sou · GSB3121 · 2005-01-01 00:00:00 — Utan en gemensam förståelse av problemet blir det svårt att göra arbetet effektivt och konsekvent. Vi konstaterar att motståndet tar sig uttryck som ett osynlig- görande, där våldet bagatelliseras och förminskas, omformuleras (från att handla om könsmakt till att gälla andra, mindre kontro- versiella problem), görs till ett avgränsat avvikelseproblem eller till ett problem som bara rör de andra, sönderdelas (olika vålds- former hålls isär), avpolitiseras och formuleras som ett konsensus- problem. När våldet på olika sätt förminskas och osynliggörs framstår mäns våld mot kvinnor inte som något som kräver särskilda resur- ser, och omformuleringarna av mäns våld mot kvinnor till andra problem leder fram till att frågan inte anses kräva särskild politisk diskussion, särskild organisering eller institutionalisering. Eftersom resurser, organisation och förståelse på detta sätt är intimt samman- flätade, rör de förslag till åtgärder vi presenterar samtliga dessa nivåer. Våra förslag i korthet Våra förslag till åtgärder omfattar många samhällsområden. Vi argumenterar för en specialisering av både kunskaps- och organisa- tionskaraktär. Stora satsningar måste göras för att institutionalisera och systematisera arbetet, se till att tillräckliga resurser finns och skapa en samsyn som möjliggör ett effektivt arbete. Organise- ringen av arbetet med mäns våld mot kvinnor måste få andra former på nationell, regional och lokal nivå. Våra förslag bygger vidare på redan befintliga institutioner och verksamheter, men vi föreslår även nya. Samtliga våra förslag utgår ifrån och utvecklar en könsmaktsförståelse av mäns våld mot kvinnor. En nationell expertgrupp för mäns våld mot kvinnor och barn ska tillsättas. Specialenheter för mäns våld mot kvinnor och barn ska inrättas hos , Riksåklagaren, , Brotts- förebyggande rådet, , Kriminalvårds- styrelsen, , , , () samt Statens skol- verk. Lydelsen i socialtjänstlagens 5 kap. 11 § ska skärpas från bör till skall. Länsstyrelserna ska få ett skärpt tillsynsansvar inom området mäns våld mot kvinnor. Kommunala enheter med inriktning på mäns våld mot kvinnor och barn ska inrättas. Ett nationellt forskningscentrum för mäns våld mot kvinnor och barn ska etableras. Ett forskningsprogram om mäns våld mot kvinnor och barn ska inrättas. De lokala kvinnojourerna ska ges statliga medel och kvinno- jourernas riksorganisationer ska få ökade anslag. Krav på könsmaktsorienterad våldskompetens ska ställas vid tillsättning av tjänster med anknytning till mäns våld mot kvin- nor. Rutiner för screening och statistikföring över mäns våld mot kvinnor ska utarbetas. En undersökning av samhällsekonomiska kostnader för mäns våld mot kvinnor ska genomföras. En utredning angående mäns våldsansvar ska tillsättas. The Commission on Violence against Women performed pioneering work in the 1990s on mens violence against women in , which resulted in the report Violence against Women (Swedish Government Official Reports 1995:60) and the Govern- ment on Violence against Women (1997/98:55). The bill contained both assignments intended for all government agencies and specific assignments for particular agencies – the , the Office of the Prosecutor-General and all regional public prosecution offices, and all authorities, , the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority, the National Prison and , and the county admi- nistrative boards. Nearly seven years have passed since these assignments were issued and in the terms of reference for our inquiry the Government now indicates the need to set out new guidelines for the work on mens violence against women. The remit of this inquiry is to evaluate the assignments issued in the Government on Violence against Women and identify any hindrances and structural obstacles to effective work on mens violence against women. The approach indicated for the inquirys work is a gender power perspective. On the basis of this analysis, we then formulate a number of proposals for future work on mens violence against women. These proposals extend from national to local level and concern both changes in established organisations and the setting up of new activities. Emergence of a gender power perspective In the international arena, mens violence against women is increasingly being noticed and analysed as a matter of gender and power. These days, a gender power interpretation of mens violence against women is written into many UN, EU and documents. The of Violence against Women adopted by the United Nations in 1993 starts out from the observation that [v]iolence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men. In the Swedish political arena too, this perception has gradually been adopted in policies relating to mens violence against women. The main report of the Commission on Violence against Women, Violence against Women, represents a sea change in Swedish political thinking. The Commission starts out from womens experiences of violence, an approach that it chooses to term a womens perspective. Mens violence against women is understood in the report principally as a matter of a lack of gender equality. The Government following the report is based on the same approach but also applies other, conflicting interpretations of mens violence against women. We designate these interpretative models of mens violence against women deviation-based interpretations: the violent man is expressing his powerlessness or is mentally ill, or his use of violence is socially determined, or such violence is seen as a phenomenon that is more common beyond the borders of . In one way or another, these approaches mark the perpetrator as a deviant, dissociating him from the average man, and the link between violence, gender and power disappears. Combining the gender power interpretation with deviation-based interpretations makes it difficult to tackle the problem of mens violence against women in a consistent and