Introduction

Background and aims

While there is no specific international convention dealing with the rights of LGBTI people , they should be interpreted on the basis of the two central principles of human rights: the equal value of all human beings and non-discrimination. In other words, human rights must be respected and implemented regardless of a person’s gender identity and/or sexuality.

In practice, the rights of LGBTI people are rarely protected to the same extent as those of heterosexual and cisgender people. The rights that receive particular attention in relation to this group are the right to physical integrity (not to be subjected to torture, violence and other inhuman treatment on the basis of gender identity or sexuality), the right to family life (to choose one’s partner and enter into marriage) and the right to not be subjected to discrimination in the labour market or in other public contexts.

The vulnerability of LGBTI people to honour-based violence and oppression is increasingly highlighted in various contexts. The UN Human Rights Council encourages states to criminalise discrimination against LGBTI people based on gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation, and to take measures against violence in close relationships.

The Nordic governments are working together to promote equal rights and opportunities for LGBTI people in the Nordic region. The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Cooperation Programme for Gender Equality and LGBTI 2025–2030 emphasises that gender-based violence, sexual harassment and sexual abuse affect people who do not conform to norms pertaining to gender, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation and that many LGBTI people are disproportionately affected.

Honour-based violence and oppression are often described as a consequence of so-called honour norms, which include strong conservative, patriarchal and heteronormative values. This means that LGBTI people may be subjected to honour-based violence and oppression because their gender identity and/or sexuality violate these norms. As a consequence, LGBTI people are exposed to certain specific forms of violence, such as conversion attempts.

The previous section shows that the concept of honour-based violence and oppression is used as an umbrella term for all violence and oppression committed in an honour context, which includes acts of violence such as forced marriage, female genital cutting, child marriage and other so-called ‘honour-based acts’. Depending on how the context of honour is understood and defined, violence against LGBTI people can also be considered a form of honour-based violence and oppression. At the same time, there are other ways of defining and interpreting violence directed at LGBTI people on the basis of gender identity and/or sexuality – for example, as a hate crime or as domestic violence (‘family abuse’).

This section of the publication examines how the vulnerability of LGBTI people to honour-based violence and oppression is presented and addressed in national steering documents and other relevant material in the Nordic countries and autonomous regions. It analyses how the problem is described and how it relates to the general description of the problem of honour-based violence and oppression.

Method and materials

The collection of material has been carried out in collaboration with a Nordic network against negative social control and honour-based violence. Representatives from each Nordic country and the autonomous regions have been contacted with a request to help identify and collect relevant material related to the work against honour-based violence and oppression directed at LGBTI people. Representatives of authorities and civil society organisations in the Nordic region were also contacted with a request to contribute material.

LGBTI people are considered a group at particularly high risk of being subjected to honour-based violence and oppression in the Nordic region, but it has been difficult to find material that specifically addresses LGBTI people’s vulnerability to honour-based violence and oppression. Therefore, steering documents relating to honour-based violence and oppression as well as those relating to the rights of LGBTI people have been included. The focus has primarily been on action plans relating to the rights of LGBTI people, including work to combat violence. The extent to which honour-based violence is addressed in these plans varies.

In addition to these steering documents, grey literature has also been included, such as government reports and other studies referred to by representatives of government agencies from various countries and civil society organisations. Some of these reports form the basis for current national action plans on the rights of LGBTI people. The empirical material has also been supplemented with relevant scientific articles that provide a research perspective on violence in LGBTI relationships, as well as tensions between LGBTI people’s rights and how their vulnerability to violence is represented.

The analysis of the material was based on a thematic content analysis combined with a critical perspective. According to Braun and Clarke, thematic content analysis is a qualitative method used to identify, analyse and interpret recurring patterns or themes in data material. The analysis is carried out in six steps, during which the researcher familiarises themself with the material, codes relevant parts, searches for and examines themes, defines and names the themes, and finally presents the results. The thematic content analysis was conducted inductively, i.e. themes were formed on the basis of the steering documents and reports studied.

