01:01:22.640 --> 01:01:26.000
Hi Harald. It's Nina.

01:01:26.080 --> 01:01:29.760
You mustn't stop working on this story.

01:01:30.440 --> 01:01:34.560
I found an old VHS tape
that you haven't seen before.

01:01:34.640 --> 01:01:37.800
It's from my early childhood.

01:01:37.880 --> 01:01:43.760
Please take a look
to see if we see the same thing.

01:02:01.400 --> 01:02:04.000
Today, the bubble finally burst.

01:02:05.000 --> 01:02:07.800
151 abuse cases.

01:02:08.400 --> 01:02:15.760
For decades, there has been talk
of something being amiss in Tysfjord.

01:02:54.600 --> 01:02:57.680
This makes you strong.

01:03:23.880 --> 01:03:30.240
I must figure out which plants to move,
and which to leave as they are.

01:03:31.040 --> 01:03:35.000
These may be wildflowers,
but I'll leave them.

01:03:37.880 --> 01:03:40.360
They were so pretty.

01:03:40.560 --> 01:03:43.080
There, there.

01:03:46.600 --> 01:03:51.960
I was the first to come forward
in the Tysfjord case.

01:03:52.040 --> 01:03:58.720
Most were affected,
and most people in Tysfjord are related.

01:04:01.440 --> 01:04:04.120
I suffered sexual abuse.

01:04:07.800 --> 01:04:11.360
My father destroyed our childhood.

01:04:23.320 --> 01:04:27.680
I can't let this story go.

01:04:28.960 --> 01:04:33.080
There are too many unanswered questions.

01:04:33.160 --> 01:04:38.120
How could this happen
in a community this small?

01:04:39.800 --> 01:04:44.280
They have been asking for help
for so long, to no avail.

01:04:53.320 --> 01:04:58.480
Nina was the first abuse victim I talked
to.

01:05:03.120 --> 01:05:05.440
Nice to see you.

01:05:06.840 --> 01:05:10.280
Growing up in Tysfjord is painful.

01:05:11.400 --> 01:05:15.040
You are afraid of your own kind.

01:05:16.520 --> 01:05:21.240
You know they don't want you to suffer,
yet they make you.

01:05:21.800 --> 01:05:25.240
Your own children get harmed.

01:05:25.320 --> 01:05:27.600
How did it become this way?

01:05:27.680 --> 01:05:30.360
The sexual abuse.

01:05:32.520 --> 01:05:34.800
I realized it too late.

01:05:34.880 --> 01:05:36.520
What did you realize?

01:05:37.840 --> 01:05:41.520
The generational damage.

01:05:42.640 --> 01:05:45.640
Can we talk about the tape, Nina?

01:05:46.000 --> 01:05:48.840
I've watched the tape as an adult.

01:05:50.280 --> 01:05:53.960
I see something very damaging there.

01:05:59.120 --> 01:06:01.880
That tape is so disgusting.

01:06:02.480 --> 01:06:06.360
It is so innocent,
yet so depraved.

01:06:06.720 --> 01:06:14.160
There's something there you won't notice
at first glance, especially as a local.

01:06:14.240 --> 01:06:19.480
It's completely normalized here.
It makes me want to throw up.

01:06:23.480 --> 01:06:28.280
I just want people to understand
what we went through.

01:06:28.360 --> 01:06:33.360
How nice everything looks on the surface,
and how ugly it gets underneath.

01:06:33.440 --> 01:06:37.600
That's what it's all about.
The surface and what lies beneath.

01:06:41.280 --> 01:06:47.920
It’s well-known that the adults
of Tysfjord are very loyal to each other.

01:06:48.000 --> 01:06:53.360
I’m furious that no one
has ever taken responsibility.

01:06:54.160 --> 01:07:00.360
They’ve let the children carry
the burden, the guilt and the shame.

01:07:15.760 --> 01:07:23.280
I started working on this story in 2014
with my colleague, who'd been tipped off.

01:07:23.360 --> 01:07:28.960
The tip regarded extensive sexual abuse
against the children of Tysfjord.

01:07:29.600 --> 01:07:33.560
70 % of the victims
were of Lule-Sami origin.

01:07:35.720 --> 01:07:39.920
The national newspaper VG
published the story in 2016.

01:07:40.000 --> 01:07:44.000
11 women and men came forward
with their stories.

01:07:44.080 --> 01:07:46.760
"THE DARK SECRET"

01:08:44.440 --> 01:08:50.800
At first glance,
this looks like an ordinary home video.

01:08:53.400 --> 01:08:56.520
But it isn't.

01:09:09.880 --> 01:09:11.040
Listen!

01:09:13.080 --> 01:09:19.240
It's so quiet. No cars.
Such lovely serenity.

01:09:25.200 --> 01:09:30.760
My first memory is of anger,
but I don’t know the reason.

01:09:31.160 --> 01:09:33.760
I am about three or four.

01:09:33.840 --> 01:09:37.360
I’m outside,
on my way to my aunt’s house.

01:09:37.440 --> 01:09:41.960
I’m carrying my sister’s doll blankets.

01:09:42.040 --> 01:09:48.280
I see a wounded bird, and I grab it.

01:09:49.480 --> 01:09:56.800
I trap the bird in the doll blankets and
kill it. Blood and feathers everywhere.

01:09:58.600 --> 01:10:04.520
I don't know why I was angry.
That's my very first memory.

01:10:12.480 --> 01:10:19.880
I was 10 or 11 years old the first time
I was molested. I don't know exactly.

01:10:19.960 --> 01:10:24.120
I was wearing a yellow skirt
and a yellow sweater.

01:10:24.200 --> 01:10:26.040
It was my uncle.

01:10:32.800 --> 01:10:35.320
It felt shameful.

01:10:35.400 --> 01:10:38.000
Disgusting.

01:10:38.080 --> 01:10:40.360
Unsafe.

01:10:53.880 --> 01:10:57.600
This is a place
I never wanted to go back to.

01:10:57.680 --> 01:11:00.840
I get the same awful vibes.

01:11:02.960 --> 01:11:07.720
It’s hard to look back at what they did.
What motivated them?

01:11:07.800 --> 01:11:12.840
-You are wondering how it can happen?
-Indeed. Why does it happen?

01:11:14.000 --> 01:11:18.440
It has been proved
that abuse leads to a cycle of abuse.

01:11:18.520 --> 01:11:22.800
But why sexual abuse, specifically?
It's so extreme.

01:11:22.880 --> 01:11:25.040
It's so extreme ...

01:11:28.120 --> 01:11:30.120
This place was infamous.

01:11:32.160 --> 01:11:36.880
-There? What took place there?
-Abuse, among other things.

01:11:36.960 --> 01:11:38.840
-In there?
-Yes.

01:11:42.440 --> 01:11:45.280
What do you mean by "abuse"?

01:11:45.360 --> 01:11:48.360
I mean rape.

01:12:05.120 --> 01:12:08.520
In Tysfjord, the focus
was never on the children.

01:12:08.600 --> 01:12:13.520
Drag is the Sami side of the fjord.
On the other side lies Kjøpsvik.

01:12:13.600 --> 01:12:18.760
Everything is centred in Kjøpsvik,
and it's a 45-minute ferry trip.

01:12:18.840 --> 01:12:22.240
Drag was a lawless place.

01:12:24.280 --> 01:12:30.200
It was a municipality where the children
had to fend for themselves and each other.

01:12:30.280 --> 01:12:34.800
All the adults
were completely dysfunctional.

01:12:39.040 --> 01:12:42.160
Violence, drinking and sexual abuse ...

