless, the Nordic paradox indicates that there is a gap between principle and practice regarding the women-friendliness of the Nordic welfare states.

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With the Nordic paradox putting the rosy image of the Nordic countries as “women- friendly” into question, this stresses the need for more critical studies of the Nordic welfare states and their effects on gender relations (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 50). Furthermore, in labelling the Nordic countries as women-friendly in comparison to other countries, the differences between the Nordic countries have often been downplayed and overlooked (Borchorst and Siim 2002, 92). Drawing on poststructuralist feminist critique, this also conceals the differentiated nature of the state – that is, the differences within the state itself – hiding the fact that the same state can have both empowering and dis-empowering effects for women (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 51). In other words, there is a need to problematize the image of the Nordic countries as uniformly women-friendly.

Aim and research questions

Using a qualitative content analysis to examine the GREVIO reports of Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, the aim of this thesis is to outline the differences between and within these states regarding their response to violence against women. This aim can be specified into the following two research questions: How do Denmark, Finland, and Sweden differ in regards to their response to violence against women? and How are each of these states differentiated in their response to violence against women? Here, the first question refers to the differences between the three countries while the second one refers to differences within each country.

Disposition

Following this introduction, the thesis is structured as follows. The first chapter presents the theoretical background and analytical framework of the thesis, focusing on feminist political theories of the state and feminist theories of violence against women. The next chapter introduces the material, method, and quality measures of the thesis. The following chapter offers a brief summary of the previous feminist research on the subject of welfare states and responses to violence against women, especially in regards to the Nordic welfare states. The analysis chapter of the thesis consists of four main parts: one part for each country, describing the differentiated response to violence against women of each state, and one fourth part outlining the differences between the three states. Consequently, this chapter describes and analyses the measures taken by each state to prevent and combat violence against women before analysing how this measures differ between the states. Lastly, the main conclusions and contributions of the thesis is summarised in the final chapter.

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Theoretical Framework

This chapter introduces the thesis’ theoretical background – that is, feminist theories of the state in general and Nordic feminist theories in particular – and its analytical framework, which consists of the three concepts developed by Johanna Kantola and Hanne Marlene Dahl (2005). The chapter concludes with an introduction to the feminist conceptualisation of violence against women to provide a theoretical background to the gender-based framing of violence against women in the Istanbul Convention.

Feminist theories of the state

Feminist political theorists have contributed with new insights of the state by uncovering the gendered character of state institutions, policies and practices; demonstrating how states affect women in gender-specific ways; and how states engage in constructing gender relations (Kantola 2006, 118). Despite these theoretical contributions, feminist theorists disagree regarding the possibility of a feminist theory of the state and what role the state ought to play in the emancipation of women. Liberal feminists have, for example, conceptualized the state as neutral, simply mediating between different interest groups. Consequently, although men have traditionally been dominating state institutions, making them reflect masculine interests, as more women engage with the state, it can be recaptured in such a way that both men and women are treated as equal citizens by the state. According to radical feminism, however, the state is essentially patriarchal, with its values and structures being established through male domination, making it impossible to separate state power from male power. Therefore, the state cannot adequately address problems of patriarchy, rendering it useless as a tool for any feminist emancipatory project (Kantola 2006, 119ff).

Nordic feminists, however, offer a quite different conceptualization of the state, considering it to be possible to work within state structures in realizing emancipation. In their analysis of the state, Nordic feminists emphasize that the Nordic social democratic welfare states differ significantly from liberal states like the U.S. and the U.K. (Kantola 2006, 123f).

Instead, the Nordic states embody a state structure that would make it possible for them to become women-friendly welfare states, which Helga Maria Hernes defines as a state that do not “force harder choices on women than on men, or permit unjust treatment on the basis of sex” (Hernes 1987, 15). Crucial in Hernes understanding of the welfare state as a potential instrument in the emancipation of women is the concept of gender equality – defined here as the social rights for women in combination with their political inclusion. It is through the institutionalization of gender equality that the Nordic women have been empowered as

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political subjects, making the state a potential instrument in the emancipation of women (Borchorst and Siim 2002, 91ff). Hence, a main contribution from Nordic feminists is the notion that states differ in how they affect gender relations and in their potential to support women’s emancipation.

As pointed out by Borchorst and Siim (2002) however, there are no clear criteria for assessing the women-friendliness of a welfare state or its social policies. This becomes especially clear when trying to evaluate the women-friendliness of a policy that favours some women while disfavouring other women. However, this also makes it difficult to examine and assessing the differences amongst the Nordic welfare states. For example, while it may be possible to distinguish a Nordic gender model in terms of women’s participation in paid work, the Nordic states differ in the extent to which they have institutionalized gender equality (Borchorst and Siim 2002, 92). Furthermore, feminist theorists disagree regarding how to understand the concept of gender equality – a debate that might be described as the sameness- difference duality (Borchorst and Siim 2008, 212). Here, proponents of sameness understand equality as treating women exactly like men while advocates of difference understands equality as treating women differently insofar as they differ from men. As this debate cannot be easily resolved, Frazer argues that gender equality ought to be understood as a complex idea that cannot be identified with a single value or norm (Fraser 1994, 594f). This means that concepts such as women-friendliness and gender equality ought to be understood as complex concepts that are not easily defined or defined as one single value.

