Stockholm wants to stop tvångsäktenskapen

In the next week to send the city a letter addressed to all secondary school students, in both the municipal and private schools. The ambition is that all Stockholmselever to understand what rights they have. It says, among other things:

”Are you worried about for this summer? Are you afraid to go abroad during the summer holidays? You will be pressured to get married? Or do you have a friend who will be married away? Please contact your teacher or any other adult in the school. There is help to get!”

"We know that girls will be abducted out of the country and vulnerable to forced marriage, it is the largest frihetsinskränkningen a young person might face," says Lotta Edholm.

the pupil in the ninth grade living in some kind of hedersförtryck. It shows a survey of the honour-related violence and oppression among the 6,000 students in the Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, researchers at Örebro university published in the autumn.

It is the largest frihetsinskränkningen a young person can encounter

Already today, all principals a letter with recommendations on how they should act in case of suspicion of hedersförtryck/forced marriages. It is about the partly new procedures where the rectors are expected to notify the primary or gymnasiechefen if they suspect the absence that can be about suspected forced marriages.

– We want to know how the principals ' suspicions looks, how many they think may have been tvångsgifta, says Lotta Edholm.

In the letter to the rectors recommended, inter alia, the following:

• Makes a orosanmälan to the social services now if you suspect that a child is in danger before the holiday.

• Contact the police in case of immediate danger and risk to a child is about to be brought out of the country.

• After the holiday in elementary school: investigation as quickly as possible the cases where a student has prolonged or repeated absences. Report it to the department of education.

• the Register of suspected forced marriages to the primary or gymnasiechefen

– We have two tracks: an initiative now for the summer, to maybe stop some of the tvångsgiften we know will happen. And, in the long term, that young people should understand that they have exactly the same rights as all others, " says Lotta Edholm.

An image from the promotional material. Photo: Stockholm city

a joint initiative by her and socialborgarrådet Jan Jönsson (L). Also social service staff will receive a letter where they attract the attention on the fact that it can get an increased number of orosanmälningar.

" the School and social services have a responsibility to get the cases up to the surface. The school staff are the most important adults after the parents, " says Lotta Edholm.

as the city of Stockholm made in 2018 shows that the school has an important role. 70 per cent of the young people who are victims stated that they would turn to school staff for help.

" By paying attention to both the school and social services, and the students themselves, we hope to prevent forced marriages during the summer holidays. We also want parents and relatives to understand that it is a very serious offence, which can lead to a prison sentence, to force a youth to marry, " says Lotta Edholm.

We also want to get parents and relatives to understand that it is a very serious offence, which can lead to a prison sentence, to force a youth to marry, the

The most important thing is to work on prevention, she says. One purpose of the campaign is to get young people to talk more with each other if hedersförtryck.

" No. The vast majority of people who go on the middle school or high school understand English and they can also take the help of each other, " says Lotta Edholm.

Read more: Åsa Lindhagen: the Fight against hedersförtryck no ”quick-fix”

Read more: ”the Debate on honor violence has become more open - ”