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Honour-based violence and oppression in the Nordic countries: Governance, organisation and legislation

Honour-based violence and oppression constitute a violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms. This violence is based on patriarchal and heteronormative ideas and undermines both gender equality and the rights of LGBTI people.

The purpose of this publication is to provide an overview of the work being done to combat honour-based violence and oppression in the Nordic region. The publication describes the strategic work being done in this area, focusing on how honour-based violence and oppression are defined, the problems and challenges that have been identified, and how the work to address these is organised. Furthermore, the publication contains an overview and analysis of national policy documents and other relevant material dealing with the vulnerability of LGBTI persons to violence, as well as a review and analysis of national criminal law legislation related to honour-based violence and oppression.

Honour-based violence and oppression in the Nordic countries

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Updated 4 March 2026