As mentioned earlier, the notion of the women-friendly welfare state has also been criticised by poststructuralist feminists for only focusing on differences amongst states while disregarding differences within states. Instead of seeing the state as one unity, poststructuralist feminists understand the state as consisting of multiple arenas – institutions, agencies, and discourses – without any necessary coherence. Hence, it is pointless to discuss whether a state is essentially patriarchal, neutral, or women-friendly, instead feminists have to acknowledge that state responses are differentiated and that states can be positive as well as negative for women (Kantola 2006, 125f). In developing her concept of woman-friendliness, Hernes also ignores the fact that gender intersects with other power relations such as class, ethnicity and sexuality (Borchorst och Siim 2008, 209f). This means that some policies aimed at increasing gender equality between men and women might at the same time increase inequalities amongst women (Borchorst and Siim 2002, 91). In other words, the poststructuralist feminist perspective highlights that states are not a unified entity and that women are not a homogeneous category.

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Analysing gender and the state

Drawing on feminist theories of the state, the main analytical framework of the thesis will be the framework developed by Johanna Kantola and Hanne Marlene Dahl (2005) where they introduce three concepts in order to analyse gender and the state: hegemonic discourses, contradictory effects, and boundaries. This framework combines the Nordic feminist approach of “differences between states” with the poststructural feminist approach of “differences within states” (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 50). Drawing on Nordic and poststructural feminist theories of the state, this results in a framework that combines comparative and discursive perspectives that allows for an analysis of context-specific discourses and institutions (Kantola 2006, 133). By incorporating the poststructuralist feminist perspective, they address the issue with overlooking how the Nordic countries differ from each other as well as how the states affect women differently (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 53f). In developing their framework, Kantola and Dahl are not trying to capture any sort of essence of the state (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 50) but rather how state practices and discourses actively produce certain gender relations (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 54). In other words, using the three concepts - hegemonic discourses, contradictory effects, and boundaries – allows for an analysis of both differences between and within the Nordic states in how they shape and affect gender relations.

With the first concept, hegemonic discourses, Kantola and Dahl wish to capture how the state is a site of both discursive struggle and hegemonic discursive project. Here, they define discourse as the “horizon that delimits the possible, what can be said and done, and the legitimate positions to be held” (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 56). According to Kantola and Dahl, then, the state consists of different discursive levels: one level with the different policy areas characterized by discursive struggles and one overarching level of an overarching discourse.

The overarching discourse can be understood as prevalent understandings that bring a certain order and meaning to the social world. These overarching discourses have been constructed, negotiated and consolidated over time, thereby shaping the subordinated discursive struggles in historically and contextually specific ways. Hence, in order to understand the discursive struggles within the different policy areas, these have to be examined in relation to the overarching hegemonic discourse (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 61f).

With contradictory effects, this concept highlights the differentiated nature of the state as well as the diversity amongst women. Rather than being a monolithic actor, the state can have both empowering and dis-empowering effects not just for women from different social groups but for women from the same group as well. Kantola and Dahl understand empowerment in terms of the visibility, recognition, and discipline of certain values and

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subject positions (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 62f). Consequently, empowerment refers to an improvement of the subject positions available for women with increased visibility and public recognition of feminine values while dis-empowerment involves fewer and/or worse subject positions available for women while feminine values are increasingly silenced and misrecognized (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 57). The concept of contradictory effects also recognizes the diversity and fluidity within the category of women and women’s identities.

By incorporating an intersectional perspective, women are no longer seen as a homogenous category, instead gender intersects with factors such as race, sexuality, and class, resulting in very different experiences and interests amongst women (Kantola 2006, 129).

Finally, the concept of boundaries refers to the fluid and changing boundaries of the state (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 51). In previous feminist research, boundaries have mainly been conceptualized in terms of the public/private distinction. This captures how boundaries are negotiated and redrawn where what was once private enters the public sphere of state regulation, or vice versa. However, in order to further capture differences between states, this public/private distinction also has to be considered in relation to the market (Kantola and Dahl 2005, 63). As noticed by Hernes, for example, while changes in boundaries between the private and the public have resulted in marketization of family work in other Western countries, the Nordic solution has been to incorporate it into the public sector administered by the state. Hence, state boundaries should be considered in terms of the public/private distinction but rather as a three-folded division between state, market and family (Hernes 1987, 16f). In other words, it is not enough to consider what is considered to be public or private but also how states choose to solve an issue – that is, whether it is considered to be a responsibility of the state, market or the family.

Feminist understandings of violence against women

Within feminist research, violence against women is conceptualized in terms of gender and power, meaning that the violence is contextualized within a context characterized by a gendered hierarchy that subordinates women. In this understanding, the subject position of the victim and the offender is highly gendered, with a female victim and a male offender, and the violence is understood as an expression of the unequal power relations between them. Crucial here is the continuum of violence, that is, the idea that different expressions of violence against women are interconnected with no clear distinctions between them. This means that the difference between for example domestic violence, rape and honour related killings ought to be understood as a matter of degree rather than character. According to Nilsson and

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Lövkrona (2015), the continuum of violence also means that the gross, criminalized forms of violence are on the same scale as the milder forms of violence that are not criminalized or even accepted (Nilsson and Lövkrona 2015, 34ff). This feminist conceptualisation of the violence is, for instance, visible in the definition of violence against women as gender-based in the Istanbul Convention – that is, “violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately” (Istanbul Convention 2011, 8).

Introducing the feminist perspective on violence against women could be seen as a reaction to the previous notions of violence against women as deviant men hitting deviant women and domestic violence as a private family matter. According to this view, if a man uses violence this could be explained by individual factors such as alcoholism, mental illness, or socioeconomic status, and if a woman was subjected to violence, she was believed to have provoked her husband into using violence (Nilsson and Lövkrona 2015, 34f). As the feminist conceptualization of the violence began to gain public recognition, the violence was framed as a structural rather than an individual problem. This means that although the individual man is responsible for the individual act of violence, this has to be understood in a societal context providing a framework that not only genders the violence as an expression of masculinity but also enables the violence from occurring in the first place (Nordborg 2016, 53).

