They have both grown up with a stern father. The justice minister is now meeting Yahya Hassan's brother at Deadline.

Justices Minister's proposal to punish silence about child abuse in specific areas would not have helped Yahya Hassan's family, says his brother.

Anne Stampe Arndt ([email protected]) 38 minutes ago

Four years after Yahya Hassan's death, his family is sharing their testimony about the poet and their shared life. Yahya Hassan's little brother Abdullah Hassan has initiated the book ‘The Hassan Family,’ and for the first time since its publication, he is speaking out:

- When I lived with my father, violence filled a significant portion. It wasn't every day – there could be pauses. But it was a part of the cost, he says in Deadline (https://www.dr.dk/drtv/episode/deadline_-hassan-og-hummelgaard_-_what-works-against-violence-in-the-home_493841 ).

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A violent upbringing is common

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In the studio, Abdullah Hassan meets Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard, who himself grew up with a violent father. In his book ‘There is something we need to talk about,’ he presents several proposals to combat child abuse. One of them involves strengthening reporting obligations in areas on the government's parallel societies list (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/hummelgaard-comes-with-far-reaching-proposals-to-combat-child-abuse-in).

But that proposal would not have helped Abdullah Hassan. In his case, authorities knew what was happening in the home in Aarhus. This is shown in a report to the commune from 2003, which he reads aloud in Deadline:

- Abdullah reports that the father only beats Yahya, Khadeeja, Kawther, and him, not Abd al-Salam. He reports that the father destroyed a wooden stool and broke Yahya's legs and his own arm. He reports that the father beat them even if they hadn't done anything, and that the mother verbally told him to stop.

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Violence has no color or religion

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Abdullah Hassan does not believe that there should be special rules for areas on the parallel societies list:

- I'm therefore quite sure that violence doesn't have a specific color or religion. I wish that it would be addressed in a proper way without targeting a specific ethnic minority or folk community.

Peter Hummelgaard does not reject the idea that the proposal could be expanded to apply to the entire society, but at the same time points to an overrepresentation of children with minority backgrounds in statistics on domestic violence.

- Your story is a really sad picture of how society has failed families like yours, children like you and your siblings, Hummelgaard tells Abdullah Hassan.

Watch the entire meeting between Abdullah Hassan and Peter Hummelgaard in Deadline on DRTV (https://www.dr.dk/drtv/episode/deadline_-hassan-og-hummelgaard_-_what-works-against-violence-in-the-home_493841 ).

Deadline has presented Abdullah Hassan's story to Aarhus Kommune. Administration Chief Lotte Henriksen cannot comment on the specific case, but writes in an email:

Personal testimonies about an experience of neglect from authorities leave an impression and should always lead to reflection. The specific case is over 20 years old, and as a commune, we are in a different place today. Practice in the area has continuously developed with the establishment of Denmark's five regional children's homes and Children's Law, so there is now a greater focus on knowledge about violence, the child's voice, and children's rights.

We are willing to make ourselves available as a commune if Abdullah Hassan has a desire to go through his legal proceedings with us.

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