Mother of six lost in the Supreme Court – faces jail time for violence
The Supreme Court finds no reason to reduce the sentence for a mother of six who believes she should not have to go to jail because it is common to beat children in her culture.
The woman was sentenced to imprisonment in both the district court and the court of appeal, but chose to appeal to the Supreme Court because she believed she should be given community service instead of a prison sentence, writes Vårt Land.
The woman, who came to Norway as a refugee from an African country together with her husband and six children, was accused of violence and mental abuse of four of the children three years after arriving in Norway. This occured from the family arrived in Norway and lasted until the children were taken care of by the Norwegian child care authorities the following year.
The mother is convicted of having hit, threatened and humiliated four of her children to such a degree that they suffered mental damage. She appealed the jail sentence because she “grew up in a culture with different standards regarding raising of children.”
Cultural background
The Supreme Court rejects in its verdict the arguments from the woman and writes that “The principle is that anyone who comes to Norway must be judged by the same standards that apply to others.” The verdict further states that “Her cultural background does not justify social service, and her individual circumstances are not sufficient to justify that.”
The verdict from the Court of Appeal for prison for one year, of which three months on probation, is thus verified.
The woman’s defender, lawyer Arild Dyngeland, tells the newspaper that he does not wish to comment on the verdict.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