effective . A gender power interpretation of the social problem of mens violence against women is the basic view informing our inquiry. Here the interpretation of violence that occurs in the Violence against Women reform is made more specific and more concrete. We choose to use the concept mens violence against women in order to stress who is exercising violence and who is subjected to violence. Mens violence against women must be interpreted in a social and cultural context that ranks men higher than women. This violence is both an expression of a gender power hierarchy and a means of upholding it. Mens violence against women must be understood in context – bearing in mind the discrimination and abuses women are subjected to in all areas of society. Different forms of violence, violence exercised in different arenas and violence in different types of relationships are therefore For women, violence is part of everyday life, where there is no escaping their own or other womens exposure to violence, or the fear of being subjected to violence. Mens violence against women therefore limits womens freedom to act at various levels so the issue is ultimately a matter of democracy. Conse- quently, making a gender power interpretation the basis for political practice brings many problems that would otherwise have remained hidden into the open. Moreover, this interpretation recognises the heart of the problem: mens superior position and womens subordination. This can enable policies to be more effective and vigorous. Resources go to relevant and permanent measures that make the violence visible instead of marginal and temporary initiatives that focus on something else. The assignments and their performance Our evaluation shows that the government agencies have performed some of the assignments, while others have not been carried out. Some of the assignments that have been performed have been carried through in a satisfactory , while others have not. Some of the criticisms we make of the agencies can be blamed on the failure of the Violence against Women to be clear about the interpretation of mens violence against women. Clear instructions from the Government are essential if agencies are to carry out their assignments consistently. In some respects, the agencies have failed to perform assignments issued by the Government to all agencies. Not a single central government agency has drawn up action plans or equivalent broad policy documents on the conduct of work on mens violence against women. It seems to us that crime prevention work in general has a minor place in agencies activities. Most agencies, moreover, have not undertaken any outreach activities in the form of dissemination of information or opinion formation. The enhancing of knowledge and skills that the Government requested has largely failed to happen. In some respects, the agencies have performed the assignments to all agencies in a satisfactory . Several agencies, not least the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority and to some extent also , appear to have established a practice of giving women subjected to violence priority as crime International cooperation has begun and international contacts have been established at most agencies. In some respects, while the agencies have performed the assignments given to all agencies, they have not done so in a satisfactory . The assignment concerning inter-agency collaboration has been carried out in part. for the Protection of Women against Violence has been established. However, how much of a lasting impact the national collaboration will have is unclear since in practice, with the passing of time, the collaboration has essentially been pared down to information exchange and the Violence against Women web portal. At regional and local level the amount of collaboration varies sharply; many projects have been started but many have also been abandoned. Joint action has largely taken the shape of projects, which is unfortunate in view of the Governments intentions in issuing the Violence against Women assignments, namely, to provide continuity and permanence in the work on mens violence against women. There is a lack of guidelines, continuity and a shared perspective and in many cases inadequate resources are allocated. Parts of the assignment concerning in-service training/education have been carried out, though the in which this has been done has scarcely been satisfactory. Despite a fairly substantial commitment of funds, most employees remained untouched by this initiative. One problem is that the courses are rarely compulsory. No evaluation has been made of the initiative. It is doubtful whether it has led to any lasting change, either as regards agencies working methods or their understanding of the issue. The Violence against Women educational material is the outcome of cooperation between several agencies, but both the working processes and the results illustrate the problems involved when different actors and agencies have different views and inter- pretations of the problem of mens violence against women, which hampers effective collaboration. The specific assignments for particular agencies have been carried through by the agencies to a greater extent, but the way in which many assignments have been carried out is unsatisfactory. The Office of the Prosecutor-General has carried out its assign- ment to produce statistics on restraining orders. The trend shows that more and more prosecutors are using restraining orders, which is a positive development. However, a number of other problems emerge. Restraining orders are frequently violated and there has been no increase in the prosecution of crimes involving violence by men against women, a fact that threatens womens legal security. Regional public prosecution offices do not necessarily regard violence by men against women as a criminal offence that requires public prosecution. has complied