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Hedersrelaterat psykiskt våld - En analys av kriminalisering av psykiskt våld mot barn i en hederskontext från ett barnrättsperspektiv

Cederlund, Tilda LU (2025) JURM02 20251
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Brottet hedersförtryck infördes i brottsbalken 2022. Enligt 4 kap. 4 e § BrB döms den som begår brottsliga gärningar enligt 3 eller 4 kap., 5 kap. 1 eller 2 §, 6 eller 12 kap. BrB eller enligt 24 § lagen (1988:688) om kontaktförbud mot en person med motiv att bevara eller återupprätta en persons eller familjs, släkts eller annan liknande grupps heder om var och en av gärningarna utgjort led i en upprepad kränkning av personens integritet och gärningarna varit ägnade att allvarligt skada personens självkänsla. För att dömas för hedersförtryck krävs att gärningen är kriminaliserat genom någon av de i 4 kap. 4 e § BrB uppräknade bestämmelserna. Det är därför angeläget att se till vilka handlingar kopplade till hedersrelaterat förtryck som kan... (More)
Brottet hedersförtryck infördes i brottsbalken 2022. Enligt 4 kap. 4 e § BrB döms den som begår brottsliga gärningar enligt 3 eller 4 kap., 5 kap. 1 eller 2 §, 6 eller 12 kap. BrB eller enligt 24 § lagen (1988:688) om kontaktförbud mot en person med motiv att bevara eller återupprätta en persons eller familjs, släkts eller annan liknande grupps heder om var och en av gärningarna utgjort led i en upprepad kränkning av personens integritet och gärningarna varit ägnade att allvarligt skada personens självkänsla. För att dömas för hedersförtryck krävs att gärningen är kriminaliserat genom någon av de i 4 kap. 4 e § BrB uppräknade bestämmelserna. Det är därför angeläget att se till vilka handlingar kopplade till hedersrelaterat förtryck som kan falla utanför bestämmelsen.

Hedersrelaterat förtryck är svårdefinierat, men kan sägas bygga på en begränsning av personer inom en familj eller släkt i syfte att upprätthålla en kontroll över individen. Ett centralt uttryck för hedersrelaterat förtryck är således en kontroll av barn och unga inom familjen. Denna kontroll ter sig olika mellan flickor och pojkar, men samtliga ska kontrolleras till att följa hedersnormer. En särskilt utsatt grupp är barn och unga som tillhör gruppen HBTQ. Även psykiskt våld är ett svårdefinierat begrepp och det finns flera möjliga definitioner av vad psykiskt våld är. Det finns också flera definitioner av våld som inbegriper psykiskt våld i en större utsträckning än den straffrättsliga våldsdefinitionerna. Dessa definitioner identifierar flera uttryck av psykiskt våld som sammanfaller med hedersrelaterat förtryck. Barn ska, enligt artikel 19 i FN:s konvention om barns rättigheter, skyddas från alla former av fysiskt eller psykiskt våld, skada eller övergrepp, vanvård eller försumlig behandling, misshandel eller utnyttjande, inklusive sexuella övergrepp. Det är samtidigt oklart om alla former av psykiskt våld är kriminaliserat i Sverige idag.

Psykiskt våld är sedan 2019 kriminaliserat i Danmark och det fanns ett förslag att kriminalisera psykiskt våld i Sverige i Ds 2022:18 genom ett nytt brott, psykisk misshandel, som skulle ingå brottsbalkens tredje kapitel. Förslaget remissbehandlades och fick relativt hård kritik. Det är dock möjligt att ifrågasätta vilka underförstådda utgångspunkter kritiken av förslaget vilar på och den roll som legalitetsprincipen har fått spela i vissa remissinstanser genom att använda en genusrättsvetenskaplig teoretisk ram.

Uppsatsens syfte är mot denna bakgrund att analysera kriminalisering av psykiskt våld i en hederskontext utifrån ett barnrättsperspektiv. Uppsatsen ska även undersöka och analysera den kritik som förlag till kriminalisering av psykiskt våld har fått utifrån en genusrättsvetenskaplig teoretisk ram. (Less)
Abstract
Honour oppression was introduced into the Swedish penal code in 2022. Anyone who commits criminal acts as defined in Chapters 3 or 4, Chapter 5, Sections 1 or 2, Chapters 6 or 12 of the Penal Code or under Section 24 of the Non-Contact Orders Act (1988:688), against another person with the motive of preserving or reestablishing the honour of a family, a larger group of relations or another similar group is guilty of honour oppression if each of the actions were part of a repeated violation of the victim’s personal integrity and the offences were intended to seriously damage the victim’s self-esteem. It is therefore required that an offence, to be considered a part of the honour oppression, is criminalised in one of the mentioned sections... (More)
Honour oppression was introduced into the Swedish penal code in 2022. Anyone who commits criminal acts as defined in Chapters 3 or 4, Chapter 5, Sections 1 or 2, Chapters 6 or 12 of the Penal Code or under Section 24 of the Non-Contact Orders Act (1988:688), against another person with the motive of preserving or reestablishing the honour of a family, a larger group of relations or another similar group is guilty of honour oppression if each of the actions were part of a repeated violation of the victim’s personal integrity and the offences were intended to seriously damage the victim’s self-esteem. It is therefore required that an offence, to be considered a part of the honour oppression, is criminalised in one of the mentioned sections or chapters of the Penal Code. It is therefore important to examine which actions, in relation to honour-based oppression, that can and cannot fall within these sections.

