– This is the thing you don't know you need until you suddenly need it. Anyone can end up in a situation where they themselves or someone they know are exposed to violence in their intimate relationships, says Haakon Wieland.
He and Helen Marie Hoitfeldt Andreessen teach “Linear Algebra with Applications” at NTNU, a topic in which some of the lectures were a little different this semester.
Because between lecture topics such as “Fundamental Theory of Linear Transformations” and “Homogeneous Linear Differential Equations with Constant Coefficients,” 45 minutes appear on violence in close relationships.
– It is a fundamentally human thing to want to help people. So when I heard about another subject teacher who had such mini-courses embedded in lectures, I wanted to do the same, says Turkel Stay, senior lecturer at NTNU.
– At the same time, it's a big leap. But there's also a topic that has unfortunately suddenly become very relevant after the new year, Stay adds and points out to everyone Accessory homicides in January.
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Khrono has previously told the story of Birgitte, an NTNU student who, after a long life with psychological violence, calls for Norwegian universities and colleges to have a clear responsibility towards their staff and students..
She herself met her now ex-husband while studying, and believes a lot could have been avoided if the offer from NTNU and the Student Union for Students had been better.
— They must jointly ensure that students know enough about risk factors and different forms of violence. Suddenly you're sitting there in a new city, probably without any acquaintances around you, having moved away from home for the first time… You're so vulnerable! So She to Khrono.
The importance of this has also been pointed out in Escalation plan against violence and abuse against children and violence in intimate relationships Which will be considered in Parliament this spring.
The proposal states, inter alia, that there are “clear gains from effective prevention, both for the individual and for society as a whole. Despite this, the focus on prevention has always been less than on repairing the damage afterwards.”
The government wrote that it contains more than 100 measures that will contribute to improving prevention and protection, as well as detecting more cases and caring for vulnerable people in a more caring way.
In 2022, 1,916 women and 189 men visited the 20 Norwegian shelters that are members of the Shelter Secretariat. Of these, 65 percent were either cohabiting or married/registered partners. For up to 92%, psychological violence, alone or with others, was the reason they visited a crisis centre, according to Characters from Bovdir. In addition, there are 24 crisis centers that are not part of the secretariat.
reminder
“A lot of it is things that make a lot of sense when they're first said, but at the same time it's something that you don't think about,” says Wieland.
– There may be many people whose relationships may be unhealthy, but they justify it and believe that it is not unhealthy enough.
– I think it's very good to lecture on this topic, and to get a reminder that this can affect anyone, says Andreessen.
The fact that this is something that can affect anyone was also one of the main points for Christine Rimoin, an environmental therapist at the Trondheim Municipality Emergency Centre, when Chrono interviewed her in relation to the “Birgitte” case. She was also the one who conducted a training session on violence in close relationships for students.
– What we often experience is that the people who come here are completely A4. There are no obvious weaknesses or other things that would indicate that they would end up in such a situation; She said then.
Senior Lecturer Stay believes that the courses he coordinates are valuable to students, and that perhaps more students can also be reached as a coordinated action. But its shape and form must be preserved, he and the students believe. Doing this as part of a lecture makes it more natural and less stigmatizing.
– This is low-hanging fruit, after all. I have no experience with any of this, so all I do is put people who need it in touch with people who can help.
-If you feel fine, you are fine
In addition to making students aware of violence in close relationships, structuring daily life was also the topic of half the lecture, and hopefully there will also be a round on finances, as well as a round on managing stress in school. Prepare for the exam.
Marit Ronning Lund, Student Union Advisor, was interested in telling students about structuring daily life.
– I think there should have been more pressure from the ministry in this regard. “You can see that mental health is something we need to focus on more,” she says.
-If you feel fine, you are fine.
Or as Stay says:
– To the extreme, one can see this from a purely utilitarian perspective. Everyone benefits from students' ability to work.
“This is important, and we want to go into classrooms to talk about things like this,” Lund says.
From the Ministry's point of view, the result is support for such initiatives, but it must come from the institutions themselves.
– This is a very good prevention, and there is something gratifying when we hear it happen. But we believe that institutions and their departments are responsible for finding the measures they believe are best suited to care for everyone in their institution, says Minister for Research and Higher Education, Odmund Hoyle.
– This is not something we can control from Oslo. We must build ourselves on the belief that institutions focus on this matter and take the necessary measures to reach everyone, and we have confidence in their ability to do so.
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