01:12:44.200 --> 01:12:50.040
It was indeed an unhealthy society,
and a painful one to grow up in.

01:12:58.080 --> 01:13:02.080
"SEXUAL OFFENCE CASE
SHOCKS ISOLATED SAMI COMMUNITY"

01:13:04.600 --> 01:13:08.280
A Dagbladet newspaper article from 1993.

01:13:09.120 --> 01:13:14.440
Two brothers talked to the media
about Musken, a small Tysfjord community.

01:13:14.520 --> 01:13:20.120
They addressed the sexual abuse,
wanting to put an end to it.

01:13:22.040 --> 01:13:28.480
They asked for help.
They beg the council to take action.

01:13:48.280 --> 01:13:51.360
I do not trust that place, nor the people.

01:13:52.600 --> 01:13:57.800
With everything
I have seen and experienced ...

01:13:57.880 --> 01:14:02.640
Tysfjord will never be a happy place.

01:14:20.120 --> 01:14:25.520
How can they claim to have done things
by the book, when they clearly haven't?

01:14:25.600 --> 01:14:30.920
The adults go: "It'll pass
when she grows up. It will get better."

01:14:31.000 --> 01:14:37.400
No one cared about how I'd function as an
adult, after everything I've been through.

01:14:37.480 --> 01:14:43.760
It's not just abuse, it's violence!
Stabbing, shooting, drunk driving ...

01:14:43.840 --> 01:14:48.840
I saw it all while I was growing up.
Death threats.

01:14:49.640 --> 01:14:54.880
"I'll kill you, cut you up with a chainsaw
and throw you into the sea."

01:14:54.960 --> 01:14:56.920
Who said that?

01:14:57.000 --> 01:14:59.360
My father.

01:15:02.400 --> 01:15:08.440
And these are things I told my teachers.
"Things are not well at home."

01:15:11.920 --> 01:15:15.240
-1993 or 1994?
-1993.

01:15:16.560 --> 01:15:21.800
That's when
the story of your father was exposed.

01:15:21.880 --> 01:15:23.000
Yes.

01:15:24.280 --> 01:15:33.920
He was reported to the police
in 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and then in 93.

01:15:36.200 --> 01:15:40.200
In this newspaper article from 1993 ...

01:15:45.560 --> 01:15:49.600
Two locals alerted the media.

01:15:49.680 --> 01:15:54.040
This wasn't just about
the case against your father.

01:15:54.120 --> 01:15:57.760
They speak of a serious problem in Musken.

01:15:57.840 --> 01:16:05.480
1993, that was the first time someone
tried to ask for help. We all knew.

01:16:05.560 --> 01:16:10.640
But nothing happened. The council
swept everything under the rug.

01:16:10.720 --> 01:16:15.200
It makes you think
that reporting it won't help.

01:16:19.600 --> 01:16:22.160
From when I was 9 years old.

01:16:22.240 --> 01:16:24.600
Who started it?

01:16:24.680 --> 01:16:28.080
It was a relative. When I was 9 years old.

01:16:29.680 --> 01:16:33.960
I remember that assault
as if it were two weeks ago.

01:16:34.040 --> 01:16:40.880
The way it was done, the words he used,
and how much it hurt afterwards.

01:16:42.720 --> 01:16:46.400
I thought something
had ruptured inside of me.

01:16:48.480 --> 01:16:54.880
I sat in the bath tub afterwards
and tried to wash myself clean again.

01:16:54.960 --> 01:16:58.640
But I couldn't get rid of his smell.

01:17:04.000 --> 01:17:07.280
The sexual assaults
started when I was 9 years old.

01:17:07.360 --> 01:17:10.800
And they continued for 10 years,
until I was 19.

01:17:10.880 --> 01:17:16.720
There were 12 different men.
After 1993, it got worse.

01:17:16.800 --> 01:17:21.320
Six more men started abusing me,
in addition to the other six.

01:17:21.400 --> 01:17:26.080
They'd abuse me 3 to 4 times a day,

01:17:26.160 --> 01:17:31.120
some days more. It all depended.

01:17:49.080 --> 01:17:53.200
A child can't make sense of this.

01:17:53.280 --> 01:17:56.840
The abnormal becomes normalized.

01:17:56.920 --> 01:18:02.120
But there's always this nagging thought
that this is wrong.

01:18:02.200 --> 01:18:07.320
As I grew up, things became clearer,
and I've thought about it a lot.

01:18:07.400 --> 01:18:10.560
Why did this happen to me?

01:18:11.320 --> 01:18:17.240
Was it because I wore that sweater?
Or because I wore make-up?

01:18:17.320 --> 01:18:22.440
Perhaps I shouldn't have
put up my hair in that way ...

01:18:22.520 --> 01:18:25.920
That's how I thought in my teens,

01:18:26.000 --> 01:18:31.160
but as an adult, I've come
to realize that it's an abuse culture.

01:18:31.240 --> 01:18:35.400
It's always existed,
and no one spoke up against it.

01:18:36.800 --> 01:18:39.800
Which probably allowed it to go on.

01:18:39.880 --> 01:18:42.400
No one stopped them.

01:18:42.480 --> 01:18:47.360
And so it's been passed down
through generations.

01:18:51.160 --> 01:18:55.400
In 5th grade,
I tried to tell a teacher.

01:18:55.480 --> 01:19:01.120
They just discussed it in secret,
and that's it.

01:19:01.200 --> 01:19:05.720
I also wrote to the child protection
services, asking for help.

01:19:05.800 --> 01:19:08.480
-When was this?
-In 1995, I think.

01:19:10.600 --> 01:19:17.680
They questioned my mother, who obviously
said that it was all lies and hearsay.

01:19:17.760 --> 01:19:21.080
They chose to believe her instead of me.

01:19:22.560 --> 01:19:28.960
What can you remember from the meetings
with the school nurse in 1993?

01:19:29.040 --> 01:19:35.360
She was in Musken. She gave us vaccines,
and we had some conversations.

01:19:35.440 --> 01:19:41.320
I remember telling her about my father.

01:19:41.400 --> 01:19:47.120
I also told several teachers
that I got beaten up at home.

01:19:49.400 --> 01:19:53.480
But no measures were taken,
and now I know why.

01:19:54.840 --> 01:20:02.840
The teachers told the principal,
who chose to not take it further.

01:20:02.920 --> 01:20:06.280
What does the principal say for himself?

01:20:06.360 --> 01:20:09.040
The principal, he ...

01:20:09.120 --> 01:20:12.480
Claims not to remember anything.

01:20:13.760 --> 01:20:16.120
Just like the nurse.

01:20:18.880 --> 01:20:23.080
"It's so many years ago,
we can't remember."

01:20:23.160 --> 01:20:25.760
Why do you think that is?

01:20:25.840 --> 01:20:33.360
I think she's been told to keep quiet
by the lawyers of Tysfjord council.

01:20:33.440 --> 01:20:37.320
Several documents are missing
from my school journal.

01:20:37.400 --> 01:20:44.200
My entire personal file
from the nurse’s office has disappeared.

01:20:47.800 --> 01:20:50.400
I'm glad I moved.

01:20:50.480 --> 01:20:53.720
That was my salvation.

01:20:54.840 --> 01:20:58.760
To leave Tysfjord and everything in it.

01:21:07.880 --> 01:21:14.840
This generation must die off
before Tysfjord can become safe again.

01:22:53.160 --> 01:22:55.920
It's not normal.

01:22:56.000 --> 01:22:59.720
My father considered the tape
a home video.

01:22:59.800 --> 01:23:05.400
He didn't think of it as wrong or sexual.
He thought it was normal.

