Safety in Norway

I have lived in Norway for few years now and I personally do feel safe here in Vestfold.

I walk the dog alone both day and night though I will admit I avoid going out alone on Friday and Saturday nights and Norwegians can make for loud intrusive drunks and I feel more comfortable avoiding it.

Norwegians in my area so have their share of social problems (As far as I know no tensions at least not severe enough for everyone to be aware of it.) like I mentioned the drinking culture in youths and the tendency to fight for the 'fun of it' can be intimidating.

Despite how safe I feel I have been closer to major criminal activity in Norway than I ever knew I was in England - A shooting resulting in a couple deaths in our town, later found out to be related to drugs and the island shooting was not so far from us.

yes during day,

at night you have to choose where to go and where not to go.

But in general, Norway is a safe place , if you take the correct general decisions  and considerations.

Good idea ! talkin' about safety in scandinavian countries ; a true way to introduce to our schizophrenic view of nowadays life environment . For sure compared to many other places in the world, scandinavian countries can provide a feeling of great level of satety. For sure.
But ! ...you're "out" or ..."in" ! - We're all living into bubbles - fermly insulated / tight considering the huge diversity of human communities.
I mean as far as you stay "in" ( in a nice cocoon with house, job, relatives, goingout possibilities , social cover a.s.o) we're living in a wonderful world. "Alice ... Alice !" ....meeting Peter Pan !
Wherever you're living in - There's a cement for each bubble which allows everyone a nice feeling of comfort, and cohesion / safetiness. Yes ! Sometimes it may happen you'll be confronted to scenes a little bit "hard" you usually ignore. I mean you can watch it on T.v , or you heard about sad stories, but it's so ... far , so you're not really concerned , involved in. And it passes through...  you forget it.
Look , read or listen to the "murmur" of what you can catch on a lot of forums , blogs on this subject. Lot of sad experiences are available. I could talk about mine... gonna be too long.
Or ... you can dive suddenly in the "dark side" of the dream . It may happen. We all know this : there's a emerged part which comes into view / into sun and a plunged, occulted and immerged part, we usually prefer not to see and be confronted to. But it may happen. Even if you're carefull ...
Is there a high rate of criminality ? social tensions ? - Yes for sure - They are just in the backyard. just behind the curtain. Under the carpet floor . All around. We are surrended by thoses manifestaions of misery, jobless people, thieves and burglars of all kind, beggers, junkies, whores & honky tonkies a.s.o - It depends where you're moving through, when and why (in which purpose), Do we really care about ?
But again : you may ignore it - it depends the kind of glasses you're wearing usually and i do believe you can be perfectly opened-eyed and ... totally blind !  what is sure is that crilminality increased in those countries last decades, and Police services & civilian society seem to be overcrawled by this Pb ! same for embassies which are not doing anything in case of serious Pb . You'd Better plan (before) private good & safe solutions to stay always in capacity to be able to move and get-out of any mess very quickly just by yourself ! (except american embassy) or ..; you're dead ! as simple as that . I'm talkin' of my personal experience. Still alive but a true miracle.
Never forget that in case of need scandinavian front doors are all very tightly closed ! Even the police one ! and it's very "cold outside" in norway and sweden during winter....as the song says it - don't ask for "socialsjuren" :  it's worst than the sovietic bureaucraty under staline. Same for police in case of need. Even hospital emergency ! inbelievable behaviours and ....repeated ! Very shoking for a "perffectly pretty normal guy" honest and so on. They even do not respect legality ( laws and contracts between Euro countries) ! a pure hypocrisy way of managing criminality and Pb : they listen, ask listen again and talk a lot - they love to talk day-long ! with a very serious mask hooked on their faces - and at the end they don't do anything. You feel alone and you go totally dotty , loosing your head.
So ... yes , you need to be very... very carefull .
Otherwise life can be very nice in those countries, anyway. Just don't dive in the "bottom part of it" : it's really dark and very sad. I refer to my day-to-day dairy, full of anecdotes about what I saw or experimented myself.
Conclusion : only move with safe net of helpfull and trustfull friends, job & house already and safely planed , and ...solutions / people abroad helpfull enough and ready to get you out of any "mess". If not don't try it ! I saw too many people in true and deep distress I couldn't help myself. A real pity.
Frontier is thin sometimes between life and death. - Butterfly wing theory application : " an insignifiant  mouvement/detail + entropy that leads to a huge consequence" . - But life is so nice !
Long contribution ... Christine , hum ? to long ?

