What is Barnevernet, Norway’s controversial Child Welfare Services in spotlight after Bollywood film?

A Bollywood movie is putting the spotlight back on Norway’s controversial Child Welfare Services (CWS). The Bollywood film Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway is based on the true story of Sagarika Chakraborty, who penned a book entitled The Journey of a Mother, fighting to get her children back from the Norway government. Let’s take a closer look at Barnevernet: What is it? The Child Welfare System in Norway is similar to the ones found in Denmark, Finland and Sweden, according to Oxford Academic. The Norway government website states, “The primary duty of the child welfare services is to ensure that children and young people living under conditions that may harm their health and development will receive the necessary assistance when they need it, and to contribute to giving children and young people safe conditions for growing up.” According to the Sunday Guardian Live, the Barnevernet takes around 1,500 children away from their parents every year. Like Sagarika, some immigrant families have accused the Barnevernet of taking away their children without proper justification. Jaquline Joseph and her husband Joe, both from Sri Lanka, suddenly had their three children taken away on November 14th, 2011, while they were living in Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city. Instead of coming home from school as usual that day, their two daughters, aged eight and 12, and their six-year-old son, were placed in emergency care after an anonymous tip about violence in the home.

Norwegian law bans all forms of corporal punishment of children, including slaps and spankings.

The Josephs found themselves accused of beating their children with a flag and a wooden ladle, of calling their eldest a “little shit” and “a bloody idiot”, and of cutting their son’s hand with scissors, court documents show. They insist they have only ever given the children an occasional slap. “Barnevernet has a tendency to make sweeping generalisations about all foreigners. According to them, because we’re not Norwegian, we all beat our children with sticks or belts," Jaquline fumes. At the end of a lengthy legal battle, the court largely sided with the Josephs, dismissing all the more serious allegations made by the agency and handing the pair a two-week suspended sentence for the slaps. Ruling that the violence was a “cultural” issue which was “correctible”, the court approved the “gradual” return of the two younger children. But six months after the ruling, and frustrated that social services were dragging their feet, the Josephs fled Bergen for Oslo with the two younger children, leaving their jobs and their home behind – and their third child in a foster home. “We had to kidnap our own kids,” said Joe Joseph, who had been employed as a machinist, while his wife did occasional work at a child daycare centre. When the children of a Czech couple Marius and Ruth Bodnariu were taken away, the case caused an uproar. So much so that then Czech president Milos Zeman accused Norwegian social workers of acting like Nazis.

However, the couple later admitted to spanking their children.

“It’s not just about whether you sit on a chair or not, or whether you eat with your fingers or not,” a Barnevernet employee speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP. “Very often, what it boils down to is that it’s illegal in Norway to hit or slap, whereas it’s not necessarily the case in other cultures,” she said. Still, Norway has been defeated in more than a dozen child welfare cases in the European Court of Human Rights according to the website Court House News. Norwegian human rights attorney Marius Reikaras told Daily Sabah the Barnavernet watches immigrants like “Big Brother.” As per BBC, 170 leading Norwegian child protection professionals including lawyers, psychologists, and social work experts in a 2018 letter to the children’s minister of Norway called Barnevernet a “dysfunctional organisation which makes far-reaching errors of judgment with serious consequences”. Psychologist Einar Salvesen, one of the signatories of the letter, told the outlet “There is a lack of what I’d call the human factor. A lack of empathy, really providing an atmosphere so people can learn… It’s more like police interventions, more like we have to find out what’s wrong with you." But according to the BBC, the Barnevernet claims it doesn’t remove the children in the overwhelming majority of  cases. Rather it works to keep the family together. The BBC reported that in 2018, the most common reason for removing children from their parents was a “lack of parenting skills.” Norway Ambassador criticizes movie But not everyone has taken kindly to the film. The Norwegian Ambassador to India Hans Jacob Frydenlund has said that the film incorrectly depicts the country’s (Norway’s) belief in family life. The Norwegian envoy said that the film has “factual inaccuracies” and the story is a “fictional representation of the case.” The Norwegian Ambassador earlier said, “Children will never be taken away from their families based on cultural differences described. Eating with their hands or having children sleep in bed with their parents are not considered practices harmful to children and are not uncommon in Norway, irrespective of cultural background. Child welfare is not driven by profit. The alleged claim that ‘the more children put into the foster system, the more money they make’ is completely false. Alternative care is a matter of responsibility and not a money-making entity. The reason for placing children in alternative care is if they are subject to neglect, violence or other forms of abuse,” read the statement. Frydenlund further stated that Norway is a democratic, multicultural society and the Norwegian Child Welfare Act applies to all children in Norway, regardless of their ethnic background or nationality. “We sympathize with the affected families, particularly the children. For those involved, there is no denying that such experiences are difficult. Child welfare cases are not easy. Certainly not for the children, not for the parents and not for the Child Welfare Service tasked with finding the right solution,” he added. Sagarika, meanwhile, has hit back in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_12303662” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Sagarika Chakraborty with her children and Rani Mukerji[/caption] “Hi. I condemn the false statement by the Norwegian ambassador in the papers today…he spoke about my case without having any decency to ask me. He should take this as an opportunity to sensitize Norwegian caseworkers about cultural prejudice. Even 10 years after I have single-handedly brought up my children so well in full view of the world. When the whole world can see the beautiful bond between my children and me.” She added, “The Norwegian Government continues to spread lies against me. Till today, they have not apologised for the racism of their caseworkers. They destroyed my life, and my reputation and traumatized my children. They supported my husband when he was cruel to me and they call themselves a ‘feminist country’. In Oslo and other parts of Norway, and (even) other parts of the world, people are very eager to watch the film and all the tickets are sold out. People coming from Norway and other countries want to meet me. And, last not least, the Indian Government helped me a lot and will continue to support such families in the future. Jai Hind.” The film’s producer Nikkhil Advani also issued a statement revealing that they hosted the Norwegian ambassador to India last evening for a special screening during which the latter “admonish(ed) two strong women who have chosen to tell this very important story (Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway).” He also attached Sagaraika’s video along with it. “‘Atithi Devo Bhava!’ is a cultural mandate in India. Every Indian is taught that by our elders. Last evening we hosted the Norwegian Ambassador and volunteered to show him our film “Mrs Chatteriee vs Norway.” Post the screening I sat quietly watching him admonish two strong women who have chosen to tell this very important story. I was quiet because just like Sagarika Chakraborty, they don’t need me to fight for them and “culturally” we do not insult our guests. As far as clarification is concerned. Video Attached.”

#DeshKaMatter https://t.co/wq4LmOP2Zc pic.twitter.com/sXIOAK09el

— Nikkhil Advani (@nikkhiladvani) March 17, 2023

Helmed by Ashima Chibber, ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway also stars Neena Gupta, Jim Sarbh and Anirban Bhattacharya among others. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.