01:23:08.960 --> 01:23:14.960
We were brainwashed by that tape.
I can only see it clearly as an adult.

01:23:17.080 --> 01:23:19.360
That's my father.

01:23:21.480 --> 01:23:25.760
I now understand
how it could become so normalized, Nina.

01:23:47.960 --> 01:23:51.520
I feel like a stranger.

01:23:51.600 --> 01:23:54.920
I don't know my own kind.

01:24:42.720 --> 01:24:46.240
I don't like to think about
how bad it got.

01:24:48.640 --> 01:24:50.640
Neglect and betrayal.

01:24:50.720 --> 01:24:54.400
The betrayal of our abusers.

01:24:54.480 --> 01:24:59.720
The neglect of all those
who should have intervened.

01:24:59.800 --> 01:25:02.680
The dismal state of things saddens you,

01:25:02.760 --> 01:25:07.960
but you're also angered
by all the suffering of the children.

01:25:13.920 --> 01:25:17.800
I have worked as a lawyer since 1994.

01:25:18.640 --> 01:25:21.200
Cases like this weigh you down.

01:25:21.280 --> 01:25:26.920
It’s a small community,
and some locals have been charged.

01:25:27.000 --> 01:25:33.400
Finding my part in this, has proved
difficult. I must avoid many of them.

01:25:47.120 --> 01:25:50.760
What did the children of Musken
risk at that time?

01:25:50.840 --> 01:25:58.800
They risked sexual abuse,
and many were subjected to it.

01:26:00.360 --> 01:26:04.360
There was a tendency in Tysfjord,
especially back then,

01:26:04.440 --> 01:26:11.880
to consider a child in Musken
to be worth less than a child in Kjøpsvik.

01:26:14.120 --> 01:26:17.000
I stand by that claim.

01:26:18.880 --> 01:26:25.400
150 years ago, the Norwegian government
initiated its active assimilation policy,

01:26:25.480 --> 01:26:28.240
the so-called Norwegianization policy,

01:26:28.320 --> 01:26:35.160
where the main idea is that Norwegians
have a higher standing than minorities.

01:26:36.320 --> 01:26:41.160
For 150 years,
the people of Tysfjord were taught

01:26:41.240 --> 01:26:44.880
that Norwegians are worth more than Sami.

01:26:44.960 --> 01:26:49.640
Officially, this was phased out
in the 60s, 70s and 80s,

01:26:50.440 --> 01:26:56.680
but how do you make a population
unlearn something?

01:26:56.760 --> 01:27:01.200
When they've been
raised to believe the opposite?

01:27:02.280 --> 01:27:08.480
If you see it that way, it makes sense
that they never invested more resources,

01:27:08.560 --> 01:27:12.280
why they never followed up on things.

01:27:15.640 --> 01:27:18.640
Mona says: "My childhood was like this."

01:27:18.720 --> 01:27:21.080
"Why did no one look after me?"

01:27:21.160 --> 01:27:27.920
"How could my school, the child protective
services and health personnel allow this?"

01:27:29.240 --> 01:27:33.280
Abuse, both physical and mental.

01:27:34.400 --> 01:27:37.800
Being starved and poorly clothed.

01:27:37.880 --> 01:27:44.720
Later it becomes clear
that she was also molested by her father.

01:27:44.800 --> 01:27:46.640
And later other men.

01:27:46.720 --> 01:27:55.480
Several teachers - young adults lacking
proper education - say it was discussed.

01:27:56.480 --> 01:28:01.960
The school nurse received
a note of concern years before.

01:28:06.360 --> 01:28:10.640
What struck me
when Mona came to me in 2012,

01:28:11.480 --> 01:28:15.960
was that the entire municipality
has failed her.

01:28:16.840 --> 01:28:20.800
We decided
to bring civil action against them.

01:28:21.600 --> 01:28:25.880
It took more than a year
to even get a response.

01:28:25.960 --> 01:28:30.160
A year later,
I received some documents, but not all.

01:28:31.960 --> 01:28:38.440
A key document was her school medical
journal. That had disappeared.

01:28:39.600 --> 01:28:45.840
It was perhaps the most important document
that went missing.

01:28:47.960 --> 01:28:55.320
We know that it existed,
as it is referred to in other documents.

01:28:55.400 --> 01:28:56.600
Is the nurse alive?

01:28:56.680 --> 01:29:01.720
Yes, she appeared as a witness in both the
District Courts and the Courts of Appeal.

01:29:01.800 --> 01:29:08.160
She can't explain why these documents are
gone, and remembers precious few details.

01:29:08.240 --> 01:29:11.120
Even of what she herself wrote.

01:29:14.880 --> 01:29:20.560
It is a tendency that those answerable;
the principal, school nurse,

01:29:20.640 --> 01:29:25.440
Health and Social Manager, child welfare
workers, all have selective memories.

01:29:25.520 --> 01:29:32.280
They recall remarkably little of anything
putting them in an unfavourable light.

01:29:40.400 --> 01:29:45.720
The entire Tysfjord council
should be placed under investigation,

01:29:45.800 --> 01:29:52.600
going back 30 years, particularly
the child welfare and school systems.

01:30:25.680 --> 01:30:30.640
-Some people you just want to ...
-Yes, I know.

01:30:30.720 --> 01:30:35.320
He should never
have been let out of prison.

01:30:37.080 --> 01:30:41.840
It happened while I was at home,
without me knowing.

01:30:41.920 --> 01:30:44.720
I feel like a terrible mother.

01:30:44.800 --> 01:30:48.960
I hated myself and felt extremely guilty.

01:30:49.920 --> 01:30:52.720
That I failed to protect her ...

01:30:52.800 --> 01:30:57.480
Why did I even include him in our lives?

01:30:57.560 --> 01:31:04.240
When I realised it passed down to the next
generation, that it didn’t end with me ...

01:31:04.320 --> 01:31:09.080
-But it’s thanks to the Tysfjord case ...
-That it was exposed.

01:31:09.160 --> 01:31:11.360
Yes.

01:31:11.440 --> 01:31:15.800
I don’t have the answers, but things
should've been handled differently.

01:31:15.880 --> 01:31:17.800
Yes, absolutely.

01:31:22.440 --> 01:31:27.000
I can open it now? Wow!

01:31:27.080 --> 01:31:31.120
-No note?
-No need to write anything.

01:31:34.400 --> 01:31:35.680
Should I open it now?

01:31:35.760 --> 01:31:41.360
Yes, open it now. It's not
a Christmas gift, it's a gift for you.

01:32:20.760 --> 01:32:23.160
My God, you’re talented.

01:32:28.000 --> 01:32:30.120
I wasn't going to cry.

01:32:39.520 --> 01:32:41.400
Thank you so much.

01:32:59.040 --> 01:33:04.840
There must be an answer somewhere. I don’t
get how people can become like that!

01:33:04.920 --> 01:33:10.800
-Some are just born that way.
-No way. No one's born bad.

01:33:13.320 --> 01:33:18.120
If I get the chance tomorrow,
I will look him in the eye and say:

01:33:18.200 --> 01:33:22.600
"Now I’ll pass you the burden
I’ve been carrying for decades."

01:33:22.680 --> 01:33:26.760
"I'm not carrying it any longer."

01:33:29.440 --> 01:33:32.200
She hasn't seen him in 11 years.

01:33:32.280 --> 01:33:36.880
She has no idea
how she will react tomorrow.

01:33:38.480 --> 01:33:44.040
Let's just pretend that he isn't there.
That he doesn't exist, right?

01:33:45.200 --> 01:33:47.440
We'll get through this.

01:33:50.520 --> 01:33:57.080
I'll be there with you. I can't be with
you in court, but I'll be right outside.

