Prisoners in Kongsvinger feel vulnerable to racism

Prison, au pairsPrison: Photo:Pixabay

Prisoners in Kongsvinger Prison say they are subjected to discrimination and racism. This is evidenced in a new research article.

 

The prison was established in 2012 as Norway’s only prison exclusively for foreign convicts.

The main point of the article is that a private institution for foreigners opens opportunities for the prisoners to experience, or feel ‘apartheid’ or discrimination, said the writer, Thomas Ugelvik to VG newspaper.

Ugelvik is a criminology professor, and he published the article together with fellow academic, Dorina Damsa, at the University of Oslo.

‘It gives the prisoners the opportunity to see all frustrations and criticisms in the context of being discriminated against, and subjected to racism.

Whatever the prisoner believes is wrong, the reason is that they are a foreigner. There isn’t the same opportunity to say this in other prisons, with both Norwegian and foreign prisoners,’ Ugelvik told the newspaper.

He emphasized that there is no basis for saying on an objective basis that the inmates are actually subjected to discrimination or racism.
The article is based on field work in Kongsvinger Prison in 2013, 2015, and 2016.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today