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19 June 2016
The waves of protest against Norwegian Barnevern
By Aage Simonsen
Dr.Scient, former member of the Client Committee, the Social Office of Central Bergen
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This comment was published in Norwegian in Aftenposten on 15 June 2016. It has been translated and published here with the author's kind consent.
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The last years have seen a wave of protests against Norwegian child protection. Elisabeth Backe-Hansen and Jan Storø at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences claim, in a debate article in Aftenposten on 27 May, an article out of harmony with reality, that the demonstrations were directed against me and all other Norwegians.
I have several times given speeches at the demonstrations, without having observed even a single poster directed against child protection, as claimed by Storø and Backe-Hansen. The demonstrations are directed against Norwegian child protection the way it functions today.
No Barnevern critic thinks that children should not be protected against violence or serious lack of care. The portrayal of the Barnevern critics as extreme Christian fundamentalists is totally without meaning. Instead of promoting non-objective demagogy, Storø and Backe-Hansen should go into the objective and to-the-point criticism of Barnevernet, and think through how the system may be changed for the better.
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The article referred to:
Elisabeth Backe-Hansen og Jan Storø:
La oss bli tydelige i barneverndebatten: Det er DEG de demonstrerer mot
Dette er sivilisasjonsstrid, ikke debatt om noen skarve barnevernssaker.
(Let us be clear in the Barnevern debate: YOU are the one they are demonstrating against
This is a battle about civilisation, not a debate about a few miserable child protection cases.)
Aftenposten, 27 May 2016
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A remark: When Backe-Hansen, Storø and Barnevernet claim to stand for civilisation in what they do and what they encourage, it says a lot about an idea of what civilisation is which is promoted by politically correct voices who feel on top of the world.
MHS
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Articles etc by Aage Simonsen:
Barnevernets saksbehandling (Case handling done by Barnevernet)
Barnevernets metoder (Barnevernet's methods)
Barnevern og manglende rettssikkerhet (Child protection and lack of protection under the law) (with Jan Simonsen)
Barnevern og narkomane (Child protection and drug addicts)
Barnevernets asyl (The place of refuge provided by Barnevernet)
Håndbok for klientutvalg og barnevernsofre (Handbook for Client Committees and Barnevernet's victims)
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