The feminist framing of violence against women as a structural rather than individual problem means that the violence against women is recognized as a social issue and that the protection of women from gender based violence becomes a state obligation. Understanding gender-based violence as a structural problem also means that state responses not only involves protection from violence through legal remedies ensuring offender accountability and the provision of social services to support victims but also preventive initiatives trying to stop violence from occurring in the first place (Manjoo 2015, 25ff).

Method and material

This thesis consists of a qualitative, descriptive, comparative study that follows a small-N research design with the three cases Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. These three cases are chosen because they are generally clustered together allowing for a comparison that displays the differences between the Nordic, women-friendly, social-democratic, welfare states. This section begins with an introduction of the material and then outlines the method used. Lastly, the quality measures validity and reliability are briefly discussed.

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Material

The material of this thesis consists of the GREVIO baseline evaluation reports for Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. GREVIO is an independent human rights monitoring body mandated to monitor the implementation of the Istanbul Convention by the parties of the convention. The reports are an assessment of the level of compliance to the Istanbul Convention in policy and practice, thus focusing on the measures taken in relation to all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence, that are covered by the convention. Additionally to the evaluation, GREVIO also offers country-specific proposals and suggestions on improvements and developments within the national context. In order to obtain the information upon which the reports are based, GREVIO uses questionnaires, evaluation visits, dialogues with representatives, and additional information collected from various non-governmental sources.

The three reports are the result of the first evaluation procedure carried out for these three countries, thus constituting the baseline for future evaluations (GREVIO 2017, 4f).

The GREVIO reports are chosen as the material of this thesis as they provide a holistic overview of the wide range of responses taken in order to combat violence against women.

Therefore, the reports do not offer any in-depth description of a specific policy, law or service employed in order to prevent and combat violence against women. As GREVIO is still in the process of publishing their first evaluation and the reports on Iceland and Norway have not yet been published, the only reports available on the Nordic welfare states are the once for Denmark (2017), Finland (2019), and Sweden (2018). In other words, the analysis will be limited to the differences between and within the states of Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.

Qualitative Content Analysis

Margrit Schreier defines Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) as “a method for describing the meaning of qualitative material in a systematic way” (Schreier 2012, 1). QCA can be applied to a wide range of materials and is particularly well suited when engaging with data that requires some degree of interpretation. With qualitative research often involving data that is both extensive and substantive, QCA enables for an analysis that focuses on some selected aspects of the material (Schreier 2012, 2ff). As a method, QCA always involves the same sequence of steps: formulating a research question, selecting material, building a coding frame, dividing the material into units of coding, trying out your coding frame, evaluating and modifying the coding frame, main analysis by coding all of the material, and finally interpreting and presenting the findings (Schreier 2012, 5f). Consequently, the development of categories and structuring of the coding frame are central in qualitative content analysis.

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In this study, the structuring of the coding frame is done in two steps, combining a concept-driven strategy for developing the main categories with a data-driven strategy for generating the sub-categories (Schreier 2012, 89). Therefore, in the first step, the main categories are derived from the analytical framework developed by Kantola and Dahl (2005), resulting in three main categories: hegemonic discourses, contradictory effects, and boundaries. As each of these concepts can be further divided into different notions, this step also generates the first sub-categories. Here, hegemonic discourses will be divided into the to sub-categories overarching discourses and discursive struggles; contradictory effects into the sub-categories empowering effects, dis-empowering effects, and intersectional discrimination;

and boundaries into the two sub-categories public/private and state-market-family relations.

Secondly, the generating of the final sub-categories is done by distinguishing relevant passages using the main categories and then examining them in order to identify concepts that could be applicable as sub-categories. When such a concept is identified, it is either identified as a new concept and turned into a category, or identified as a concept that is covered by an already existing category (Schreier 2012, 88f). This procedure continues until saturation is achieved – that is, when the material no longer generates any new categories – meaning that it is impossible to anticipate beforehand how much of the material that needs to be examined in order to construct the final coding frame (Schreier 2012, 91). Two of the sub-categories generated by this data-driven strategy worth mentioning are: “child custody”, and

“community”. Community is a sub-category to state-market-family relation and was added after recognizing the importance of NGOs and civil society in providing support services to victims of violence. Child custody is a sub-category to discursive struggle and after coding the first full GREVIO report, it became clear that this was an area that was particularly characterized by very different interests that the state struggle to make sense of. Hence, in continuing coding the material, the category of discursive struggles was delimited to the sub- category child custody – removing the other sub-categories from the coding frame. The final coding frame consists of three main categories and 18 sub-categories and includes a category name and description – see Appendix 1.

The creation of the coding frame and the coding of the data using qualitative content analysis can be described as carried out in a circular manner with the generating of the sub- categories and the structuring of the coding frame constituting the first coding cycle. The second coding cycle, then, is the coding of the material using the final coding frame. Once all material has been coded using the final coding frame, the coded data is sorted into a thematic matrix – figure 1 – for further analysis (Kuckartz 2019, 186f).

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From here on, the analysis will take two directions: vertically analysing the differences within each state, and horizontally analysing the differences between states.