It is difficult to define honour-based oppression, but it can be said to be built on a restriction of persons within a family with the purpose of maintaining control over the individual. The control of children and young people is a key element of honour-based oppression. It can look different depending on the gender of the person being oppressed, however both girls and boys will be controlled. Children who identify as LGBT are especially vulnerable. It is also difficult to define psychological violence and there are several possible definitions of what psychological violence is. There are also several different definitions on what violence is in general, some of which include psychological violence to a greater extent than what is possible within the definition of violence used in criminal law. These definitions identify several elements of psychological violence that can coincide with those of honour-based oppression. According to the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 19, children have the right to be protected against all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse. At the same time, it is unclear if all forms of psychological violence are criminalised in Sweden today.

Psychological violence is criminalised in Denmark since 2019 and there has been a proposed criminalisation of psychological violence in Sweden through Ds 2022:18. The proposal was that a new crime, psychological abuse, should be included in the Third Chapter of the Penal Code. The proposal was submitted for referral and the proposal was criticised. It is possible, however, to question the implicit assumptions underlying the criticism of the proposal and the part the principle of legality has played in some of the comments by using a theoretical framework of gender and law.

The aim of this essay is, with this background, to analyse the criminalisation of psychological violence in an honour-based context from a children’s rights perspective. The essay will also examine and analyse the critique that the pro-posed criminalisation received with a theoretical frame of gender and law. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Cederlund, Tilda LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Honour-based psychological violence - An analysis of the criminalisation of psychological violence against children within an honour-based context from a children’s rights perspective
course
JURM02 20251
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
straffrätt, criminal law, barnkonventionen, psykiskt våld, hedersförtryck
language
Swedish
id
9189003
date added to LUP
2025-06-09 10:23:13
date last changed
2025-06-09 10:23:13
@misc{9189003,
  abstract     = {{Honour oppression was introduced into the Swedish penal code in 2022. Anyone who commits criminal acts as defined in Chapters 3 or 4, Chapter 5, Sections 1 or 2, Chapters 6 or 12 of the Penal Code or under Section 24 of the Non-Contact Orders Act (1988:688), against another person with the motive of preserving or reestablishing the honour of a family, a larger group of relations or another similar group is guilty of honour oppression if each of the actions were part of a repeated violation of the victim’s personal integrity and the offences were intended to seriously damage the victim’s self-esteem. It is therefore required that an offence, to be considered a part of the honour oppression, is criminalised in one of the mentioned sections or chapters of the Penal Code. It is therefore important to examine which actions, in relation to honour-based oppression, that can and cannot fall within these sections. 

It is difficult to define honour-based oppression, but it can be said to be built on a restriction of persons within a family with the purpose of maintaining control over the individual. The control of children and young people is a key element of honour-based oppression. It can look different depending on the gender of the person being oppressed, however both girls and boys will be controlled. Children who identify as LGBT are especially vulnerable. It is also difficult to define psychological violence and there are several possible definitions of what psychological violence is. There are also several different definitions on what violence is in general, some of which include psychological violence to a greater extent than what is possible within the definition of violence used in criminal law. These definitions identify several elements of psychological violence that can coincide with those of honour-based oppression. According to the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 19, children have the right to be protected against all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse. At the same time, it is unclear if all forms of psychological violence are criminalised in Sweden today.
 
Psychological violence is criminalised in Denmark since 2019 and there has been a proposed criminalisation of psychological violence in Sweden through Ds 2022:18. The proposal was that a new crime, psychological abuse, should be included in the Third Chapter of the Penal Code. The proposal was submitted for referral and the proposal was criticised. It is possible, however, to question the implicit assumptions underlying the criticism of the proposal and the part the principle of legality has played in some of the comments by using a theoretical framework of gender and law.

The aim of this essay is, with this background, to analyse the criminalisation of psychological violence in an honour-based context from a children’s rights perspective. The essay will also examine and analyse the critique that the pro-posed criminalisation received with a theoretical frame of gender and law.}},
  author       = {{Cederlund, Tilda}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Hedersrelaterat psykiskt våld - En analys av kriminalisering av psykiskt våld mot barn i en hederskontext från ett barnrättsperspektiv}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}