The critical perspective was based on Carol Bacchi’s policy analysis model “What’s the problem represented to be?” (WPR). A central premise of the model is that the problems that steering documents aim to solve should be understood in relation to the social context in which they are formulated. The questionnaire from the analysis model has been adapted to the purpose and focus of this study, with an emphasis on the following questions:

How is the problem of honour-based violence and oppression in relation to the rights of LGBTI people represented in steering documents and other relevant material?
What other forms of violence are specifically highlighted in relation to the vulnerability of LGBTI people?

LGBTI rights in the Nordic region

ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map is an annual ranking of 49 European countries based on how LGBTI-friendly they are. It examines laws and policies that have a direct impact on the human rights and equality of LGBTI people. As with all indices of this kind, there is a risk that the picture it paints says relatively little about the implementation of rights and what real living conditions are like. At the same time, ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map contains several different assessment criteria that nuance the problems experienced by LGBTI people and the violations to which they risk being subjected.

ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map ranks each country across seven categories with a total of 76 criteria. The categories include equality and non-discrimination, family, hate crimes and hate speech, legal recognition of gender, intersex bodily integrity, civil society space, and asylum. In addition to the quantitative data collected for the Rainbow Map, qualitative data is used to provide explanations for the ranking scores of the different countries.

According to the most recent review (2025), the Nordic countries are ranked as follows:

Iceland – 3rd (84.06%)

Denmark – 4th (80.1%)

Finland – 6th (69.85%)

Norway – 9th (68.6%)

Sweden – 12th (66.07%)

The ranking does not include exposure to violence as a separate category, but it does include conversion attempts. Conversion attempts are divided into two categories: conversion attempts based on sexual orientation and conversion attempts based on gender identity. They are defined as follows:

Conversion practices ban (sexual orientation) for minors covers legislation and policies prohibiting reparative or conversion practices which are based upon the assumption that homosexuality/bisexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that a patient should change their sexual orientation.

Conversion practices ban (gender identity) for minors covers legislation and policies prohibiting reparative or conversion practices which are based upon the assumption that trans identities are per se a mental disorder and can be changed.

Currently, conversion therapy is prohibited in Norway and Iceland.

Another way to protect LGBTI rights is through hate crime legislation. Hate crime is a collective term for crimes with racist, xenophobic and LGBTI-phobic motives, such as homophobic or transphobic crimes. Hate motives are constitutive of hate crimes and constitute grounds for increased penalties for crimes such as assault, harassment, unlawful threats and discrimination. According to a study by the Nordic Council of Ministers, there has been a positive development in the Nordic countries in recent decades, with the introduction of new legislation protecting LGBTI people and preventive work to combat hate crimes. Starting in 1987 in Denmark and Sweden, sexual orientation has been increasingly introduced as a protected ground for hate crimes in specific legislation. When it comes to the protection of transgender and intersex people, the situation is less favourable, but even here positive developments can be seen. The study also shows that the intersectional nature of hate crimes has been increasingly recognised in recent years, i.e. when individuals belonging to several vulnerable groups are affected at the same time, such as LGBTI people who are also Muslims. The prevalence of hate crimes against LGBTI people also shows that the problems addressed by hate crime legislation still exist in the Nordic countries.

Theoretical perspectives on violence against LGBTI people

There are several different theoretical models and concepts that can be useful for understanding and analysing violence against LGBTI people. Below is a brief overview and description of some key perspectives on violence, with a specific focus on honour-based violence and oppression. The purpose of this overview is to highlight perspectives that focus on unique aspects of violence against LGBTI people in combination with the collectivist dimension that is typical of honour-based violence and oppression. That said, the overview is not exhaustive in terms of theories and research on violence against LGBTI people or violence in LGBTI relationships.