Quality criteria

In evaluating the quality of qualitative research, validity – that the coding frame captures what it is set out to capture – is generally emphasised instead of reliability – that the coding frame yields data free of error (Schreier 2012, 34f). Since QCA as a method is, to some extent, concerned with describing the specifics of the material, the coding frame is considered valid if the categories adequately represent the concepts in the analytical framework and if it captures what is really there in the material. One way of achieving this is by the combination of a concept-driven and a data-driven strategy in developing the coding frame, which is what is done in this thesis (Schreier 2012, 7). In other words, constructing the coding frame in the circular manner described in the previous passage allows for adjustments of the coding frame to better fit the material, which improves the validity of the coding frame.

In regards to reliability, this criterion is frequently debated amongst qualitative researchers with some researchers rejecting it altogether while others argue that this criterion – if modified – may apply to qualitative research as well. In QCA, reliability plays a larger role than in qualitative research in general although it must never come at the price of validity. Considering that qualitative content and QCA deals with the latent meaning of the

Figure 1. DENMARK FINLAND SWEDEN

HEGEMONIC

DISCOURSES Overarching discourses and discursive struggles in Denmark

Overarching discourses and discursive struggles in Finland

Overarching discourses and discursive struggles in Sweden

C A T E G O R Y - B A S E D A N A L Y S I S

è

Differences in hegemonic discourses between the states

CONTRADICTORY

EFFECTS Empowering and dis- empowering effects as well as intersectional discrimination in Denmark

Empowering and dis- empowering effects as well as intersectional discrimination in Finland

Empowering and dis- empowering effects as well as intersectional

discrimination in Sweden è

Differences in contradictory effects between the states

BOUNDARIES Public/private distinction and state-market-family relations in Denmark

Public/private distinction and state-market-family relations in Finland

Public/private distinction and state-market-family relations in Sweden

è

Differences in boundaries between the states

CASE SUMMARY

ê ê ê

Differences within the

state – Denmark Differences within the

state – Finland Differences within the state – Sweden

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material, reliability in the sense that two researchers code the material exactly the same is difficult to achieve. (Schreier 2012, 34f). Instead, one way of assessing the reliability of the coding frame in qualitative content analysis suggested by Schreier is to check for consistency between different points of time, in other words, recoding the material after a couple of days (Schreier 2012, 6). In this thesis, one GREVIO report was recoded after approximately a week in order to test the consistency of the coding frame and the result indicates that the coding frame is sufficiently consistent over time. Furthermore, as QCA always involves the same sequence of steps, it is a systematic method that allows for transparency toward the reader regarding how the material is being analysed and how the interpretations and conclusions are drawn (Schreier 2012, 34).

Previous Research

In an attempt to understand how the Nordic countries define and tackle the issue with violence against women, previous research have compared the Nordic social-democratic, women-friendly, welfare states with liberal and conservative states. Tracey Peters, for instance, examines how the U.S. and Sweden differ in their responses to domestic violence and argues that this can be explained by differences in the structure of the welfare state (2006). Drawing on the welfare state typologies specified by Esping Andersen, Peter demonstrates how differences in state responses reflects the different characteristics of the liberal and the social-democratic welfare state (Peter 2006, 96f). In regards to the Swedish response to violence against women, Peter argues that this parallels the commitment to social citizenship, the universal nature of social programs, and the egalitarian model (Peter 2006, 101f). Similarly, Johanna Kantola compares the feminist discourse on domestic violence in Finland and the U.K., and demonstrates how the women-friendly welfare state discourse in Finland affected the development of a Finnish feminist discourse on domestic violence. By comparing the discourse on domestic violence with the childcare debate in Finland, Kantola further demonstrates that the women-friendly welfare state discourse might have different discursive effects when transferred from one policy area to another (Kantola 2004, 92f). Here, Kantola points out that this also challenges the over-simplistic portrayal of the women- friendliness of the Nordic welfare states (Kantola 2004, 85). These studies thus demonstrate how the structure of the social-democratic and women-friendly welfare state that characterizes the Nordic countries shape the measures taken in order to prevent and combat violence against women.

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In addition to the previous studies comparing the Nordic welfare states with other types of welfare states, there are some attempts to provide a summary of the research currently available on the Nordic countries. In the anthology På Vei. Kjønn og rett i Norden (2011), for instance, researchers from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Finland compiled an overview of the field of sex/gender and law in the Nordic countries. This includes themes such as the conceptualisation of sex/gender in gender equality policy and non-discrimination laws, the changing boundaries between public and private, and the understanding of violence against women in criminal law (Svensson et al. 2011, 15ff). Similarly, the anthology Tackling Men’s Violence in Families: Nordic issues and dilemmas (2005) discuss how men’s violence against women and children are tackled by the Nordic welfare states, particularly the links between men’s violence against women, parenting and the welfare of children (Eriksson and Pringle 2005, 2ff). These studies tend, however, to discuss each country separately, leaving it up to the readers themselves to draw any comparative conclusions. When such explicitly comparative studies between the Nordic welfare states are conducted, for example in Gender Equality and Welfare Politics in Scandinavia. The limits of political ambition? (2008), the primarily focus are not on the issue on violence against women. Instead, as the main focus is on gendered labour activities, these patterns of comparative welfare responsiveness may differ from the patterns that occur when focusing on the gendered violence (Keith 2008, 225).

Hence, comparative studies specifically examining violence against women might reveal new patterns of comparative welfare responsiveness amongst the Nordic countries.

In other words, the previous research on state responses on violence against women have mainly focused on either examining how the Nordic, women-friendly, welfare states respond to gender equality issues such as violence against women or comparing the response of the Nordic, social democratic, welfare states with the response of liberal or conservative welfare states. By comparing the Nordic welfare states with each other, this thesis might offer new insights on the nuances of state responses amongst states that have previously been clustered together.