01:33:57.160 --> 01:34:00.360
And if you need a break, just say so.

01:34:00.440 --> 01:34:06.840
Or just look at Ingar.
Give him a sign if you need a break.

01:34:06.920 --> 01:34:10.760
The judges aren't prison guards.

01:34:11.760 --> 01:34:17.280
If you need a break, you'll get one.
You don't need to push yourself.

01:34:17.360 --> 01:34:18.520
Let's go.

01:34:18.600 --> 01:34:21.760
You’re tough, you’re strong!

01:34:45.440 --> 01:34:47.960
Please sit.

01:34:51.920 --> 01:34:53.560
The court is in session.

01:35:30.320 --> 01:35:32.800
You're tough.

01:35:35.880 --> 01:35:39.520
It’ll be over soon. I'm so proud of you.

01:35:40.960 --> 01:35:42.400
Me too.

01:35:42.480 --> 01:35:44.640
That's good.

01:35:48.400 --> 01:35:51.640
Good luck, I love you.

01:36:01.840 --> 01:36:06.280
We met him in the hallway,
coming out of the bathroom.

01:36:08.600 --> 01:36:11.160
He’s the one who's messed-up.

01:36:34.040 --> 01:36:38.680
It's horrible when your heart takes over.

01:36:39.560 --> 01:36:42.520
When panic sets in.

01:36:45.320 --> 01:36:49.320
The main question
is who will the court will believe?

01:36:49.400 --> 01:36:52.680
We're dealing with three different people.

01:36:52.760 --> 01:36:56.920
The child who was sexually abused,

01:36:57.000 --> 01:36:59.160
the mother, Mona,

01:36:59.240 --> 01:37:01.840
and the molester.

01:37:01.920 --> 01:37:05.960
The court must rely on
one of these narratives.

01:37:08.120 --> 01:37:11.040
At least, I didn't sit there lying.

01:37:11.120 --> 01:37:14.240
I can take that with me to my grave.

01:37:14.320 --> 01:37:18.120
To summarise, he denies everything.

01:37:19.200 --> 01:37:22.440
That's nothing new.

01:37:22.520 --> 01:37:26.880
Exactly as he’s done in previous cases.

01:37:26.960 --> 01:37:32.320
He still denies what he did to me,
despite the existing DNA evidence.

01:38:24.480 --> 01:38:28.680
I represent two sisters
who grew up in Tysfjord,

01:38:28.760 --> 01:38:34.800
whose stories were two of 151 abuse cases
uncovered by the police.

01:38:42.760 --> 01:38:51.280
I got involved in the summer of 2016
as one of the few local female lawyers.

01:38:51.360 --> 01:38:59.520
The police called me, and 23 hours later,
the extent of it started dawning on me.

01:39:02.040 --> 01:39:07.560
An entire lifetime of instability
and abuse in your own home ...

01:39:11.000 --> 01:39:16.600
The most disturbing part
is the level of neglect.

01:39:16.680 --> 01:39:23.800
That so many knew, so many suspected,
yet no one acted.

01:39:29.320 --> 01:39:35.680
A witness I spoke to
after the first court case, told me

01:39:35.760 --> 01:39:40.680
she'd been a substitute
municipality school nurse in 1993.

01:39:41.520 --> 01:39:46.920
She got tasked
with giving sex education classes.

01:39:47.840 --> 01:39:51.200
When she came to this school,
she was told:

01:39:51.280 --> 01:39:57.480
"Bear in mind that all the pupils here
have been subjected to sexual abuse."

01:40:07.800 --> 01:40:11.760
Ethnic stigmatization is a major issue.

01:40:11.840 --> 01:40:15.920
The Sami never get
their fair share of the resources.

01:40:19.560 --> 01:40:25.600
The municipal council writes in its annual
report that it lacked the resources

01:40:25.680 --> 01:40:30.880
for preventative work
related to vulnerable children.

01:40:34.240 --> 01:40:39.720
Growing up in a home where
you're in a constant state of alarm,

01:40:39.800 --> 01:40:42.880
fearing what could happen
if you don't watch out,

01:40:42.960 --> 01:40:46.080
it changes you as a human being.

01:40:46.160 --> 01:40:51.480
With so much available information
about the issues at hand,

01:40:52.440 --> 01:40:58.680
it is just incomprehensible
that the municipality never acted.

01:40:58.760 --> 01:41:03.720
Unfortunately,
as seen in several aspects of this case,

01:41:03.800 --> 01:41:10.160
it is a timely question whether this is
due to the victims being Sami.

01:41:12.120 --> 01:41:16.640
A whole generation of children
has been neglected.

01:41:31.920 --> 01:41:38.080
Unlike other municipalities, Tysfjord is
defending itself tooth and nail,

01:41:38.160 --> 01:41:41.560
never admitting to anything.

01:41:45.000 --> 01:41:51.520
It's been handling this like a cut-throat
corporation deflecting any responsibility,

01:41:52.560 --> 01:41:58.240
instead of looking at it humanely,
and being there for its people.

01:42:03.160 --> 01:42:04.840
-Can you hear me?
-Yes.

01:42:04.920 --> 01:42:06.920
Great.

01:42:07.000 --> 01:42:14.120
The Oslo lawyers think these omissions
have elements of underlying racism.

01:42:14.200 --> 01:42:19.320
I’m pretty sure it was allowed to happen
because we are Sami.

01:42:19.400 --> 01:42:22.120
But it's good that others see it, too.

01:42:23.920 --> 01:42:27.200
That it's racism.

01:42:27.280 --> 01:42:33.640
The council rejected the Sami Parliament
as expert witnesses in the case,

01:42:33.720 --> 01:42:39.920
and have now decided to appeal
this ruling from the Courts of Appeal.

01:42:41.720 --> 01:42:47.480
If we get that question tried before the
Supreme Court, I think it's a good thing.

01:42:47.560 --> 01:42:52.400
I agree. And of course
the council opposed us.

01:42:52.480 --> 01:42:59.320
They won't acknowledge any link to the
Sami people. But there is! We're Sami!

01:43:00.760 --> 01:43:04.640
I wouldn't mind an apology from them.

01:43:04.720 --> 01:43:12.480
We’ll talker later. You just save up
some strength and courage for the trial.

01:43:12.560 --> 01:43:14.600
Thank you.

01:43:17.960 --> 01:43:21.360
We involved the Sami Parliament

01:43:21.440 --> 01:43:26.360
as we believe this speaks to
the very core of their responsibilities.

01:43:26.440 --> 01:43:32.720
This case concerns the legal protection
of Sami children. We wish them to help

01:43:32.800 --> 01:43:38.880
even out the balance of power
between two victims of gross neglect

01:43:38.960 --> 01:43:46.000
and a municipality using its considerable
resources to shirk responsibility.

01:43:47.240 --> 01:43:54.440
For 30 months, these two women
have fought to regain a little dignity.

01:43:54.520 --> 01:44:00.240
If no guilt is admitted, it will
be difficult for the victims to move on.

01:44:01.120 --> 01:44:04.680
I believe we have reached a new low.

01:44:05.560 --> 01:44:12.600
I cannot be part of a legal community
overlooking injustice this severe.

01:44:15.240 --> 01:44:22.840
Norway may be ready to acknowledge
that we have been stigmatising the Sami,

01:44:22.920 --> 01:44:27.840
but I do not think that Norway as a nation
is ready to acknowledge

01:44:27.920 --> 01:44:32.400
that this stigma and racism
is still present.

01:44:38.680 --> 01:44:42.160
Why don't the Sami get taken seriously?

