The government is introducing a bill to toughen penalties for honor crimes in minority (immigrant) communities, including deportation to their country of origin for re-education.
The Ministry of Foreigners and Integration (Ministry of Immigration) issued a statement which read:
There is no place for rigid values and a culture of honor in Denmark. Therefore, the government will impose harsher penalties for crimes of violence, threats, murder, and other crimes motivated by so-called honor.
Young people from ethnic minorities, in particular, suffer frequent restrictions on their freedoms due to violence, threats, and negative social control stemming from honor-related norms.
The government is working to address this problem. The motive of honor, in whole or in part, should be considered an aggravating circumstance in cases of crimes such as violence, threats, and, in the worst cases, murder.
Minister for Immigration and Integration, Rasmus Stocklund (of the Social Democratic Party), stated:
“We cannot and will not accept the existence of hidden parallel societies in Denmark, where negative social bullying flourishes. Unfortunately, we see many examples of young women belonging to ethnic minorities, in particular, being persecuted because of cultural values rooted in the concept of honor. This is completely unacceptable, and certainly not in our country. Therefore, we will punish criminals even more severely when their threats, violence, and intimidation stem from an outdated concept of honor.”
Currently, it is considered an aggravating circumstance if, for example, the act of violence is based wholly or partly on the victim's ethnic origin, religion, or sexual orientation. The government will expand the scope of this circumstance to include so-called honor crimes.
Facts about increased penalties: The draft law on increased penalties for honor-related crimes stipulates that, when determining the sentence, the presence of an honor-related motive, in whole or in part, should generally be considered an aggravating circumstance. This applies if the act arose wholly or in part from the offender's feeling that the honor of a group or community, such as the family, has been violated, or that it is at risk of being violated.
In principle, the increased penalty applies to all crimes, including rehabilitation trips.
One of the recommendations of the Committee for the Struggle of Forgotten Women was to toughen the punishment for honor crimes.
In addition to increasing the penalty for honor crimes, the bill includes expanding the ban on cover-ups to include educational institutions, and criminalizing mediation councils.
The statement has ended.
