Summary
For many years, the Norwegian government has called on the country’s 422 municipalities to draw up action plans to address violence within close relationships. Such plans can help municipalities in the development of the services they provide, aimed at those who are the victims of violence in close relationships, those who commit violence and others who are affected. Under Norwegian law, victims of violence have a right to a holistic and personalised support.
The purpose and framework of the project
This report describes the significance of action plans in Norwegian municipalities’ efforts against violence. A further aim was to acquire information about whether the national guidelines, developed to support municipalities in drafting action plans, were actually being utilised by the municipalities. The project was implemented by the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS), on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
This report describes the background and the framework for the work to address violence, and why the government calls on the municipalities to draw up action plans to prevent and combat violence in close relationships. The work carried out at national and municipal level to address violence in close relationships is governed by the international conventions ratified by Norway, in addition to national laws, guidelines and obligations. The report draws on the views on the municipalities’ work to address violence from 72 informants from political, administrative and professional levels in 24 selected municipalities. Of these municipalities, 14 had established action plans, six had previously had action plans and four have never had a specific action plan to address violence in close relationships.
Guidelines for the municipal work to address violence
State judicial and economic guidelines and regulations have been the driving force behind much of the municipalities’ efforts to address violence, for example via the Crisis Centre Act. Although the informants believed that the municipalities were fulfilling their lawful obligations, several stated that the state should take more responsibility for addressing violence and not pass on too much of this responsibility to the municipalities.
To promote the development of municipal action plans to combat violence in close relationships, the government has primarily taken educational measures through clear and repeated calls for the municipalities to fulfil their responsibilities. These calls were complied with, to the extent that municipalities believed it was possible and desirable within given frameworks. Informants stated that the principal reason why action plans had been drawn up was political guidance at national level, followed up by local initiatives.
Societal factors, such as information and engagement from public groups, have been significant driving forces in addressing violence in the municipalities. The general understanding has improved in the municipalities, in regards to violence in close relationships, and the consequences, both for those affected and for society in general. In this respect, research institutions, in addition to the media and non-profit organisations, have informed municipalities that violence in close relationships is a social problem that public services should be able to address.
Meetings between employees, victims and perpetrators can be challenging for all the parties concerned. Both services and individual specialists must be competent enough to act. Competency may inspire professional confidence. The need for greater competence and reinforcement of multi-disciplinary work has been a clear driving force for the work in municipalities to address violence and for drawing up municipal action plans to prevent and combat violence in close relationships.
The needs of victims of violence for the provision of equitable and holistic services is in many ways a weak driving force, as violence is often concealed. Safeguarding hidden and vulnerable groups presents a challenge to municipal health services. The report raises questions as to whether the state should supplement educational measures with stronger policy instruments, both legal and economic, in order to reinforce the work of municipalities to address violence. One way of doing this is to expand the scope of the Crisis Centre Act and require municipalities to have politically adopted action plans to address violence in close relationships.
The national guidelines for development of municipal action plans
The purpose of the national guidelines is to support the municipalities in their work to draw up action plans. The guidelines were drawn up in cooperation with the regional resource centres for violence, traumatic stress and suicide (RVTS).
Informants have stated that the national guidelines were principally used during the start-up phase and as a framework for the structure of the action plan. Only a few of the municipalities had followed the recommendations in the national guidelines regarding quality control, responsibility for implementation and evaluation of the action plan.
Municipalities with action plans
A survey of the country’s 422 municipalities showed that 40 percent had action plans addressing violence in close relationships, of which approximately half had been drawn up in cooperation with other municipalities. It proved to be a challenging and time-consuming task to build up an overview of the municipalities that had established action plans via searches on municipal websites and via the Internet.
The municipalities with the highest populations had the most action plans. The population in the 40 percent of the municipalities that actually had action plans, represented 63 percent of the Norwegian population.
Premises for an effective action plan
It is important that a municipal action plan to combat violence in close relationships has been politically processed and adopted. If the action plan is to act as a policy instrument in addressing violence within the municipality, the plan must be politically and administratively binding for the municipality. Regular reporting must be a requirement. A well-founded plan can help to ensure that work to address violence in the municipality becomes institutionalised and further developed.
Municipalities believed that action plans should be knowledge-based and include laws and regulations, but also that this aspect should not be too wide-ranging. Instead, local challenges in the work to address violence, needs and initiatives should be given more emphasis in the action plans.
The foundations for the action plan’s significance with regard to practice are laid during the preparatory work and processes during drafting of the plan. Engagement in the working group, particularly a competent working group leader, was highlighted as a factor for success in getting employees from different professions and services to develop goals, priority areas and initiatives to address violence. This was particularly challenging when several municipalities were collaborating on drafting action plans. Nonetheless, anchoring and ownership within the administration was a decisive factor for the success of the work.
Municipalities’ use and benefits of action plans to address violence in close relationships
The level of experience built up by the municipalities in implementing the action plan to address violence varied, although interviews indicated that the plan was most useful at the start of the planning period. For professional groups, it was important that the plan was specific and concise, although policymakers believed it was important that the plan obligated the administration to follow up initiatives. Action plans which have strategies and specific initiatives for the work on preventing and dealing with violence, and which are implemented and evaluated, can be useful tools for policymakers and administrators, and for quality control of service practices.
Managers are responsible for ensuring that initiatives are carried out according to the adopted plan, and it is a political responsibility to demand information on the implementation of plans at regular intervals, to ensure that the goals in the action plan are achieved. One weakness in the work of the municipalities is that an evaluation of the action plan was not followed up. This meant that the plan was not adjusted or developed, or that it was phased out. A lack of administrative capacity in the municipalities was highlighted as a contributing factor as to why plans had not been drafted, evaluated or audited.
Several informants believed that the action plan was still in effect, despite the fact that the planning period had expired and the plan had not been evaluated. If there is no need to review the action plan at the end of the planning period, it is likely that the plan was not sufficiently specific to make a difference, or execution of the action plan has not taken place as expected. This may have contributed to the action plan having had less significance for the municipality’s work on violence in close relationships.