Let the experts on honor suppression get in the way of Roma “trials”.

The issue of culture of honor and the Roma crisis has recently been hotly debated in Gothenburg.

It was updated in connection with the becoming of a 38-year-old woman shot and killed of her children following a family conflict this summer.

The background was that a woman had entered into an affair with a 42-year-old man who was not the father of the children, a relationship of which the family of the woman’s ex-husband was wary.

The new relationship before the murder, he had also been involved in a so-called Roma crisis, in which the 42-year-old man and his father had to pay money to the family of the woman’s ex-husband.

The murder led to raising the question of a culture of honor within the Roma ethnic group in Gothenburg and renewed attention to the Roma crisis as a phenomenon. Critics have argued that the Roma crisis is a parallel legal system, often characterized by a culture of honor and legal uncertainty.

In September he leaves The Sweden Democrats have called for the Gothenburg Roma Council, described as a forum for dialogue between the city council and the Roma minority, to clearly distance itself from the Roma crisis and otherwise its funding be suspended.

Subsequently, the Social Democrats and Democrats put forward their proposal for the Roma Council to make recommendations on efforts to “counteract that Roma in Gothenburg are exposed to the oppression of honor and the consequences of parallel legal systems”.

The S and D demands were voted on in October, despite criticism from the Left Party, which said they risked leading to distrust and were “stereotypical and show that Roma are still considered collective culprits when someone else in the minority does something wrong”.

The Roman Council had one similar objection to “all Roma being dragged along the same hair”, which led to a crisis of trust between the city council and the Roma council. Second Gothenburg Post the council accused the politicians of anti-Gypsyism.

This schism led to the intervention of a mediator and a meeting was held in mid-December.

Blerta Hoti of the Social Democrats, who has been the city councilor responsible for minority issues since the beginning of the year, believes that the meeting went well and led to greater understanding between the parties.

– I thought it was a very nice and rewarding meeting where we could see each other’s perspectives. I now feel like I have an established contact and relationship and I look forward to having a constructive dialogue with the board in the future, says Blerta Hoti.

But the liberals and Democrats were not happy. On 12 December, they made a new request to task both the Honor Support Center of the municipality and the Romana Center in the West to work on the prevention of the culture of honor and the Roma crisis. The idea is to let the honor culture experts in the support center counteract the occurrence of, for example, the Roma crisis.

Axel Darvik is group leader of the Liberals in Gothenburg:

– We want to clarify that we never tolerate the use of the Roma crisis to resolve conflicts, but also that we work to counter the culture of honor in the Roma group. These organizations must have a clear mission and we thought it was important to take a stand to defend the human rights of all Roma, she says.

Is there a risk that, with this request, a distrust of the Roman Council will be unleashed?

– No, I think we had a good dialogue. Just because Roma are a vulnerable group, it cannot be said that it is forbidden to criticize when fundamental human rights are violated. If you refrain from criticizing, it becomes a sin of omission, where you look through your fingers. And I can never accept it. We have a great partnership.

Blerta Hoti says she is sure that political efforts are being made to counter the culture of honor and the existence of the Roma crisis.

– In general, I welcome any political commitment against the oppression of honor and parallel legal systems, and I think it is good to have a political consensus on these issues. We have been disappointing Swedes with Roma backgrounds for too long, she says.

On the other hand, he believes it is important that the Roma minority is seen as a heterogeneous group and underlines the importance of having a dialogue with the group.

S has not yet decided whether he will support L and D’s claim.

– When it comes to concrete proposals in the demands, we need to look at them more closely, to discuss them within the framework of our governing coalition.

Is it because your new partner, the Left Party, is critical that you waver on the issue?

– No, I would not say that, but I need to talk to my coalition partners within V and MP, and we haven’t had time to do that, it hasn’t had time to process yet.

DN asked representatives of the Roma Council for a comment.