01:44:46.840 --> 01:44:51.600
Nearly 27 years have passed
since I first reported this.

01:44:51.680 --> 01:44:56.880
In 1993, the outside world reacted

01:44:56.960 --> 01:45:01.640
by playing it down and hushing it up.

01:45:49.760 --> 01:45:56.360
If the police, prosecution and judicial
system had taken us seriously,

01:45:56.440 --> 01:46:00.040
imagine all the pain
that could have been avoided.

01:46:02.440 --> 01:46:10.480
In 2016, the Tysfjord municipal council
told my VG reporter colleagues

01:46:10.560 --> 01:46:16.920
that they had heard rumours, but were
completely unaware of the magnitude.

01:46:19.840 --> 01:46:21.360
I see.

01:46:23.160 --> 01:46:25.560
Fairly symptomatic.

01:46:30.400 --> 01:46:37.360
But if they go through their archives,
what will they find?

01:46:39.000 --> 01:46:43.520
People have contacted them,
people have asked for help.

01:46:43.600 --> 01:46:46.640
But hardly anything was done.

01:46:46.720 --> 01:46:52.640
They were aware of it,
yet chose to look away.

01:46:57.360 --> 01:47:00.720
When it's instilled in you
that you're worthless,

01:47:02.320 --> 01:47:07.720
and this is put into the context
of the Norwegianization policy

01:47:07.800 --> 01:47:14.720
with a stated statutory objective
to assimilate all Sami people ...

01:47:14.800 --> 01:47:21.320
To water down an existing people's
culture, language and traditions ...

01:47:22.600 --> 01:47:27.520
Of course, that will affect your psyche
and your self-worth.

01:47:30.400 --> 01:47:37.880
Part of the tragedy of the Sami people, is
that this was instilled in us for so long

01:47:37.960 --> 01:47:43.960
that many ended up believing it.
They became self-destructive.

01:47:47.280 --> 01:47:51.200
But why would it culminate
in sexual abuse?

01:47:52.680 --> 01:47:58.040
I think it has to do with self-worth
and boundaries.

01:47:59.280 --> 01:48:06.440
When you're brought up to believe you're
inferior, drawing a line becomes harder.

01:48:06.520 --> 01:48:09.440
This is not an absolute answer.

01:48:09.520 --> 01:48:14.440
But those
who display such abnormal behaviour,

01:48:14.520 --> 01:48:19.720
won’t respect
other people’s boundaries either.

01:48:20.720 --> 01:48:24.040
It's an incredibly complex subject.

01:48:32.080 --> 01:48:36.480
I was sexually abused from the age of 12.

01:48:36.560 --> 01:48:39.160
It lasted for three years.

01:48:41.400 --> 01:48:48.360
Looking back, I think I was deprived
of my childhood innocence.

01:48:55.120 --> 01:49:03.480
By being forced to take part in
the adult world, where you don’t belong.

01:49:05.200 --> 01:49:07.560
As a child, you get manipulated.

01:49:07.640 --> 01:49:09.720
You’re told to keep quiet.

01:49:09.800 --> 01:49:17.000
You get coerced. "If you tell anyone,
it will break family ties."

01:49:18.960 --> 01:49:22.960
You, the child, will break family ties.

01:49:29.320 --> 01:49:34.040
In my case, I chose to break the taboo.

01:49:34.120 --> 01:49:40.040
I realized that a child
can't and should never have to

01:49:40.120 --> 01:49:43.840
carry the burden of sexual abuse.

01:49:43.920 --> 01:49:50.040
Finally, I dared to tell my father.

01:49:59.800 --> 01:50:03.000
And it still hurts.

01:50:11.560 --> 01:50:18.480
That disavowal of responsibility,
which we experienced countless times ...

01:50:18.560 --> 01:50:23.240
The VG news coverage of 2016
was so extensive

01:50:23.320 --> 01:50:28.080
that it became impossible
to supress it all yet again.

01:50:35.560 --> 01:50:39.960
When he couldn't get into my room,
he went to hers.

01:50:40.040 --> 01:50:43.040
-Who is he?
-My father.

01:50:44.240 --> 01:50:45.440
My father ...

01:50:47.360 --> 01:50:52.400
I guess I was too angry and scary.

01:50:52.480 --> 01:50:55.200
I was a fierce little thing.

01:50:57.760 --> 01:51:02.640
My sister was different.
She was complacent, not difficult.

01:51:02.720 --> 01:51:06.480
She didn't fight back.

01:51:06.560 --> 01:51:10.400
I find it difficult to talk about her.

01:51:10.480 --> 01:51:15.320
If she hadn't been there,
I would've been more vulnerable.

01:51:16.920 --> 01:51:19.680
She took the hit.

01:51:23.720 --> 01:51:28.640
We should have been
removed from that house.

01:51:30.200 --> 01:51:32.240
But that never happened.

01:51:34.840 --> 01:51:39.800
In 2011, I found out
that my sister had molested my son.

01:51:39.880 --> 01:51:45.640
Exactly what I'd sworn
would never happen to my children.

01:51:47.680 --> 01:51:53.840
When my youngest son started school, I
asked child protective services for help.

01:51:53.920 --> 01:51:58.920
They asked if there was someone
in my own family who could help.

01:52:01.200 --> 01:52:06.840
The only one I trusted
in the whole wide world, was my sister.

01:52:08.200 --> 01:52:13.040
So you let them care for Niels-Thomas
for a while?

01:52:13.120 --> 01:52:19.480
At first, he stayed with them
for one weekend a month.

01:52:21.280 --> 01:52:23.080
Once or twice a month.

01:52:25.080 --> 01:52:30.080
The psychological aspect goes deep.
It’s heavy.

01:52:33.760 --> 01:52:37.960
We rarely hear of sexual abuse of boys.

01:52:38.040 --> 01:52:42.960
My greatest fear
was that people wouldn’t believe me.

01:52:46.720 --> 01:52:50.080
It happened when I was 13 years old.

01:52:50.160 --> 01:52:54.000
I woke up early one morning.

01:52:54.960 --> 01:53:01.880
My abuser told me to lay down with her.
She would give me a massage or something.

01:53:01.960 --> 01:53:08.400
I was sleepy. I didn’t understand the
situation, so I just did what I was told.

01:53:08.480 --> 01:53:15.280
She started to touch me
in intimate places, and I froze.

01:53:16.320 --> 01:53:21.400
I was terrified. I didn't understand
what was happening.

01:53:28.080 --> 01:53:35.160
I kept it to myself until I was 18.
I remember very little from those years.

01:53:37.440 --> 01:53:42.120
The reason I didn’t tell anyone,
was that I didn’t know what to do.

01:53:42.200 --> 01:53:47.520
I was afraid,
and it was scary and I was embarrassed.

01:53:47.600 --> 01:53:51.000
It was something
that should never have happened,

01:53:51.080 --> 01:53:56.440
and I really wanted to tell my mother,
but I just couldn’t.

01:54:02.120 --> 01:54:04.960
I must clean the table.

01:54:05.040 --> 01:54:09.360
Do you want me to move?
I can go outside.

01:54:21.920 --> 01:54:26.480
I don’t understand how my aunt
could do something like that.

01:54:26.560 --> 01:54:30.600
Considering that she herself
was abused as a child.

01:54:30.680 --> 01:54:34.520
How could she do to me
what they did to her?

01:54:39.880 --> 01:54:43.840
This picture of me
is from my confirmation day.

01:54:45.280 --> 01:54:54.000
I had a lot on my mind, yet I managed
to be sociable and hang out with others.

01:54:55.360 --> 01:54:58.200
I tried to live as normally as possible.

