On the initiative of Council member Anne-Julie Boesen Pedersen, representatives from all the Nordic ministries and academia gathered in Copenhagen to share experiences and discuss problems related to crime victimization surveys in the Nordic countries.
At the NSfK contact seminar there was overall agreement that the Nordic countries should look into the possibilities of comparing crime victimization studies.
First of all, this entails sharing an overview of the existing surveys in each country.
It was recognized that making comparisons is currently a complicated task: Different formulations of the questions, but also different legislation (different criminal laws), make it difficult to compare surveys between countries. Focus should therefore be on overall trends in the crime rates.
― NSfK has funded several Nordic comparative surveys on crime and victimization in the past. We are grateful for this initiative to look into ways to better compare already existing measures and surveys in the Nordic countries, and we hope it will lead to a strengthened collaboration amongst both Nordic ministries and researchers on the matter of comparative measures and data on crime and victimization in the Nordics.
Council Chair Heidi Mork Lomell
NSfK contact seminars are an arena for researchers and practitioners in the field of criminology and criminal policy to meet in small, informal groups. Contact seminars serve as a cross-professional expert forum in various areas of common concern for the Nordic countries.