Identity-based violations and control

The violence experienced in LGBTI relationships is often described within the framework of intimate partner violence. It is characterised by power and control over the victim, isolation, and psychological, physical and sexual violence, including economic and digital dimensions of violence. What is usually highlighted as specific to the LGBTI group is that violence can be directed at the victim’s gender identity and/or sexuality, for example when the perpetrator threatens to reveal the victim’s gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation (‘identity abuse’).

Violence and control within families

When it comes to honour-based violence and oppression, violence against LGBTI people often takes the form of violence in close relationships. The nature of these close relationships can vary, often including parents and other family members, relatives and members of religious communities. The motive for the violence may be directly linked to the victim’s gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation. It is based on patriarchal conservative ideas about gender, gender roles and relationships. As with other forms of violence, it is important to be open to the possibility that there may be multiple motivations for acts of violence and control.

Catherine Donovan, a professor of sociology at the University of Sunderland, introduced the concept of ‘family abuse’ (violence and control within the family) to describe this form of vulnerability. In her research, Donovan uses the term ‘queer’ collectively for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and non-binary people. According to Donovan, violence and control against queer people within the family is an important issue that rarely receives attention. This is partly because violence and control within the family are mainly associated with ethnic minorities and/or religious communities, such as honour-based violence and oppression, forced marriage and female genital cutting. It is important to note that Donovan refers to honour-based violence and oppression as a form of violence alongside forced marriage and does not use honour-based violence as an umbrella term.

Donovan et al. argue that there are similarities between violence and control directed at queer people within a family and honour-based violence and oppression. The logic behind such acts of violence is primarily that the individual’s interests, desires and choices are subordinate to the interests of the family or community. Both forms of violence include attempts to forcibly control an individual’s gender identity and sexuality, as well as to punish violations of conformist norms.

In the dominant and narrow understanding of violence and control within families, there is a strong focus on violence among ethnic minorities. This, in turn, contributes to cis-normative and heteronormative perspectives on violence, in relation to the majority population, being reproduced and remaining the dominant narrative (‘the public story’). Donovan introduces the concept of ‘the public story’ to criticise the assumptions that form the dominant narrative about violence in close relationships. The public story is about cis men who subject cis women to violence. Following Donovan’s logic, it can be concluded that the dominant narrative surrounding domestic violence can also be interpreted as ‘the public story’, which assumes that domestic violence against LGBTI individuals primarily occurs among ethnic minorities.

Transphobic honour-based violence

Another researcher who has looked specifically at honour-based violence against transgender people is Michaela Rogers. In her study on honour-based violence against transgender people, Rogers shows that there is an interaction between a number of different dynamics: violence and oppression in close relationships, transphobia, stigma and honour-based ideology. As a starting point, Rogers considers criminology professor Aisha Gill’s perspective on honour-based violence, in which honour is understood as a social construct used to justify and legitimise violence. Such an understanding goes beyond cultural explanations and implies a narrow view of honour-based violence as something that is solely associated with certain cultures, geographical areas or religious traditions. . Rogers, on the other hand, argues that sociological perspectives on shame and stigma are useful for understanding families’ behaviour: violence and oppression are used to preserve or restore the ‘honour’ of a family and/or community by removing the ‘shame’.

Minority stress among marginalised groups

To date, several theoretical models have been presented to help explain and analyse violence against LGBTI people, such as identity-based abuse and control, violence and control from family members and transphobic honour-based violence and oppression. Another theoretical perspective that is often applied in relation to violence against LGBTI people focuses on belonging to a minority and minority stress. Minority stress is a theoretical model used to explain how discrimination, harassment, threats and hatred lead to a risk of poorer health outcomes among marginalised groups. In this way it refers to stress beyond that which is normally experienced by everyone, regardless of group affiliation. Minority stress can lead to an internalisation of the negative attitudes of society, the surrounding environment and the attitudes of perpetrators towards LGBTI people.