01:55:00.200 --> 01:55:03.200
I am not the same person
that I used to be.

01:55:03.280 --> 01:55:07.480
I used to be very outgoing,
sociable and fearless.

01:55:09.200 --> 01:55:15.080
It’s not that I hate her, I just
don’t want anything to do with her.

01:55:30.080 --> 01:55:32.600
Today is the 17th of May.

01:55:34.120 --> 01:55:40.520
It will be a day of dancing and fun,
of ice cream and soda.

01:55:40.600 --> 01:55:42.960
This will be an eventful day.

01:55:47.280 --> 01:55:49.640
I got this for my 50th.

01:55:50.440 --> 01:55:53.400
Gáppte. (traditional Sami dress)

01:55:54.640 --> 01:55:59.440
My mom was one of the "assimilated" ones.

01:55:59.520 --> 01:56:03.760
during the time
of the "Norwegianization of the Sami".

01:56:03.840 --> 01:56:05.560
She felt a lot of shame.

01:56:08.240 --> 01:56:15.160
Constitution Day means little to me.
I grew up not celebrating it.

01:56:15.240 --> 01:56:18.120
I feel neither Norwegian nor Sami.

01:56:20.680 --> 01:56:24.160
I don’t really know where I belong.

01:56:42.040 --> 01:56:45.480
I have met my aunt several times here.

01:56:45.560 --> 01:56:49.440
It feels like
she's suppressed what happened.

01:56:49.520 --> 01:56:53.440
I don't want be around when she's around.

01:56:58.640 --> 01:57:01.800
I hope there won't be any fuss today.

01:57:01.880 --> 01:57:04.160
That I can walk around freely.

01:57:06.400 --> 01:57:12.080
After all,
this is somewhere I lived for years.

01:57:14.680 --> 01:57:20.440
We took the ferry to Kjøpsvik for school
swimming classes. They had a pool.

01:57:20.520 --> 01:57:27.800
We didn't feel safe. We walked in groups
to avoid being attacked by Kjøpsvik kids.

01:57:27.880 --> 01:57:33.320
It was a war between
the Sami and the townspeople.

01:57:51.880 --> 01:57:56.520
I've been vulnerable
because I opened up about it.

01:57:59.280 --> 01:58:04.840
If you break the silence, you're an
outcast. You must bear to stand alone.

01:58:24.080 --> 01:58:27.320
Do you want to wear Sami shoes?

01:59:12.760 --> 01:59:15.640
(Sami greetings)

01:59:15.720 --> 01:59:17.560
Happy Constitution Day!

01:59:19.720 --> 01:59:25.360
17th of May is a national celebration,
especially for the children.

01:59:27.240 --> 01:59:34.560
Tysfjord’s motto is:
"Two peoples, shared future".

01:59:37.440 --> 01:59:42.240
Tysfjord has been in the media spotlight
since the summer of 2016.

01:59:42.320 --> 01:59:49.400
Many of us have different feelings
about this. Anger, frustration and shame.

01:59:51.520 --> 01:59:59.040
To you, young people: You may be reluctant
to say who you are, where you come from.

01:59:59.920 --> 02:00:04.800
But remember! It was primarily
the younger generation of Tysfjord

02:00:04.880 --> 02:00:10.160
who wished to change the community
they lived in, and under.

02:00:10.240 --> 02:00:15.040
They wished for Tysfjord to be
a safe place for all young people.

02:00:17.400 --> 02:00:19.640
But now, let's celebrate!

02:00:20.920 --> 02:00:23.120
Happy Constitution Day.

02:00:24.360 --> 02:00:27.760
Thank you for your attention.

02:00:34.160 --> 02:00:36.280
So you dared to come back?

02:00:38.680 --> 02:00:42.040
Well, I've never been
afraid of coming back.

02:00:42.120 --> 02:00:50.160
I won't live here until I see a change of
attitude, but the youth are really trying.

02:00:50.240 --> 02:00:56.120
They get tasked with changing
everything that's wrong with the world.

02:00:56.200 --> 02:01:00.800
That’s how it is.
I have strong faith in today's youth.

02:01:06.080 --> 02:01:07.760
Long time no see.

02:01:07.840 --> 02:01:09.720
Yes, it's been ages.

02:01:12.560 --> 02:01:16.040
-How are you?
-Yes, thank you.

02:01:16.120 --> 02:01:19.280
How nice to see you here at Drag.

02:01:20.480 --> 02:01:24.040
I can’t believe
I went to this bloody school.

02:01:24.120 --> 02:01:27.880
A nice school!
We did have some good times here.

02:01:27.960 --> 02:01:30.080
We jumped out of the window ...

02:01:30.160 --> 02:01:32.080
You were such a rascal.

02:01:32.160 --> 02:01:34.040
No, you were!

02:01:57.760 --> 02:02:02.080
Happy constitution day! :-D
Have a good time :-D

02:02:02.160 --> 02:02:05.520
This is a text message from my abuser.

02:02:05.600 --> 02:02:08.680
A perfectly fine, ordinary message,

02:02:08.760 --> 02:02:15.720
but still a reminder
of what happened.

02:02:15.800 --> 02:02:21.960
It is not the first time
I receive messages like those.

02:02:23.560 --> 02:02:29.440
She forces herself into my life again.
Again, and again, and again.

02:02:31.400 --> 02:02:37.480
My aunt has not talked to me about it,
nor given me an apology.

02:02:39.280 --> 02:02:44.280
For a time, she came to visit
more often than we wanted.

02:02:44.360 --> 02:02:47.480
She hasn't been here in months.

02:02:48.360 --> 02:02:53.480
She has my respect,
for when she was reported,

02:02:53.560 --> 02:02:59.640
she chose to stand for what she had done
instead of calling him a liar.

02:03:02.920 --> 02:03:04.280
Holding it?

02:03:04.360 --> 02:03:05.960
Hold.

02:03:08.440 --> 02:03:10.960
Hooray!

02:03:13.400 --> 02:03:16.080
We are full of joy!

02:03:20.440 --> 02:03:24.400
The furious husband goes:
"You're babbling like a fool."

02:03:24.480 --> 02:03:27.680
The wife: "So that you can understand me."

02:03:29.760 --> 02:03:31.400
That's a funny one!

02:03:50.000 --> 02:03:55.120
Since I was 8-9 years old,
I've felt this shame about being Sami.

02:03:56.640 --> 02:04:00.880
I remember when I felt shame
for the very first time.

02:04:00.960 --> 02:04:04.640
I started second grade,
and we got a new teacher.

02:04:04.720 --> 02:04:10.360
She asks: "Will all the Sami here
please raise their hand?"

02:04:10.440 --> 02:04:13.480
When I did, I felt ashamed.

02:04:15.560 --> 02:04:20.960
Right then, I realized
that being Sami was shameful.

02:04:28.600 --> 02:04:33.960
In the 1920s, skull scientists
from the University of Oslo came visiting.

02:04:34.040 --> 02:04:41.200
They dug up graves and brought with them
skeletal parts from my relatives.

02:04:48.200 --> 02:04:52.640
My relatives were dug up
to prove a racial theory:

02:04:52.720 --> 02:04:58.600
That certain peoples are
worth more than others.

02:04:58.680 --> 02:05:04.480
Namely that Norwegians and Germans
are worth more than us Sami.

02:05:08.160 --> 02:05:10.840
Vánasjsuoloj, or Lappholmen.

02:05:10.920 --> 02:05:14.920
It's a small island
between Drag and Kjøpsvik.

02:05:15.000 --> 02:05:20.080
It is an ancient burial ground,
it has been used for over 1000 years.