Hi,

My wife and I feel totally safe here in rural Norway. We feel a bit threatened when we go into the local big city and see all the "street" people. That being said I feel that most of the problems have been brought to Norway by us "utland"ers. I've only heard of one Norwegian being apprehended for theft in the 6 years I've been resident in these rural areas of Norway.

Hello !
I saw your contribution to this topic - For sure, utlanders brought a lot of problems - you're living in countryside and generally speaking where ever you're living there're less pb.
For sure, if you're living in a big city you'll see much more criminality. But, talking about "normenner" they are the same as "utlanders" - you can trust me : I had enough experiences both in norway as in sweden. Hard one ! - Don't be naïve; It's not a question of citizenship. I met very nice guys in very, very bad conditions who were strangers and who stayed perfectly "normal" guys struggling among agressivity or no-care, no respect from normenner - anyway they stayed cool minded and just hope "worm will turn butterfly" once, for them. They help each other. Comfort each others as they were able to do it. Even if it was really hard. I can testimony on this point about several nice guys I met. But I met also normenner between 35 / 45 y.old whose very first question to me was - just after saying "hello!" - " what do you think about norvegian wellfarestate ? ...Nice, hum... pretty cool, no ?" - I couldn't answer ... so surprised as  I was ! - and they were very proud to say to me they've never worked for years or ... never ever ! when I realised their "way of living" cumulating social wellfare and robberies, a lot of tricky things ... I moved ! But they were living in a  very , very nicely way for sure - you can believe me ! - and had no needs ( provided in housing, money, cars, motorbikes, social cover, etc .. everything !) . It was just a way of "enjoying life" on the back of their society. And they were really surprised when I said " I don't care about "socialsjuren" wellfare statement, and s.o ... i just went here to work and begin, enjoy a properly normal life , integrate one". Couldn't catch it , my way of living ! - But I saw them making a lot of robberies ; and they had no pb with norvegian police - i can tell you ! - last point : considering utlanders see what I already said about this subject before : i mean misery may bring to our doors reactions that lead to violent one. Don't be surprised ! - There's a certain level of hypocrisy in scandinavia talking about allowing people from other countries, to come and settle in their countries. Better understand first their "rules" and..."real practices" ! Well ... The dark side of the dream isn't the only path to Norway ! I don't want to give the feeling that the situation is too bad. I think it's a question of being open minded on the reality.
Don't  stay in cocoon , Just try to avoïd diving in a mess ! So easy to fall... need to be strong enough.

I currently live in Eidsvoll, which is 30 mins from the capital and there is no crime at all (bar speeding perhaps...).  It simply doesn't happen here.  Everyone leaves expensive things outside in plain sight, and we're talking expensive snow blowers, car wheels and bikes etc.

In the city me and my girlfriend would go for walks at night, no worries at all.  Now don't get me wrong there may be some rougher areas (we lived by Grønnerukka) and everything was fine.  There is more crime in a city but that's to be expected.

No doubt ! ...Lucky guy you are ! (You and your girlfriend).
Keep on going that way... I Wish you my best regards.

Norway is a very safe country and especially outside of Oslo.
Crimes happens but as long as you don't involve yourself in anything illegal you'll be safe and sound in Norway.
Only thing I can think of that could get you in some trouble, is being drunk on a Friday/Saturday night out.
Apart from that, I guess you will have better chances of getting an airplane in your head than becoming a victim of a crime (outside of Oslo).

Norway is very very safe if you are taking about Norwegians, I personally believe they are one of the nicest most honest people on earth. Unfortunately the 'demographics' are changing in the cities and indeed for the worst.

Id advise you to look into who commits the rapes in Norway, look into who drives the taxis and make an informed choice based on that.

My Wife wad very nearly raped once in a Taxi and the second time another driver took her back to his house when she fell asleep in the taxi after a night out, thankfully she called me before he managed to get her out of the taxi and she refused to leave the cab. This was in Stavanger.