In the report Hbtqi-personer och våld i nära relationer. Om hjälpsökande och stödinsatser (LGBTQI people and violence in close relationships: On seeking help and support measures; 2025), Nicole Ovesen and Renita Sörensdotter highlight an increased focus on minorities within minorities. They show that there have been shifts within the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) towards an increased focus on LGBTI people who belong to ethnic minorities (for example, in Denmark’s and Norway’s action plans for LGBTI people) and on honour-based violence and oppression (Sweden’s Action Plan for Equal Rights and Opportunities for LGBTIQ People). In addition to changes in action plans, crisis centres with specific focuses have also been opened, such as the RED+ crisis centre and a new support line in Denmark.

LGBTI rights and homonationalism

Finally, the theory of homonationalism can provide tools for understanding how views on the rights of LGBTI people risk being exploited for nationalistic purposes. The term ‘homonationalism’ was coined by researcher Jasbir K. Puar. In her research, Puar shows how the treatment of LGBTI people in different societies is used as a criterion for categorising countries as either progressive and tolerant or homophobic and barbaric. In other words, the term ‘homonationalism’ is not used to describe certain states as homonationalist but to problematise the tendency of liberal democracies in the West to use LGBTI rights to demonise other societies, reinforcing the narrative of the civilisation of the Other and thus contributing to Islamophobia. Like issues of gender equality and women’s rights, LGBTI rights risk being exploited to construct differences in values between different cultures and ethnicities. The self-image of LGBTI-friendly (‘gay-friendly’) and gender-equal states is reinforced. This also makes it difficult to critically assess the developments currently taking place in a number of Western countries with the rise of nationalist movements and right-wing populism.

Based on the above, Katharina Kehl has studied the intertwining of homonationalism and the construction of Swedish identity. Kehl argues that LGBTI rights and other liberal Swedish values define ‘Swedishness’. She writes:

People racialized as non-White and/or Muslim are assigned the position of the ‘constitutive outsiders’ to a newly LGBT-friendly West, with their communities embodying the homo-, bi- and transphobia that Western societies claim to have left behind. The inclusion of some LGBTQ people into national communities of belonging therefore not only depends on them not being ‘too queer’; it is also used to further the exclusion of the minorities.

In other words, LGBTI rights function as a mechanism for exclusion and the creation of a national self-image of moral superiority (‘gender exceptionalism’). The effects of this exclusionary mechanism are particularly evident in comparison with the increased focus on ethnic minorities and honour-based violence and oppression, as highlighted by Ovesen and Sörensdotter. At the same time, a more restrictive refugee policy and handling of asylum cases based on gender identity and/or sexuality is being implemented. Several studies have shown that asylum cases are characterised by a lack of trust in asylum seekers’ testimonies, due to heteronormative and homonationalist perceptions. For example, the perceived credibility of testimonies increases when asylum seekers described the entire community they come from as perpetrators. This, in turn, highlights the importance of examining how the rights of LGBTI people are respected in asylum processes by analysing the discourses surrounding LGBTI rights, how these are constructed in relation to different groups and contexts, and what functions they fulfil.

Discrimination and co-occurring vulnerability

Several studies examining the vulnerability and living conditions of LGBTI people have been conducted in the various Nordic countries. In Finland, an intersectional analysis of the vulnerability of LGBTI people has been carried out on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The report addresses several different issues, not all of which are explicitly linked to honour-based violence and oppression but are nevertheless relevant to this analysis. The report touches on problems experienced by LGBTI people in Finnish society but shows that how these problems are perceived and understood can be nuanced based on how different factors interact and affect LGBTI people’s vulnerability to violence. As in other countries, double discrimination or being a minority within a minority is a significant theme.

Previous research has shown that LGBTI people are exposed to various forms of discrimination due to their minority status and the various structural problems that minorities may encounter. The interviews from the THL study show that people who identify as LGBTI and who also represent ethnic minorities experience challenges in Finnish society due to their migration status and their gender identity and sexuality. They experience both overt and covert discrimination, including physically and verbally abusive behaviour as well as exclusion in Finnish society.

