Norway: Parents Against the State
Tim Whewell reports from Norway, where the state's child protection policies are attracting sharp criticism both at home and abroad.
Norway's widely regarded as one of the world's most progressive societies, yet it's at the centre of an international storm over its child protection policies. Campaigners accuse its social workers of removing children - some from immigrant backgrounds - from their parents without justification, and permanently erasing family bonds. Tim Whewell meets parents who say they've lost their children because of misunderstood remarks or "insufficient eye contact" - and Norwegian professionals who call the system monstrous and dysfunctional. Is a service designed to put children first now out of control?
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Norway's Barnevernet
Read Tim Whewell's article on the BBC News site
Clip
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I think they are going to take the baby
Duration: 00:46
Broadcasts
- Thu 14 Apr 201611:00BBC Radio 4
- Mon 18 Apr 201620:30BBC Radio 4
Podcast
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Crossing Continents
Stories from around the world and the people at the heart of them.