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Analysis

This chapter outlines the main analysis of the thesis and consist of four main parts. The first three parts of the chapter describe and analyse the differentiated responses to violence against women of each state. The fourth part, then, examines and further analyses the differences between the states in their response to violence against women. Structuring the chapter in this manner allows for thorough introduction of each country before discussing the main differences between the countries.

Denmark: Differences within the state

Hegemonic Discourses: Overarching Discourse

The principle of gender equality is a well-established political goal in Denmark with a number of laws addressing the inequalities between men and women. GREVIO acknowledges that this, along with the extensive Danish welfare system have resulted in a “strong presence of women in the public sphere” (GREVIO 2017, 12). With this long tradition of gender equality as a political goal, Danish authorities began addressing violence against women in the early 2000 as a “reflection of a lack of equality and respect between women and men” (GREVIO 2017, 15). However, in current policy documents and legal frameworks, the violence is framed in gender-neutral terms, addressing both men and women as potential perpetrators and victims. This gender-neutral framing of the violence is also reflected in the use of terms such as family violence, bi-directional violence, and violence in intimate relations. As there is very little data disaggregated by sex, GREVIO is concerned that this gender-neutral emphasis in new policies is not a result of evidence-based policy-making but rather a “de-gendering of the discourse around violence against women in Denmark” (GREVIO 2017, 13f).

Hegemonic Discourses: Discursive Struggles

In Denmark, the principle of joint custody constitutes the basis for decisions on custody, heavily promoting contact with both biological parents, and any conflicts are resolved through a system of joint meetings between both parents. Any decision has to be in the best interest of the child and as domestic violence has a negative impact on children, this shall be taken into consideration (GREVIO 2017, 39). GREVIO identifies, however, a sharp contrast in approaches taken by the municipality compared to the State Administration regarding what ought to be considered in the best interest of the child. While “the approach of the municipalities is strongly guided by child protection concerns, with the removal of the child

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from the family always an option” (GREVIO 2017, 36), the State Administration is guided by the principle of upholding contact with both parents rather than ensuring the protection and support for the child (GREVIO 2017, 37).

As a victim of domestic violence, Danish women can seek a restraining order or contact ban against her abuser. However, if she has children in common with the perpetrator, exceptions will be made to allow for contact around children and despite the abuse, her perpetrator may be granted custody or visitation (GREVIO 2017, 31). As the system is based on the parents reaching agreements through joint meetings, GREVIO identifies a tendency of:

… considering a woman who raises the issue of domestic violence as a reason for not agreeing to custody or visitation, or who for safety reasons, fails to attend joint meetings, is seen as a parent who is unwilling to co-operate with the other parent and thus unfit for parenting (GREVIO 2017, 41)

Furthermore, as both parents are obliged to comply with a decision on custody and visitation once it has been made, GREVIO notes with concern the imprisonment of mothers who have not been able to prove the safety risk the father could present to their child and therefore feel that the only remaining way of protecting their children is by refusing to comply with the custody arrangement. Instead of investigating the mother’s reasons for withholding a child, the Danish approach is to “increase awareness of the harm parents may cause their children if they fail to comply with the custody/visitation decision” (GREVIO 2017, 41).

Contradictory Effects: Empowering Effects

In reviewing the support available to women who are victims of violence, GREVIO acknowledges “the Danish approach of offering general support through a well-developed social welfare state ensures a basic level of support and guidance for anyone in need”

(GREVIO 2017, 12). Anyone lawfully residing in Denmark can turn to their municipality for support and assistance with issues regarding housing, family finances, employment, education and day-care of their children, or health care. In cases of domestic violence, there are specific guidelines in place in order to ensure that the woman can build a life without violence. The municipalities are obliged to ensure shelter accommodation for women seeking refuge from an abusive situation and to provide initial and co-ordinated counselling to identify their needs and suggest solutions. GREVIO welcomes the number of specialist services and shelters addressing different forms of violence across the country but notes that most services provided for victims are either provided in a residential setting such as shelters or in a hospital setting focusing on the medical and forensic needs of the victim (GREVIO 2017, 32ff).

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In regards to the legislative framework available to prevent and prosecute violence against women, there are several laws in place in the Criminal Code of Denmark to criminalise the violent acts covered by the Istanbul Convention. Physical violence in a intimate relationship falls under the criminal offence of assault; psychological violence may be covered by the general offences of duress and threat or assault if it caused damage to the health of the victim; and sexual violence are criminalized if a sexual activity is incurred as a result of the use of force, threat of violence, incapacity of the victim (GREVIO 2017, 43ff).

Additionally, apart from getting justice through a conviction, victims have the option of mediation in order to reach closure in a way the criminal justice process cannot. This, however, requires that the perpetrator has admitted guilt and taken responsibility for his actions (GREVIO 2017, 45ff).

Contradictory Effects: Dis-empowering Effects

As police officers and social workers often represent the first contact for victims in need of help, they play a crucial role in determining the next step. Their assessment can either guarantee the appropriate treatment or “cause the victim to drop out of the system.

Inappropriate decisions may lead to secondary victimisation” (GREVIO 2017, 28). Without any systematic training on domestic violence, the assessments made risk being informed by personal beliefs and convictions rather than evidence-based knowledge (GREVIO 2017, 49).

Despite this, there is limited professional guidance for social workers on how to recognize and identify cases of domestic violence and there are no mandatory courses on violence against women. For police officers, there are mandatory courses on risk assessment, interrogation techniques, and how to detect and investigate violence – but they do not focus on violence against women as such (GREVIO 2017, 27f).