with its assignment to take stock of the activities of the authorities. The authorities, unlike the central agencies, have drawn up action programmes. The problems that show up here concern inadequate routines and shortcomings in the interpretation of violence. In the force too, there are attitude problems where mens violence against women is concerned. In cases concerning violence by men against women, the attach great importance to whether or not the woman sticks to her story and such cases are not necessarily treated as criminal offences that are subjected to public prosecution. An additional problem is that the label mens violence against women with the gender-neutral term family violence or violence in close relationships, terms that obscure the link between gender and power and assign the violence to a particular location or relationship. has published several reports and articles on gender-related violence, in accordance with its assignment to increase measures in this area. However, the research that is being conducted lacks a gender power inter- pretation. Violent men are analysed primarily from the point of view of alcohol consumption, marginalisation, mental disturbances and previous criminal records. There has been a lack of skills development regarding research based on gender theory. was also instructed to improve official legal statistics and the coding of crimes. Gender disaggregation has not been fully implemented in the statistics. The Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority was given million to conduct a crime victims study on violence against women. In 2001 it published Slagen dam. Mäns våld mot kvinnor i jämställda – en omfångsundersökning (Captured Queen. Mens violence against women in gender-equal – a prevalence study). The Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority is one of the few agencies that consistently applied a gender power interpretation in its work on violence by men against women, even before the Violence against Women assignments were issued. for Victims of Crime provides relatively extensive support to research and projects concerning mens violence against women and children. Prison and has surveyed treatment methods for men and is working on national treatment programmes affecting men who have committed violent crimes against women. However, there is a lack of models based on a gender power interpretation, such as the Norwegian Alternativ till Vold (Alternatives to Violence). The work of the Swedish Prison and on threat and risk assessment for partners of men convicted of violent crimes is positive, though the inquiry has reservations about the method the assessment is based on, as the perpetrator is assessed on the basis of deviation interpretations. was given the assignment of leading a development project on mens violence against women aimed at better incorporating work on violence by men against women into the normal activities of the social services and health services. A screening project has been carried out in the health and services, with good results. Ultimate responsibility for women subjected to violence still rests with the voluntary womens shelters, even though municipal social services are required to offer help and support to all residents of the municipality. Our survey shows that has improved its work on mens violence against women in some areas, but that this violence is dealt with and interpreted in a way that we take a critical view of. explicitly takes issue with a gender power interpretation of mens violence against women and advocates an ecological model. The model builds on a combination of interpretations, gender power being one of several. On the basis of this approach, positions are formulated that this inquiry takes a critical view of; for example, cooperation counselling is still regarded as a possible working method in relations where the man is violent towards the woman. The county administrative boards have examined the work of the municipalities and the examination of the social services reveals that there are still major shortcomings in the way cases are dealt with. The assignment of working for regional collaboration has been performed inadequately. Admittedly, it has led to increased activity on the part of the county administrative boards, but the number of joint action groups at county level remains small. Two examples of local work on violence against women The inquirys empirical study at local level describes the forms local work on mens violence against women can take and the problems that can arise in encounters with actual violence. We have made in- depth studies of the activities in and of the , including the district and the programme, in . Both these activities are well established and have been highlighted as good examples of collaboration on mens violence against women. The inclusive approach adopted by both and in their work means, in concrete terms, working with men, women and children. However, another underlying premise is that the work should be gender neutral and should avoid taking sides. All the activities we have studied claim to proceed from a gender power interpretation of mens violence against women, but they also take the view that this must be combined with other interpretations, based on different individual, social or cultural deviations. In practice, the gender power interpretation tends to disappear, and this has serious consequences. This applies to the work with women, when, for example, women and children are put in danger by a failure to actively encourage the woman to leave a violent man. The work with children is gender neutral and staff do not take a position on custody issues. The activities in and parts of have been institutionalised, or are in the process of becoming institutionalised, which is very positive and is a prerequisite for further development. If mens violence against women is defined as a serious