"Ju mer jag lär mig desto mer fattar jag att jag inte förstår" - En kvalitativ studie om det sociala arbetet mot hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck

Sammanfattning: This paper highlights the complexity and ambiguity regarding the phenomenon of so called honour-related violence and oppression and explores how these matters are taken into consideration in the field of social work. In order to explore this field of study we used qualitative research as the method of inquiry. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six female social workers working with people affected by honour-related violence. These social workers explain how they define the issue of honour-related violence and describe their methods of prevention and processing. The challenges working in this specific field are brought to attention, as are the considered necessary interventions to conquer the social problem of honour-related violence and oppression. The result of this study suggests that the definition of honour-related violence is not obvious and it is a common belief among the interviewees that many perspectives need to be taken into consideration when describing how the problem ought to be understood. Challenges conveyed by the social workers seem to be handling the complexity of more than one perpetrator and an expressed fine line between the relation of being a victim or a perpetrator. The Swedish Social Service Act is criticized for being too vague when applied to honour-related problems, causing an unpredictability and difficulties regarding how or if the victim’s family should be included in the process. The social workers included in this study call for more and better migrant integration and a broader distribution of civil rights offered by the state in order to resolve the issue of honour-related violence. The conclusion of the study is that honour-related violence and oppression is a complex matter that occur in many different contexts and cannot be defined by one simple explanation. It needs to be attacked on a number of social levels and be dealt with a proactive focus as well as taking care of the ones affected by honour-related violence here and now.