Furthermore, despite the fact that all forms of violence covered by the Istanbul Convention are criminalised in Danish criminal legislation, there are no specific criminal offences that capture the particular conduct that is typical of domestic violence or the particular nature of gender-based violence. As a result, the criminal justice outcome may not accurately reflect how the individual blow is situated in a context with repeated violence,

“interspersed with controlling behaviour, coercion and/or sexual violence” (GREVIO 2017, 43) Moreover, circumstances such as “the offence was committed against a former or current spouse or partner” or “against or in the presence of a child” are not listed as aggravating circumstances, instead the fact that victim and perpetrator have been or still are in a relationship seems to be considered a mitigating factor (GREVIO 2017, 47). Lastly, GREVIO

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also identifies a “hierarchy of victims” as lesser sentences are issued for sexual intercourse following the exploitation of a woman with a mental illness or disability compared to “an intoxicated woman incapable of consenting to the act” (GREVIO 2017, 46).

Contradictory Effects: Intersectional Discrimination

In regards to intersectional discrimination, GREVIO seem especially concerned about women without a residence permit in Denmark, as the support available to these women is extremely limited. Without a civil personal registration number, they cannot access any of the general or special support services such as shelters (GREVIO 2017, 14). These difficulties may also apply to women whose residence permits are obtained on the basis of marriage or cohabitation with an abusive partner and a decision to separate risks the withdrawals of her residence permit. With abuse often resulting in isolation and dependency on the abuser:

… foreign women on such spousal sponsorship schemes may not only find it difficult to prove the violence as they may not always involve law enforcement agencies, they are also hard pressed to prove their attachment to Denmark (GREVIO 2017, 56).

As most of the organisations working on preventing and combating violence against women in Denmark developed from the women’s movement in the 1970’s and -80’s, they tend to represent the experiences of ethnic Danish women. There are a few organisations that advocates for the rights, experiences and needs of migrant women. Here, GREVIO argues that creating visibility for women from migrant communities and integrating this perspective into the discussion on violence against women would promote social inclusion, address intersectional discrimination, and contribute to a more comprehensive approach to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women (GREVIO 2017, 18).

Boundaries

In ratifying the Istanbul Convention, the Danish state recognized that it is “a fundamental human right for everyone, particularly women, to live a life free from violence in both the public and the private sphere” (GREVIO 2017, 12). Apart from obligating the state to investigate and prosecute all forms of violences against women, this also obligates the state to adopt preventive measure such as changing social and cultural norms of behaviour of men and women, eliminating gender stereotypes and prejudices, and awareness raising campaigns on violence against women (GREVIO 2017, 25f). Moreover, different groups of professionals are trained on how to recognise different signs of violence, identifying victims of violence

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against women and provide them with information of the specialist services available for victims of violence (GREVIO 2017, 26ff).

In Denmark, NGOs play an important role in providing specialist support that the public social welfare system cannot provide. Women’s organisations have been active in combating violence against women since the 1980s with the first women’s shelter opening in Copenhagen in 1980 and the national organisation of women’s shelters in Denmark (LOKK) being founded in 1987 (GREVIO 2017, 15). Their expertise in offering support and protection to victims of gender-based violence is highly valued by public officials and this is also recognised by their involvement in the design of some national action plans. The services that these organisations provide are partially and fully funded by the Danish state and/or the municipalities (GREVIO 2017, 18). However, as the obligation to provide sheltered accommodation lies with the municipalities, there are different types of organisational structures concerning shelter accommodation across the country. While some municipalities run the shelter themselves, other co-operate with a sheltered run by NGOs such as LOKK or rely on self-governing shelters with an operating agreement – that is, “a decision to abide by the framework set by the local municipality” (GREVIO 2017, 33f).

Summary: Differences within the state of Denmark

While the gender equality principle is well-established in Denmark, GREVIO identifies a de- gendering of the discourse on violence against women with current policies using gender- neutral terms. This could be interpreted as if Denmark adopts an understanding of gender equality as a matter of sameness where the ambition is to treat women and men exactly the same (Fraser 1994, 594f), for example in incidents of violence. The gender-neutral understanding is also evident in the legislative framework where there are no special criminal offences that capture the gendered nature of violence against women.

Despite this gender-neutral framing of the violence in both policy and law, GREVIO identifies lingering stereotypes in the implementation of these. In the child custody setting, for instance, a woman who raises the issue with domestic violence are considered to be un- cooperative or unfit for parenting while a man who uses violence can still be granted visitation rights. In other words, while men and women are treated the same in the polices and the law, they are treated differently in practice, meaning that the principle ends up with an unequal result. This suggests that one difference within the state can be understood as a gap between policy and practice.

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In regards to boundaries, however, there seem to be some influences of a feminist conceptualisation of violence against women. Acknowledging violence against women even in the private sphere as a public issue echoes the feminist notion of the violence as a structural rather than individual problem (Nilsson and Lövkrona 2015, 34). The structural understanding of violence as rooted in gender inequalities is also visible in the focus of the preventive measures on changing social and cultural norms and behaviour of men and women. Traces of a gender-based framing of the violence could be explained by the fact that previous policies adopted a more gendered understanding of the violence and the gender-based framing of violence promoted by the women’s movement during the 1980s. In other words, one difference within the state can be conceptualised in terms of time where previous understandings of the violence lingers and reveals itself in some policies or practices.

