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Staff at Norway’s largest women’s health organisation have seen a rise in the number of women reporting abuse and sexual assault at the hands of their partners ahead of the rape trial of a member of the royal family, saying they hope the case helps to “break taboos”.
Marius Borg Høiby, the 28-year-old son of the Norwegian crown princess, is due to stand trial in February on 32 charges including four counts of rape, the domestic abuse of a former partner and the illegal filming of a number of women without their knowledge or consent.
His lawyer, Petar Sekulic, has said that Høiby “denies all charges of sexual abuse, as well as the majority of the charges regarding violence”. His client would “present a detailed account of his version of events before the court”, he added.
Høiby, whose mother is the crown princess, Mette-Marit, and whose stepfather is the crown prince, Haakon, Norway’s future king, could face 10 years in prison if he is found guilty of the most serious charges.
May Britt Buhaug, the secretary general of the women’s public health organisation Sanitetskvinnene, said her staff had recorded a rise in the number of women reporting experiences of domestic violence and sexual assault, which they expected to increase further when the trial started.
“Staff at our women’s health centres have seen an increase in women who make contact to ask for help and advice after experiences of violence and sexual assault. Media coverage of cases such as Høiby’s lower the threshold to ask for help. That women ask for help more easily is a positive effect. Openness breaks taboos,” said Buhaug.
According to statistics from the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS), one in 10 women in Norway have experienced serious violence from an intimate partner.
Buhaug said: “Although tragic, it seems that this case can contribute to break the silence around intimate partner violence and rape.”
Meanwhile, an explosive new book, which Høiby unsuccessfully tried to prevent from being published, claims he has personally sold drugs on the streets of Oslo. Høiby has denied the allegations.
The negative headlines appear to have energised republicans. The king is Harald V, who has been the monarch since 1991 and is now 88. Because of the law of primogeniture used until 1990, it is his second child, Haakon, who is heir to the throne and not his elder child, Märtha Louise.
Craig Aaen-Stockdale, the leader of the group Norge som republikk (Norway as a republic), said its membership had more than tripled in the last two years – largely, he said because of the accusations against Høiby.
“In an otherwise democratic, egalitarian and liberal country the Norwegian royal family occupies a bit of a blind spot and has traditionally seen high levels of support. However, many Norwegians are now reconsidering their position on the royal family, who were previously viewed as a relatively harmless bunch,” he said.
“The ongoing omniscandal has really tarnished the reputation of the younger royals, including the future heir. In a few years we may be in a situation where the head of state has a chronically ill wife [Mette-Marit recently said she would have to have a lung transplant] and a son in prison. That is not fair on anybody.”
But Torgeir Pedersen Krokfjord, a co-author of the book White Lines, Black Sheep, which published the drug allegations, said the royal family remained popular among most Norwegians and had emerged relatively unscathed.
“One can only imagine how it must have been for them to deal with all this through the years, while battling health issues at the same time,” he said.
The royal palace and Høiby’s lawyer have been contacted for comment.