02:05:20.160 --> 02:05:24.480
The people buried here are mostly Sami.

02:05:28.040 --> 02:05:33.480
The bodies were dug up, placed in boxes
and brought to Oslo.

02:05:35.280 --> 02:05:39.200
They were boiled,
measured and photographed.

02:05:39.280 --> 02:05:42.720
They were described in all ways thinkable.

02:05:42.800 --> 02:05:45.840
Archived, categorized.

02:05:45.920 --> 02:05:50.280
And stored at the Department of Anatomy
at the University of Oslo.

02:05:51.760 --> 02:05:54.000
They're still there.

02:05:58.720 --> 02:06:03.040
This is a "catalogue card"
from the Schreinerian collections.

02:06:04.280 --> 02:06:09.200
In this case, they just brought
the cranium and left the rest.

02:06:10.200 --> 02:06:17.520
For us, it’s particularly important
that all bones remain in the grave.

02:06:27.160 --> 02:06:33.880
So it’s extremely distressing that parts
of the deceased have been removed,

02:06:33.960 --> 02:06:38.800
and excessive body parts were left here.

02:07:04.960 --> 02:07:06.880
-Hello!
-Hello.

02:07:07.960 --> 02:07:10.920
-How nice to see you.
-Likewise.

02:07:11.000 --> 02:07:12.960
-Welcome, come in.
-Thank you.

02:07:13.040 --> 02:07:15.160
You've cut your hair! How nice!

02:07:15.240 --> 02:07:18.200
Almost a buzz cut ...

02:07:23.560 --> 02:07:26.320
Getting a new dog felt wonderful.

02:07:34.920 --> 02:07:38.280
What's been going on lately?

02:07:48.080 --> 02:07:53.000
I've been struggling with depression
since December.

02:07:54.320 --> 02:07:59.640
I got really ill, and the doctor thought
it could be something serious.

02:07:59.720 --> 02:08:02.200
So she sent me to the hospital.

02:08:02.280 --> 02:08:06.920
She thought it was a sign
of a brain haemorrhage.

02:08:07.000 --> 02:08:09.320
They took a CT scan of my head.

02:08:09.400 --> 02:08:13.760
But they came up short.
It was completely empty!

02:08:19.320 --> 02:08:24.920
It could be tension or stress headaches,

02:08:25.000 --> 02:08:30.040
possibly related
to what I've been through.

02:08:33.600 --> 02:08:39.080
While I'm at the hospital,
I receive a friend request on Snapchat.

02:08:39.160 --> 02:08:42.960
I was all alone at the hospital,
and terrified.

02:08:43.040 --> 02:08:46.000
I think:
"What the hell does he want?"

02:08:46.080 --> 02:08:51.240
"What can I do to be left alone?"

02:08:51.320 --> 02:08:55.720
I opened it,
and he'd sent a picture of himself.

02:08:56.960 --> 02:09:00.400
Let's see ... 1, 2, 3.

02:09:00.480 --> 02:09:04.080
I've actually blocked him
three times on Facebook.

02:09:04.160 --> 02:09:06.080
Do you have it there?

02:09:06.160 --> 02:09:12.200
I have several, of course, but that's
the first, the second, and the third.

02:09:16.760 --> 02:09:22.280
How can he contact you three times
when you block him?

02:09:22.360 --> 02:09:26.320
He just makes a new profile,
that's what they do.

02:09:28.440 --> 02:09:31.840
Has he contacted any other family members?

02:09:31.920 --> 02:09:34.040
Yes, he has.

02:09:34.120 --> 02:09:36.040
Your daughter, too?

02:09:36.120 --> 02:09:37.400
Both of them.

02:09:42.800 --> 02:09:47.120
I was actually so far down
that I considered giving up.

02:09:52.320 --> 02:09:53.600
I thought:

02:09:54.720 --> 02:09:59.040
"Things would be better
if I just went away."

02:10:05.480 --> 02:10:10.280
But then I started thinking
of my children. How would they feel?

02:10:10.360 --> 02:10:14.320
Perhaps I would be free,
but those left behind wouldn't.

02:10:15.520 --> 02:10:20.280
I don't wish to hurt others
just because I decided to be selfish.

02:10:21.440 --> 02:10:26.080
I'd only create more chaos
for those left behind.

02:10:26.160 --> 02:10:31.320
That's what made me
suppress those thoughts.

02:10:31.400 --> 02:10:35.040
"Keep trying, it will get better."

02:10:35.120 --> 02:10:40.280
"You've been there before,
don't do anything stupid."

02:10:41.280 --> 02:10:46.160
I texted a close friend
about the thoughts I was having.

02:10:46.240 --> 02:10:48.520
10 minutes later, she was here.

02:10:53.720 --> 02:10:58.360
To not lose sigh of the light,
even in the darkest night ...

02:10:59.960 --> 02:11:02.280
I can see a tiny light far ahead,

02:11:02.360 --> 02:11:06.560
and that's where I'm headed,
I will reach that light.

02:11:06.640 --> 02:11:09.040
I'm a bit weird, I know.

02:11:12.000 --> 02:11:14.520
My God, all those mosquitoes!

02:11:23.680 --> 02:11:25.520
Hi!

02:11:26.720 --> 02:11:30.040
What do you have there? A gift?

02:11:34.800 --> 02:11:37.440
Grandma misses you!

02:11:45.600 --> 02:11:48.080
(Sings in Sami)

02:11:51.000 --> 02:11:53.480
Yes, hug for mommy.

02:11:55.120 --> 02:11:56.920
Bye-bye!

02:11:58.320 --> 02:12:00.040
Later.

02:12:03.160 --> 02:12:06.320
-Thank you! Bye!
-Bye-bye!

02:12:06.400 --> 02:12:09.120
Say hi to the rest of the family.

02:12:09.200 --> 02:12:10.840
Bye-bye!

02:13:29.120 --> 02:13:37.200
Numerous documents prove that the council
knew more than they said in court.

02:13:37.280 --> 02:13:43.680
Appendixes from 1991
show that the school office,

02:13:43.760 --> 02:13:45.880
the educational consultant,

02:13:45.960 --> 02:13:53.520
and the Health and Social manager were all
aware that Mona's father was an abuser.

02:13:54.520 --> 02:13:56.880
You've got this from a letter?

02:13:58.040 --> 02:14:06.800
A letter from the educational consultant
to the Tysfjord police, dated May 29 1991.

02:14:07.360 --> 02:14:10.080
Two years before Mona's father

02:14:10.160 --> 02:14:15.360
was arrested and later convicted
of abusing his daughter.

02:14:15.440 --> 02:14:18.440
Yes, exactly two years before.

02:14:21.320 --> 02:14:29.120
The Tysfjord municipal council tells VG
that no record of sexual abuse exists,

02:14:29.200 --> 02:14:33.400
and that it has never received
any such signals.

02:14:33.480 --> 02:14:37.480
As I see it, this is an outright lie.

02:14:56.520 --> 02:14:59.840
Tysfjord municipality
will soon be history.

02:14:59.920 --> 02:15:04.160
The authorities decided
to split the municipality.

02:15:05.640 --> 02:15:11.240
The new municipality border
will go along the fjord.

02:16:27.600 --> 02:16:31.160
Most venerable court,
supreme judges of the kingdom.

02:16:31.240 --> 02:16:36.440
My facts will be based on
the municipality's own documents.

02:16:36.520 --> 02:16:41.560
My key point is establishing
what knowledge the municipality had

02:16:41.640 --> 02:16:46.320
of how dysfunctional
a childhood environment this was.