Oslo is a Hell Hole, its a Cess Pit of undesirables. My kids had to Witness yet more 'multiculturalism' of Hookers banging Jons from our Hotel room right in the City Center.

Again, Norwegians are awesome, its not them you have to look out for,

trigger_andy wrote:

Oslo is a Hell Hole, its a Cess Pit of undesirables. My kids had to Witness yet more 'multiculturalism' of Hookers banging Jons from our Hotel room right in the City Center.

while it's true there is some prostitution going on around the city center/Karl Johan/Central station area, Oslo is HARDLY a cess pit of undesirables. I've been living on the west side of the city center for 9 months and it's been very nice. Take the usual precautions you'd take living in most cities and you'll be just fine. Keep your bag zipped and in sight, don't walk home alone late at night, and be aware of your surroundings.

So its a cess pit then? By your own admission it has prostitutes in the city center, (banging in the corners and in cars), no walking alone at night, keeping you bag zipped up. You just have to go on-line to see the The rape rate and the gun crime. Thankfully Stavanger is not like this at all, admittedly the Taxi Drivers are a danger but Ive never had to do anything you mention above.

I practice these behaviours wherever I am- Oslo, Drammen, Trondheim, Ålesund, when traveling in other countries too. If I'd been to Stavanger I'd do it there too. All it takes is one person feeling like breaking the rules to ruin everything, and I'd prefer to not provide any temptation.

However, I also have friends in Oslo who lean the other way and leave their apartment door always unlocked and wouldn't think twice about leaving their bag unattended at a cafe while they go to the bathroom. It's just not how I roll.

Be that as it may but the question was do you feel safe in Norway. My opinion is yes, if there is Norwegians there and no if there is minorities in large numbers. Thankfully in Stavanger there is much less of an issue than Oslo. Oslo has a bad record on all fronts of crime you just done see outside of it.

If you feel and act like a scared mouse wherever you go that's your prerogative, personally I feel that in the majority of Norway that outlook is not required but its a wise one in Oslo.

oh jeez, taking some basic precautions has nothing to do with being a "scared mouse". You never know what people will do when you give them an easy target. Oslo is a safe place, but I wouldn't advise anyone to travel or live anywhere without staying aware of their surroundings.

One of the great things about Norway IS the freedom to explore. I love walking in the forest in Oslo, but I make sure I've got a fully charged phone and someone knows where I've gone in case something happens. Again, better safe than sorry.

There can be many things to be annoyed about in Norway, but for me safety isn't one of them. I feel safe in Norway and in Oslo.

There's been a very mild up spike in criminal activity in the city over the last 10 years, but nothing major compared to other cities I've visited / lived in. Murders, rapes and robberies are still very rare compared to other cities.

I walk alone late at night and I don't feel scared. However, no matter how safe a place is I'm always aware of my surroundings and I don't take unnecessary chances too much  ... for eg, walking in a dark alley alone or walking late at night with earphones on. On the other hand, while I do these things on occasion in Norway, I would never do them in other places.

It's necessary to exercise basic precaution wherever you go. Don't get stone cold drunk and make yourself vulnerable to predators. Don't go home with random strangers (guess this isn't very practical advice given that Norway is most notorious for one night stands in Scandinavia). Make sure you have money and a working cell phone with credit on it.

I have never ever had any trouble with Taxi drivers in Norway. Ever. And I've lived here for a number of years. In general I just never felt unsafe. Maybe this is because I'm street smart and don't look like easy prey, or maybe it's because I carefully pick and choose the company I keep, I don't know but I've never run into any trouble in all the years I've lived here. When I lived in London, I had more fear.

Men and women may experience a difference in the level of danger, however.

On occasion you hear on the news about someone getting stabbed, but that is rare and is most usually gang related, due to the continued rivalry between the A and B gangs that operate in Oslo & Bergen. Violence among regular citizens is rare, and sometimes years will pass before you hear of someone being murdered in any given community.

When I travel abroad safety, peace and quiet is the thing I miss most about Norway.

I often forget to lock my doors and windows and have been known to fall asleep with my doors unlocked many times. On more than one occasion I awoke to find my front door wide open or that I had forgotten to take the key out of the lock. This is not my regular practice, though, because there's always a first time for everything even in the safest of environments. I watch enough true crime shows to know that.