Listhaug to introduce an obligation to report forced marriages

Justice Minister Sylvi Listhaug waggingFormer Minister of Justice and member of the Health Committee, Sylvi Listhaug (Progress Party).Photo regjeringen.no

In a new action plan Minister Sylvi Listhaug will make it a criminal offense when one has knowledge of a young girl being forced into marriage.

In the government’s new action plan against arranged marriages, female genital mutilation and negative social control, which will be presented next week, the Immigration and Integration Affairs Department want to make it so that persons who have knowledge of under-aged arranged marriages, have a responsibility to stop it or report it, writes Dagbladet.

– Adults who are familiar with or suspect child abuse have a responsibility to stop it. This means that adults who know of such cases must notify the authorities, otherwise they risk punishment, says Immigration and Integration Minister to the newspaper. Now she wants to extend this obligation.

– We want to extend the obligation to report people who are aware of young people being forced into marriage, says Listhaug. She notes that many of forced marriages are religiously approved and not covered by the current legislation.

– They are, in other words not married in accordance with the Norwegian law, but are still married according to their culture since the marriage is approved by their religion.

Now we will look into the matter for ways to tighten the regulations so that it will become a criminal offense to forcibly marry girls in a religiously approved marriage. Those who do this to young girls should be punished, she emphasizes.

Sylvi Listhaug will go on maternity leave this Friday after work. The new action plan will be presented on International Women’s Day on March 8th and will therefore be  presented by Finance Minister Siv Jensen (Frp) and Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today

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