02:16:46.400 --> 02:16:49.080
I hereby ask the Supreme Court

02:16:49.160 --> 02:16:54.720
whether these two should be left
to pursue their rights on their own,

02:16:54.800 --> 02:16:58.520
or should be granted
the right to be assisted by the body

02:16:58.600 --> 02:17:03.880
representing their culture, language
and perception of reality,

02:17:03.960 --> 02:17:06.600
namely the Sami Parliament.

02:17:06.680 --> 02:17:10.920
One of my clients has reported
a total of 12 persons for abuse.

02:17:11.000 --> 02:17:16.080
Nearly every case was dropped
for lack of evidence.

02:17:17.080 --> 02:17:22.360
The police observe that the Tysfjord abuse
situation has not come to an end,

02:17:22.440 --> 02:17:30.040
and mainly affects Sami women and children
at ages ranging from 4 to 70 years old.

02:17:30.120 --> 02:17:35.880
My clients' cases are just
two of the many tragedies of Tysfjord.

02:17:35.960 --> 02:17:39.440
There is only one way
to interpret the police report.

02:17:39.520 --> 02:17:43.480
Tysfjord municipality
is guilty of severe negligence.

02:17:43.560 --> 02:17:46.840
This has been going on
for more than 50 years,

02:17:46.920 --> 02:17:51.720
and 70% of the victims
are Lule-Sámi women and children.

02:17:53.440 --> 02:17:58.200
The balance of power
between the parties is extremely lopsided.

02:17:58.280 --> 02:18:02.440
My clients, victims
of severe neglect and abuse,

02:18:02.520 --> 02:18:07.600
lack both the resources and capability
to pursue their own cases.

02:18:07.680 --> 02:18:11.640
While the municipality
can get the very best legal assistance.

02:18:11.720 --> 02:18:15.960
It has access
to the best lawyers of Northern Norway.

02:18:16.040 --> 02:18:20.880
Furthermore, it is an enormous
physical and mental strain for my clients

02:18:20.960 --> 02:18:28.440
to stand alone in a legal process, sharing
experiences they would rather forget.

02:18:30.440 --> 02:18:36.400
This case concerns whether two sisters can
claim compensation from the municipality

02:18:36.480 --> 02:18:43.280
for neglecting to take care of them after
the neglect they had been exposed to.

02:18:43.360 --> 02:18:50.840
The municipality’s view
is that this is not a matter

02:18:50.920 --> 02:18:55.080
primarily related to Sami children.

02:18:55.160 --> 02:19:01.880
It is a type of case
that applies to a great many children.

02:19:02.880 --> 02:19:05.320
May I ask a question, in this context?

02:19:05.400 --> 02:19:12.040
I noted that you stated that the case does
not primarily relate to Sami children.

02:19:13.120 --> 02:19:19.120
Rather specifically,
this police report shows that ...

02:19:19.200 --> 02:19:21.720
referenced here from page 573,

02:19:21.800 --> 02:19:29.160
70% of both offended and suspects belong
to the Tysfjord Lule-Sami community.

02:19:29.240 --> 02:19:33.280
So regarding this municipality
and this case in particular,

02:19:33.360 --> 02:19:39.080
is it not incorrect to state that this
doesn't primarily relate to Sami children?

02:19:39.160 --> 02:19:43.960
By that, I merely meant Sami interests.

02:19:47.360 --> 02:19:50.720
This case concerns two Sami children,
let that be clear.

02:19:50.800 --> 02:19:53.560
Let there be no doubt whatsoever.

02:19:53.640 --> 02:20:02.160
But the case itself does not concern
Sami special interests in particular.

02:20:08.520 --> 02:20:13.320
Having eliminated every conceivable
explanation for how this could happen

02:20:13.400 --> 02:20:20.120
in a small town where everyone knows each
other, we are left with the unthinkable,

02:20:20.200 --> 02:20:26.720
namely that this is most likely caused by
structural racism, due to them being Sami.

02:20:28.320 --> 02:20:35.640
Just to eliminate any doubts, we believe
this is a particular Sami interest

02:20:35.720 --> 02:20:41.440
at the very core of what the Sami
Parliament has been tasked to work with.

02:20:41.520 --> 02:20:45.680
It concerns the legal protection
of Sami children.

02:20:53.120 --> 02:20:55.800
The county board proceedings ...

02:20:55.880 --> 02:20:59.440
Is a sorry mess.

02:21:00.680 --> 02:21:06.520
The county council finds that these girls
were subjected to life-long neglect,

02:21:06.600 --> 02:21:10.680
but in order to not remove them
from their Lule Sámi homes,

02:21:10.760 --> 02:21:18.040
and the Laestadian environment,
they choose to let them stay in the homes

02:21:18.120 --> 02:21:25.440
where they were abused and extensively
neglected. Sorry, I'm a little affected.

02:21:27.160 --> 02:21:31.800
What the county council is doing,
is setting a higher threshold,

02:21:31.880 --> 02:21:37.480
in that Sami children should tolerate more
than other Norwegian children.

02:21:38.520 --> 02:21:42.800
That is, they should
endure more abuse and neglect

02:21:42.880 --> 02:21:46.600
before removing them
from their homes.

02:21:46.680 --> 02:21:48.880
That can't be right.

02:22:25.400 --> 02:22:32.360
It's a victory both for my clients and
the 89 other victims in the Tysfjord case.

02:22:33.880 --> 02:22:38.960
After the Supreme Court's decision,
we received a settlement offer.

02:22:39.040 --> 02:22:45.200
Considering how stressful another round
in court would be for my clients,

02:22:45.280 --> 02:22:48.840
we decided to accept the offer.

02:22:49.800 --> 02:22:56.800
My clients asked the municipality
for an apology. The municipality refused.

02:22:58.600 --> 02:23:03.880
What I'd like to say to those who expected
a different outcome in the Supreme Court?

02:23:03.960 --> 02:23:08.280
It is time for the Norwegian population
to open their eyes

02:23:08.360 --> 02:23:15.960
and acknowledge that the structural racism
is more extensive than we want to think.

02:23:26.120 --> 02:23:30.680
I am very happy
to have found a flat in Bodø.

02:23:34.960 --> 02:23:37.320
-Receipt?
-Yes, please.

02:23:37.400 --> 02:23:40.160
Could come in handy. Thanks.

02:23:41.320 --> 02:23:44.560
I wonder if this will fit in the car ...

02:23:48.280 --> 02:23:55.600
One reason I am moving to Bodø,
is to avoid being reminded of my past.

02:24:00.760 --> 02:24:08.440
What's done is done. Nothing to do
about that, I can't go back in time.

02:24:09.080 --> 02:24:11.280
So I'm trying to move on.

02:24:12.120 --> 02:24:15.960
What can I say,
this is a new beginning for me.

02:24:27.280 --> 02:24:28.680
Openness.

02:24:29.920 --> 02:24:31.520
Bring to light.

02:24:34.600 --> 02:24:37.200
And we must start with ourselves.

02:24:41.080 --> 02:24:46.000
Where there is children, there are adults.

02:24:46.080 --> 02:24:51.800
If we can't teach the adults,
we must teach the children.

02:24:51.880 --> 02:24:55.080
What does an abuser fear the most?

02:24:55.160 --> 02:24:58.720
A child who tells others.

02:25:18.680 --> 02:25:23.240
"SAFE"

02:25:23.320 --> 02:25:27.240
The basic principles
of human rights are safety.

02:25:34.440 --> 02:25:35.840
Safety.

02:25:39.400 --> 02:25:44.800
Even if this breaks me,
even if this kills me, so be it.

02:25:48.240 --> 02:25:52.600
If we save just one child,
it's been well worth it.