Finland: Differences within the state

Hegemonic Discourses: Overarching discourse

In regards to gender equality, there is an explicit goal in the Finnish Government Programme to achieve full gender equality in both law and practice. All ministries, public entities and private sector companies are required to develop their own gender equality and non- discrimination plans. In the first Finnish national action plan specifically targeting violence against women, the violence was framed as a human rights violation and the Finnish policy discourse around violence against women have made several connections between the violence and gender equality (GREVIO 2019, 11ff'). In introducing the Action Plan for the Istanbul Convention 2018-2021, however, the Finnish authorities stated that, “in addition to women, Finland will be applying the Istanbul Convention also in relation to men and boys experiencing domestic violence” (GREVIO 2019, 10). Hence, the terminology used is gender- neutral without any specific recognition of how women’s experiences of violence differ from the experiences of men. Instead, GREVIO notes that Finnish legislation and policy reflect

“elements of the family dynamics model of domestic violence rather than a gendered violence discourse” (GREVIO 2019, 11). Furthermore, when previous action plans actually acknowledge violence against women as gender-based, this has been understood as violence

“perpetrated against someone for reasons of his or her gender or for transgressions of gender norms that the perpetrator considers unacceptable” (GREVIO 2019, 10f).

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Hegemonic Discourse: Discursive Struggles

According to the Finnish Act on Child Custody and Right of Access, the best interests of the child shall be the guiding principle throughout the whole decision-making process on custody issues. Parents usually reach mutual agreements on custody and visitation in a meeting with social services, however, in case the parents cannot reach an agreement, custody decisions are referred to the district court. Here, efforts are made to balance the different interest at stakes, ensuring the rights of access of parents to their children without putting this before the child’s safety and well-being. Although incidents of violence in the family must be a part of the judge’s assessment of the situation, research shows that:

… judges do not always consider violence by one parent against another as a reason to restrict the violent parent’s access to the child. This may result from a lack of awareness of the impact that past exposure to violence may have on children’s development (GREVIO 2019, 39).

To adequately account for the violence is especially important as the “ensuing custody and visitation decisions and their enforcement are frequently used by domestic abusers to continue the pre-separation tactics of power and control” (GREVIO 2019, 39). Despite this, women’s support services point out the persisting difficulties for women who are trying to have their experiences of violence and its impact on their children reflected in the custody decisions.

Furthermore, restraining or protection orders do not impinge on the perpetrators right of access to their child unless the order has been specifically issued to protect the child. In cases where a parent has been violent toward the child or another parent, access rights may also be facilitated through supervised visitation “as a tool to manage the risks and fear a child may be exposed to during visitation” (GREVIO 2019, 39f).

Contradictory effects: Empowering Effects

The Finnish Social Welfare Act states that the social welfare services are obligated to provide support and assistance to women who experience or are at risk of domestic violence or other forms of violence. There are general support services running shelters to which women and girls can turn for help and support for different forms of violence providing services such as sheltered accommodation and counselling. There are also specialist support services that might represent the victim in multi-agency co-operation, safeguarding the victim’s rights throughout the process (GREVIO 2019, 28ff). Other services run by these specialist support services are shelters, peer support groups, online guidance, and women-to-women counselling for victims of domestic violence or honour-related violence. Some of these organisations do

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also engage in awareness-raising and preventive work, both toward the general public and to targeting groups (GREVIO 2017, 15). Additionally, there is national, free of charge, telephone helpline on violence against women that offers professional support and referrals to specialist services by trained social workers (GREVIO 2017, 34).

Contradictory effects: Dis-empowering Effects

In avoiding secondary victimisation, the Istanbul Convention suggest that all professionals who deal with victims and/or perpetrators of violence ought to undergo training on the detection of violence, the needs and rights of victims and the prevention of secondary victimisation. In Finland, GREVIO notes that while some professionals such as social workers, health professionals and teachers seem to receive some initial training, other key professionals such as law enforcement and members of the judiciary do not receive such initial training (GREVIO 2019, 22). GREVIO argues that this lack of systematic, mandatory training on violence against women risk resulting in professionals lacking knowledge about the gendered power dynamics necessary in order to effectively prevent and investigate violence against women and take protective measures to ensure victim safety (GREVIO 2019, 22f). Due to the complexity of violence against women, the lack of knowledge may also result in shortcomings in the service provision for women who are victims of violence. Women seeking help have, for instance, been labelled as ”alienating parents, unprotective mothers, overcautious women or implausible victims” (GREVIO 2019, 30).

In addition to the insufficient training of professionals also results in several obstacles in the Finnish criminal justice systems that might hinder the woman from getting justice and risk her getting re-victimized. For instance, although legally obligated to record and investigate all assaults in intimate relations, there are concerns that the police are not taking domestic violence seriously enough. Studies show that out-calls concerning domestic violence are sometimes being dealt with over the phone instead of attended to in person and also that:

… repetition of visiting an address did not increase the probability of recording the offence, as domestic violence is defined narrowly, with a focus on physical violence and single incidents of assault instead of looking at patterns of coercive and controlling behaviour (GREVIO 2019, 49).

GREVIO further identifies gaps in the Finnish Criminal Code and its application regarding the forms of violence against women covered by the Istanbul Convention. With the different forms of violence sorted under general criminal offences rather than specific offences, GREVIO is concern that the various forms of violence against women become hidden or even invisible in general offences. Among the cases brought tried in court, there is also a tendency

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to focus on the victim’s own behaviour and credibility rather than the behaviour of the suspect (GREVIO 2019, 41ff). GREVIO highlights ”the use of myths and negative stereotyping of women by law-enforcement and prosecution services when assessing the credibility of victims” (GREVIO 2019, 51). Furthermore, in court practice, crimes committed by strangers are generally considered more reprehensible than violent crimes committed by persons known to the victim (GREVIO 2019, 47).

