– Many victims of abuse are now without help, says Gunn Andersen. She was previously general manager at the Support Center against incest and sexual abuse in Western Finnmark (Smiso). Smiso Vest-Finnmark was closed in 2020. With it, one of the few low-threshold services for victims of abuse in northern Norway disappeared. The reason was tight municipal finances in the host municipality of Alta. – It is sad. The whole of Western Finnmark no longer has any offer, says Andersen. She is currently the general manager at the Crisis Center in Alta. At the weekend, news wrote about abused Maria (20), who had to travel from Alta to Tromsø to get the help she needed. It is a journey of almost 200 km. – I have tried to find someone I can meet physically in Alta, but I have given up a bit, she said. Shared funding today Specifically, Maria wanted help from a low-threshold offer offered by the centers Smiso or Nok. Precisely the help that Gunn Andersen could provide. – It is very serious. Victims of abuse must travel to Tromsø or Kirkenes. With the distances and flight prices we have here, it will be very difficult to get help, says Andersen. The closure could still have been avoided, she believes. – There should have been full government funding for these centres. SERIOUS: – Victims of abuse in Finnmark today have to travel to Tromsø or Kirkenes to get help, says former general manager at Smiso Vest-Finnmark, Gunn Andersen. Photo: JO HERMSTAD TRONDSEN / news All centers against incest and sexual abuse are currently financed by a shared municipal and state scheme. According to the scheme, a centre’s local municipality must provide 20 per cent of the funding. If the municipality does so, the state covers the remaining 80 percent. The centers are therefore completely dependent on the municipality actually being able to provide the money. That is not always the case. RISKS CLOSURES: – If the host municipality does not want the offer, then the offer disappears, says Ingvild Hestad Torkelsen in Nok Norge. Photo: Håkon Benjaminsen / news Time-consuming – Today’s funding arrangement has meant that two centers in northern Norway have been closed down, says Ingvild Hestad Torkelsen. She is the general manager of Nok Norge. There is an umbrella organization for all abuse centers called Nok. Hestad Torkelsen explains that many centers have to spend a lot of time applying for support from the municipality and the county council. This means long application processes, follow-up meetings, reminders and complaints. In the worst case, limited finances can mean that the municipality cuts funding to a centre. As happened in Alta. The Smiso center in Harstad was also closed in 2020. – If the host municipality does not want the offer, then the offer disappears, says Hestad Torkelsen. Wants the state to pick up the bill news has asked Smiso and NOK centers throughout the country about what they think of the current funding arrangement. Everyone who answered thinks the state should foot the bill to finance the abuse centres. Several centers do not know whether they will be funded at all until the municipality starts budget negotiations. It often happens right at the end of the year. – Many do not know whether they receive money from year to year. If you’re lucky, you’ll get an answer from the municipality about whether you’ll get money before the New Year, says Chatrine Elholm. She is the general manager at Nok Sogn og Fjordane. SMALL, BUT GOOD: The premises of Smiso Troms are located in the center of Tromsø. They have six employees. Photo: Håkon Benjaminsen / news General manager: – There is a risk that we will have to close – It creates a lot of unpredictability. If a municipality withdraws support, we lose four times the support from the state, says Lasse Hjelmervik. He is the general manager of Nok Sør-Vest. They are based in Sandnes. – What consequences could this have for the assistance offered to victims of abuse? – It goes beyond the preventive work, development of the offer. And that is a big part of preventing new abuses, says Hjelmervik. Several centers also experience that price growth and wage growth are greater than the increase the state and municipality provide from year to year. – In practice, we get worse and worse finances every year, says Margareth Bjørtveit from Nok Agder. They run support centers for victims of abuse in Kristiansand and Arendal. – This is not sustainable in the long term. We run the risk of having to close the joint venture office, or lay off employees, she says. UNPREDICTABLE: Today’s arrangement goes beyond the centres’ ability to prevent new abuses, believes Lasse Hjelmervik, manager at Nok Sør-Vest. Photo: Privat This is happening at the same time that several centers are reporting increases in the number of inquiries from victims of abuse. The number of users of the abuse centers doubled from 2009 to 2017, according to Bufdir. Report recommended state funding The Ministry of Children and Families (BFD) manages the money pot for the abuse centers in the country. The Directorate for Children, Youth and Families (Bufdir) commissioned a report which was to investigate the funding scheme for all support centers against abuse. STILL HOLDING: The money pot for abuse centers in Norway will not be increased next year, according to Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe. It was delivered to the ministry in 2020. The report recommended that the state should fund the abuse centers in the country. It thus stands behind what the Nok centers themselves want. Bufdir then also recommended state funding. news has asked the ministry what has been done to follow up on the recommendation from the report. – The ministry has investigated the consequences of the proposals in the report, replies Family Minister Kjersti Toppe (Sp). It is therefore unclear whether the ministry will actually introduce a state scheme. Councillor: No political pressure for larger grants Councilor in Alta municipality Bjørn-Atle Hansen confirms that Smiso Vest-Finnmark had to close because of the grants from the municipality. However, there are no proposals to increase support for assistance to victims of abuse in the municipal budget for 2023. – Why not give more money for this? – Everyone needs that. We believe they should be able to make an offer in relation to the budget they have, he says. – What do you say to the fact that one of the few help services for victims of abuse in your region disappeared? – It’s not good. And there probably should have been more offers. But there has been no political pressure for us to allocate more and re-establish more offers. THE STATE MUST BE IN THE TRACK: Managing director of Nok Norge, Ingvild Hestad Torkelsen, believes the state must take over the funding of the abuse centres. Photo: Håkon Benjaminsen / news
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Abuse centers ask for state funding – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