social problem, efforts to combat it are something that has to be paid for from societys resources. Many employees in the activities studied work far more hours than they are paid for. The analysis of the activities makes it clear that any work on mens violence against women and children at local level must build on well-considered collaboration between different actors in society. In order for collaboration between different agencies and between agencies and voluntary organisations to work, there must be a common platform from which to proceed, a clear purpose, and clearly formulated objectives and descriptions of activities. Collaboration requires a shared perspective, which in turn requires knowledge. Public employees and actors collaborating with them cannot draw up objectives and conduct activities unless they have an adequate knowledge of the problem areas that their activities encompass. Knowledge must be made a requirement when recruiting and both staff and collaborating actors must undergo continuous further education and training. One possibility is to spread knowledge broadly while concentrating specific skills and know-how in specialised departments. Another source of knowledge is good cooperation with womens shelters, which are the body in society that has worked longest on mens violence against women. Our conclusions: resistance and structural obstacles The resistance and structural obstacles to gender power-conscious work on mens violence against women that we have identified are found in multiple areas and at multiple levels. Some problems to which we draw particular attention are the issue of resource prioritisation, the organisation of work on mens violence against women and the knowledge and interpretations of the issue that emerge. Alongside the other material, we have carried out a relatively small questionnaire survey on the amount of their budget relevant agencies and some ministries allocate to the area of mens violence against women. The results of the survey confirm the conclusions we draw about the agencies work on mens violence against women being a low priority and relatively insignificant social problem. With regard to the question of the organisational place of the issue of mens violence against women, we note that, with the exception of the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority, it is not incorporated in the agencies normal activities and specialised positions are not provided for it. Work on mens violence lacks continuity, institutionalisation and politicisation. Mens violence against women is not seen as a separate skills and knowledge area, which may explain the absence of any such requirements when recruiting new staff. A lack of a shared perspective and of cooperation between agencies is still a major problem in addressing issues related to mens violence against women. Without a shared interpretation of the problem, it is difficult to make the work effective and consistent. We note that the form taken by resistance is invisibilisation: the violence is trivialised and diminished, redefined (from being about gender power to being about other, less controversial problems), turned into a limited problem of deviation or a problem that only concerns the others, subdivided (separated into different forms of violence), depoliticised and defined as a consensus problem. When the violence is diminished and invisibilised in different ways, it is not obvious that mens violence against women is something that requires special resources. When mens violence against women is redefined in terms of other problems, the issue is not considered to require special political discussion, special organisation or institutionalisation. As resources, organisation and interpretation are thus intimately interwoven, the proposed measures we present concern all these levels. Our proposals in brief Our proposed measures encompass many areas of society. We argue for both knowledge-based and organisational specialisation. Major steps must be taken to institutionalise and systematise the work, to see to it that adequate resources are available and to create a shared perspective that facilitates effective work. The organisation of work on mens violence against women must take new forms at national, regional and local level. Our proposals build on existing institutions and activities, but we also propose new ones. All our proposals are based on and elaborate a gender power interpretation of mens violence against women. Appoint a national expert group on mens violence against women and children up special departments for mens violence against women and children at the , the Office of the Prosecutor-General, , , the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority, the National Prison and , , , , (social insurance office) and the for Education Strengthen the wording in Chapter 5, Section 11 of the Act from should to must Give the county administrative boards more rigorous supervisory responsibility in the area of mens violence against women up municipal departments focusing on mens violence against women Establish a national research centre on mens violence against women and children up a research programme on mens violence against women and children Give the local womens shelters state funds and the national organisations of womens shelters higher appropriations Require gender power-oriented violence-related knowledge and skills when recruiting to positions connected with mens violence against women Develop routines for screening and compiling statistics on mens violence against women Make a study of the social costs of mens violence against women Appoint an inquiry on mens responsibility for violence. Mäns våld mot kvinnor är ett allvarligt samhällsproblem, om det råder stor samstämmighet i dagens – åtminstone retoriskt. Decennier av kvinnors kamp för att föra upp frågan på den poli- tiska dagordningen har utan tvekan haft betydelse.