A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Discourses on Honour-Related Violence in Finnish Policy Documents
Authors: Tuuli Hong
Publisher: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
Publication year: 2014
Journal: NORA Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research
Volume: 22
Issue: 4
First page : 314
Last page: 329
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08038740.2014.964648
Abstract
ABSTRACT In Finland, issues linked to honour-related violence (HRV) have gained attention
relatively late compared to other Nordic countries. The aim of this paper is to study how the issue
has been presented in Finnish policy documents published between 2004 and 2012. The analysis is
based on a discourse-analytical approach, which enables critical consideration of prevailing
understandings of HRV, of the causes assumed to lie behind it, and the different subject positions the
dominant discourses offer for victims and perpetrators. A further question concerns the measures
proposed in the analysed policy documents: Do these measures reflect the understanding(s) of HRV
promoted in the discourses? It is argued that the presentations of HRV are involved in creating
boundaries between “us”, the Finnish-majority population, and the Other, immigrant population.
Furthermore, the reasons behind HRV are understood as coinciding with the prevailing schemes of
“patriarchal immigrant communities”. This has led to measures combining the combat against
violence with integration policies, which in issues of gender equality aspire towards immigrants’
assimilation. Consequently, violence against immigrant women—especially HRV—is located
outside the sphere of criminal policy.
ABSTRACT In Finland, issues linked to honour-related violence (HRV) have gained attention
relatively late compared to other Nordic countries. The aim of this paper is to study how the issue
has been presented in Finnish policy documents published between 2004 and 2012. The analysis is
based on a discourse-analytical approach, which enables critical consideration of prevailing
understandings of HRV, of the causes assumed to lie behind it, and the different subject positions the
dominant discourses offer for victims and perpetrators. A further question concerns the measures
proposed in the analysed policy documents: Do these measures reflect the understanding(s) of HRV
promoted in the discourses? It is argued that the presentations of HRV are involved in creating
boundaries between “us”, the Finnish-majority population, and the Other, immigrant population.
Furthermore, the reasons behind HRV are understood as coinciding with the prevailing schemes of
“patriarchal immigrant communities”. This has led to measures combining the combat against
violence with integration policies, which in issues of gender equality aspire towards immigrants’
assimilation. Consequently, violence against immigrant women—especially HRV—is located
outside the sphere of criminal policy.
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