In the report, the researchers adopt an intersectional perspective and explain discrimination precisely as an intersectional phenomenon, i.e. when two or more grounds for discrimination occur in an ‘indivisible manner’. Discrimination is understood as negative treatment based on an individual’s membership of a particular social group. Membership of a social group and social status are core elements of discrimination. At the same time, discrimination can also be described as “all ways of expressing and institutionalising social relations of dominance and oppression”.

Intersectional discrimination differs from double discrimination or multiple discrimination. Based on Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality, intersectional discrimination occurs when several grounds for discrimination occur simultaneously and interact with each other, making the discrimination qualitatively different. LGBTI people with foreign backgrounds in Finland report experiences of racial and ethnic discrimination by the majority society. At the same time, they experience discrimination based on their gender identity and sexual orientation within their own diaspora. This creates intersectional vulnerability, where different forms of oppression are mutually reinforcing. LGBTI people with foreign backgrounds are excluded from various groups, including the LGBTI community in Finland. How LGBTI identities are defined and constructed can be exclusionary in itself, especially in relation to ethnicity and religion.

According to the THL report, Finland is described as a safe place for LGBTI people from the moment they arrive in the country. At the same time, the experience of safety is subjective and not a privilege experienced by everyone. The conclusion is based on interviewees’ stories, in which they compared their experiences of Finland with their countries of origin. Although they felt greater safety and a certain degree of security in Finland, they emphasised that these feelings are contextual and situation dependent.

The perception of Finland as a paradise for homosexuals (‘a gay heaven’) is promoted in relation to other countries that are portrayed as exceptionally oppressive and homophobic. This is the conclusion reached by Inka Söderström in her doctoral thesis, in which she examines how social work is perceived by people who have migrated to Finland and sought asylum on the grounds of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Similar patterns have been studied in other Nordic countries, including Sweden, Denmark and Norway. These narratives are based on an essentialist view of culture, where culture is presented as something unchanging and homogeneous. Söderström writes that LGBTI rights have been used as a tool to construct differences between Finland and the homophobic Other. The Other consists of both the countries of origin of minorities and compatriots in the diaspora living in Finland (‘the Bubble of Oppression’).

In his thesis, Söderström refers to a study by Røthing and Svendsen from 2010, which states: “the problem of homophobia was pushed into the margins; it was not regarded as a structural issue in Finnish society but a problem of homophobic individuals”. The study thus suggests that homophobia is reduced to individual negative attitudes rather than a societal problem. In another study, Akin and Svendsen note that two processes are occurring in parallel: on the one hand, there is greater tolerance towards LGBTI people, which is increasingly seen as part of the national identity, and on the other hand, growing structural racism and Islamophobia.

In Iceland, a study on violence in same-sex relationships and domestic violence against LGBTI people was conducted by the School of Social Sciences at the University of Iceland. The aim was to map the extent of violence and its various forms. Data was collected through a questionnaire sent to members of the Samtökin association and posted to a discussion group on an LGBTI forum, as well as through individual interviews with LGBTI people. The responses of upper secondary school students in the study were also analysed, and the results showed that some groups were at greater risk of being subjected to violence by family members and in their close relationships, specifically young people who identified as queer or ‘other gender’, pansexual or bisexual. The study was one of a number of measures taken to address the issue of violence against LGBTI people, but without a specific focus on honour-based violence. It exemplifies a broader perspective on domestic violence.

A study of members of Samtökin ‘78 (the National Queer Organization) found, among other things, that the majority of respondents had experienced some form of psychological violence in a previous relationship. A relatively high proportion of respondents had also experienced such behaviours from their parents, while a lower proportion had experienced psychologically abusive behaviour from a current partner or other family member. During personal communication with Guðnýju Gústafsdóttur regarding the subject of this study, it became clear that no specific reference to honour-based violence and oppression is made in the study.