From Immigrants to Sex Offenders: The Case of a Failed Integration System in Norway

Elisa Chavez

Global Politics Review
Vol. 3, no. 1 (April 2017): 61-78.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1238495
GPR ID: 2464-9929_v03_i01_p061
Published: 29 April 2017

ABSTRACT: Since the turn of the millennium, evidence has proven two parallel growing trends in Western Europe. Namely, the influx of immigrants from Middle Eastern and North African countries as well as the rising numbers of reported rape cases. Whether there exists a causation between these two trends, however, remains a highly controversial topic, lacking established literature. By using the case study of Norway, this paper will attempt to begin preliminary research of establishing the validity of such a claim, and more importantly, the broader context around the reasons for why this is the case. Rape reports from the Norwegian Police indicate that there is indeed a higher frequency of relative numbers, though not a higher absolute number, of rape assailants coming from the Middle Eastern and North African immigrant group than any other immigrant group and the Norwegian-born population. The main analysis of this paper is to investigate the context in which these statistics are higher from this immigrant group. Accounts will be made for the immigrant experience of MENA immigrants to Western Europe, including assessments of the cultural differences at hand, general societal attitudes towards the immigrant group, and how the role of the media can narrate public discourse. Overall findings indicate how part of the reason for these statistics is in fact due to a failed integration system in Norwegian society.

Keywords: Muslim immigrants, discrimination, rape, integration, Norway, Western Europe.

Copyright by the Author. This is an Open Access article licensed by Global Politics Review under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License Creative Commons License. // Disclaimer: the copyright and license of this article changed on October 30, 2017, when GPR became Open Access. The PDF file has not been updated for archival purposes. //

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