Author Heidi Helene Sveen writes in a new book about the so-called whistleblowing cases in the Labor Party. Sveen has spoken to many of the whistleblowers, who tell of border-crossing behavior from their time in the party. The book “The Whistleblowers” is a story about the Giske case, about sexual harassment, and what the author believes is a lack of culture in the Labor Party. – Many organizations have managed to handle such matters in a good way. But not the Labor Party. The party has not taken this seriously enough. They have set demands for formal notifications, and not just oral or from a third party, before they have carried out further investigations, says Sveen to news. In the book, she has interviewed eight of the whistleblowers. One of them has been unknown to the public until now. – The aim of the book is to prevent this from happening again. That organizations and parties in the future will handle such matters in a better way, says author Heidi Helen Sveen. Photo: Privat Resigned as deputy chairman The so-called Giske case started in connection with the international Me too debate. In 2017, it became known that the Labor Party had received several reports of sexual harassment and other unpleasant behavior from the then deputy leader Trond Giske. Giske admitted that he had acted “in a way that individuals have experienced as inappropriate or unpleasant”, but rejected the accusations of sexual harassment. After reviewing the notifications, Ap concluded in January 2018 that “in several of the cases there have been breaches of the party’s guidelines against sexual harassment”. Giske responded with strong criticism of the party’s handling of the notification cases. In the same month, he resigned as deputy leader and as spokesperson for fiscal policy at the Storting. news has been in contact with Trond Giske, who does not want to comment on Sveen’s book. The Giske case Trond Giske resigned as deputy leader of the Labor Party in January 2018 in the wake of reports of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour. The Labor Party concluded that Giske had broken the party’s internal guidelines against sexual harassment. Giske has apologized for his behavior in several of the cases, but rejected other warnings, and stated that the party’s conclusion that he had broken the guidelines against sexual harassment should be overturned. The Labor leadership stated in February 2019 that the party’s conclusion is firm, but that today there is nothing that stands in the way of Giske’s “full participation in the party”. When Trondheim Ap proposed in February 2019 to take Giske into the county team’s management, it sparked a lot of debate. After VG’s mention of a video in which Giske dances with a young woman at a night club in February 2019, the election committee chose to remove Giske. VG has apologized for the case, and was subsequently criticized by the Press’ Professional Committee for its coverage of the video recording from Bar Vulkan. Sunniva Andreassen was one of the women who came forward and reported sexual harassment by Trond Giske. Photo: Martin Hall Larsen / news Believes whistleblowers were made vulnerable Author Sveen believes whistleblowers in the Labor Party have been completely let down by the party. Many of the women are well educated, and held trusted positions or positions in Ap. – After they notified, they experienced being made vulnerable through the way the Labor Party handled the cases. They felt that the party completely took control. Bad information was given, and the women became unsafe and insecure, says Sveen. Sveen paints a picture of an awkward and action-paralyzed party, which is unable to grasp the whistleblowers, and which does not give the whistleblowers the status and credibility they deserve. – The aim of the book is to prevent this from happening again. That organizations and parties will handle such matters in a better way in the future, says Sveen. The “whistleblowers” also deal with those who believe that the whistleblowers and the mention of the Giske case are part of a power struggle in the Labor Party. Sveen believes this is derailing whistleblower cases, and weakening the credibility of whistleblowers. Party secretary Kjersti Stenseng, and party leader Jonas Gahr Støre during the press conference after Trond Giske resigned. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB scanpix – Adopted clear guidelines The Labor Party’s party secretary, Kjersti Stenseng, points out that the party has made a number of changes after this issue came up in 2017. – I have not read the book, and will not comment on individual excerpts or allegations which is presented. But on a general basis, I would say that we showed at the national meeting in 2019 that we had not done enough. – I said, among other things: “Some will carry that with them for the rest of their lives. We know that there are people who have not had the courage to speak up. To all of you, I want to say today, on behalf of the entire Labor Party: You should not have experienced what you did. It should have been taken care of. I am very sorry for that,” she writes in an e-mail to news. Stenseng points out that at the national meeting in 2019 the party adopted clear guidelines for handling notifications. – We have put a lot of focus on a good party culture through, among other things, information and our own school rings. It must be safe to be active in the Labor Party. We are continuously working on that. I find that the vast majority of people think it’s good to be active in the Labor Party, says Stenseng. – Hardly a coincidence That this book is coming out now is hardly a coincidence. That is the opinion of political commentator at news Trøndelag, Linda Bjørgan. – Many whistleblowers in the Labor Party feel that Trond Giske is successful with Nidaro’s Social Democratic Forum and is thus in the process of regaining political power. It is a comeback in politics that is not equally popular with everyone. – There are also only a few months until Ap’s national meeting. Although the book does not contain much new information, the author takes issue with the party for not having properly dealt with what is referred to as uncultured. The book is an attempt to put the topic back on the agenda when the party leaders meet in May, says Bjørgan.
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Heidi Helene Sveen criticizes Ap for poor handling of whistleblowers after Giske case in new book – news Trøndelag
