Justice Minister Storberget is promising more funding to battle hate crimes and a change in the law that he hopes would also tackle the problem.
Storberget proposes a so-called "hate paragraph" in Norway's criminal code that would allow judges to hand out tougher punishment to people convicted of "crimes that are grounded in others' religious beliefs, skin color, nationality or ethnic origins, homosexuality, lifestyle or orientation."
"It's extremely important that we fight this kind of crime," he told newspaper Aftenposten. "Some types of crime are on the wane in Norway, but this is still hanging around. and I fear it will occur more often and get more brutal."
As the government minister in charge of the courts and the police, Storberget will ask local police districts to chart crimes believed to be rooted in racism, homophobia or other forms of discrimination.
"There's a difficult burden of evidence needed in these cases," Storberget said. "It's easy to prove someone was attacked, but why they were attacked is more difficult to prove."
Gay activists were among those quick to applaud Storberget's initiative. "I think this is unconditionally positive, and about time," said Jon Reidar Øyan, leader of a national association for gays and lesbians (LLH). "It's important to make a distinction between the person who's beaten up because he's a jerk, and those beaten up because they are as they are."