Contradictory effects: Intersectional discrimination

The Istanbul Convention requires the state to take into consideration the specific needs of women who face intersectional discrimination. In regards to this, GREVIO observes several barriers that women exposed to intersectional discrimination face in seeking help for any forms of violence against women (GREVIO 2019, 12). The Finnish social services are not tailored to respond to the specific situation and challenges which women from particular communities face when seeking help. Sámi women, for instance, experience both cultural and language barriers when seeking help due to the lack of understanding amongst public welfare workers regarding:

the special style of communication and way of life in Sámi culture. Awareness seems to be low of the patriarchal nature of Sámi communities, the dual exposure of Sámi women to structural violence (from within the community and from outside) and the importance of Sámi identity (GREVIO 2019, 30).

Additionally, in the regions that constitute the Finnish part of Sápmi, welfare services are limited and only available in bigger towns – resulting in further logistical barriers for Sámi women in rural areas (GREVIO 2019, 30). There are also a number of barriers in seeking help at shelters for women experiencing intersectional discrimination: language barriers exist for Swedish-speaking, Sámi, Roma, or migrant women, and barriers such as inaccessible sanitary facilities or incapacity to admit or provide personal assistants hinder women with disabilities to access shelters (GREVIO 2019, 34). Lastly, women’s support services testify that migrant women have been “denied the extension of their residence permit after separating from their sponsoring spouse for extreme violence” and is unclear “to what extent it is a realistic possibility for migrant women to leave their abusive partners and spouses without fearing deportation” (GREVIO 2019, 57).

Boundaries

In ensuring that women can live a life free from violence in both the public and the private sphere (GREVIO 2019, 10ff), Finland aims to implement a wide range of preventive

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measures on different level – both universal and on indication. As an example of universal prevention, the Finnish educational system have been creative in teaching children on skills to defend the boundaries of their own privacy, interpersonal relations and personal boundaries.

(GREVIO 2019, 21f). Indicated preventive measures, on the other hand, involve the training of professionals on how to recognise and identify victims of violence in order to reach out and offer support (GREVIO 2019, 31). Despite these attempts to publicly recognize and prevent violence against women, GREVIO is concerned that the lack of specific, gender-based, criminal offences will make difference form of violence against women hidden and invisible, outside of the public sphere (GREVIO 2019, 41).

In providing special services to victims of violence, NGOs and civil society organisations are crucial as they manage a range of specialist services such as shelters, helplines and counselling services, as well as engaging in awareness-raising campaigns.

Although there is a general willingness among public authorities to collaborate with NGOS on relevant issues, there are no formal protocols or guidance that require state agencies and public service providers to partner up with NGOs in their response to violence against women. NGOs operate a majority of the domestic violence shelters in Finland – although there are some municipalities running their own shelters – and the shelters are founded by the central government (GREVIO 2019, 15). The majority of the shelters in Finland where originally set up to work with families and children in difficult circumstances and are therefore guided by a child welfare perspective. Hence, the shelter provision in Finland is gender-neutral, welcoming both men and women. GREVIO is concerned that this may hinder women from seeking help at shelter (GREVIO 2019, 33f).

Summary: Differences within the state of Finland

In Finland, violence against women is currently framed in gender-neutral as a result of the new emphasize on male victims of domestic violence and GREVIO notes that this understanding resembles a family dynamic model of domestic violence rather than a gender- based model. This family dynamic model has been critiqued from feminist theorists of violence for implicating the woman as complicit to the violence and failing to recognise the power imbalance between the two (Nilsson and Lövkrona 2015, 66). Applying a family dynamic understanding of the violence could also explain why child custody is normally solved through mutual agreements as the problem is considered to be on both parents rather than on one perpetrator.

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Although there are a number of specialist services available for victims of violence, the lack of understanding of the gendered nature of violence against women amongst professionals results in difficulties for women to access these services. For example, as a majority of the shelters are gender-neutral, welcoming both men and women, this might be a barrier to seek help at the shelter for women who do not feel safe living amongst men.

Another risk with this framing of the violence is that the Finnish Criminal Code does not accurately cover all forms of violence against women. Instead, the “gender-neutral” offences cover the forms of violence experienced by men without recognizing that these do not accurately account for all the forms of violence experienced by women. One clear example of how the legislative framework is based on the male victim as norm is how crimes committed by strangers are considered more reprehensible than crimes committed by a person known to the victim. This also reproduces the sexist notion that a man is allowed to be violent to “his”

woman, but not towards other (Nilsson and Lövkrona 2015, 67).

As the provision of social services varies amongst the municipalities, one of the most prominent differences within Finland is that the implementation of measures on the local, municipal, level varies across the country. These differences also enhance the vulnerability of women facing intersectional discrimination, such as Sámi women, since they live in parts of the country where the social services are limited.

Sweden: Differences within the state

Hegemonic Discourses: Overarching Discourse

In Sweden, gender equality has been a longstanding policy goal, and in 2014 the government even labelled itself as feminist and “vowed to place gender equality at the centre of all policy making” (GREVIO 2018, 11). In order to incorporate the gender perspective in all policy areas, public administrations are routinely carrying out gender impact assessment and gender equality analysis (GREVIO 2018, 11f). In the administrative data collection, there is an explicit aim to “make women’s realities in Sweden visible through the systematic disaggregation by sex of all official data” and “gender equality indicators have been developed on the basis of the national gender equality objectives” (GREVIO 2018, 20). In Swedish policies and action plans, violence against women is conceptualized as “men’s violence against women” to emphasize the gendered nature of the violence and the unequal power relation between men and women. The Swedish conceptualization of violence against women is even more extensive than what is covered by the Istanbul Convention – including

Differentiating the Nordic Baseline