‘We need to make sure that we are always something else’: Victim support organisations and the increasing responsibility of the state in supporting crime victims in Finland and Norway

Abstract

In response to international obligations many Western states have strengthened their responsibility for crime victims' access to support services. This is also the case in Finland and Norway where this interview study explored the views of representatives from five key civil society organisations (CSOs) working with victims of crime in relation to the public sector's increasing duty to organise victim support services. The findings indicate that despite the fact that improvements in victims' access to support services were generally welcomed, there was a growing concern that the position of these traditional CSOs could-or already had-become challenged by the public and private organisations and other CSOs as new funding streams and mechanisms attract new players to the field. This had created a need to highlight the distinctiveness of these agents as CSOs working with victims of crime. This article argues that while international standards for victim support services have been a triumph for victim movements in many countries, their realisation in the present era of austerity and mixed welfare economies presents traditional victim support organisations with new challenges in retaining their ownership and distinctive ways of treating the problem of victimisation.

Fra kamp til konsensus? Sivilsamfunnets rolle i framvekstenav voldsfeltet

“…Krise-og rådgivningstelefonen for menn ble etablert i 1980 og rettet seg blant annet mot menn som hadde aggresjons-og voldsproblemer. Det første behandlingstilbudet for voldsutøvere ble også initiert fra sivilsamfunnet da en gruppe fagfolk og aktivister startet Alternativ til vold (ATV) i 1987, med støtte fra Barne-og familiedepartementet og Oslo kommune (Kallevik, 2007).…”

“…Fra de statlige myndighetenes side er denne fasen preget av en rekke nyetableringer av kompetanseinstitusjoner som spesifikt skal arbeide med vold (Jonassen, 2013). Både Nasjonalt ressurssenter for seksuelt misbrukte barn og Kompetansesenter for voldsofferarbeid ble opprettet i 1995.…”

“…Ett perspektiv er at sivilsamfunnets rolle som alternativ og utfordrer til myndighetene kan bli svekket når staten tar styring. Helminen (2018) konkluderer slik i en studie av krisesenterbevegelsen i Finland og Norge. Hun hevder at det blir vanskeligere for offerstøttende organisasjoner å holde fast ved sin opprinnelige agenda når de mottar økonomisk støtte fra offentlige myndigheter.…”

The ‘psychological turn’ in self-help services for sexual abuse victims: Drivers and dilemmas

“…An important background for our analysis is the established finding that professionalisation processes in third-sector organisations that work with victims of violence and abuse often lead to new dilemmas. Helminen (2019), for instance, has described how the professionalisation of shelters for abused women in Norway – that worked from a clear feminist perspective – has contributed to a process of de-politicisation. A similar point has been made related to rape crisis services both in the USA (Woody and Beldin, 2012) and in the UK (Vera-Gray, 2020).…”

“…This article engages with the scholarly discussion about professionalisation processes in third-sector welfare organisations within ‘service intensive’ welfare states (Stephens, 1995) – and what they mean for different groups of victims. Discussions about the consequences of professionalisation in different services and professions have been ongoing since the 1980s, related to different contexts (Abbott, 1988; Helminen, 2019; Markowitz and Tice, 2002; Stefansen, 2006). Our empirical case is sexual abuse counselling centres in Norway that originally operated as self-help organisations at the grassroots level.…”