The case summarized Summary of the most important in this text: Journalist Heidi Østhus Erikssen received slanderous comments while she was working at a festival and wrote a debate post about it. Juni Wendelin Fasting, journalist in the newspaper TA, thinks most of the examples from Notodden are inside. Østhus Erikssen believes it is about time and place and that Wendelin Fasting’s comment sets the women’s struggle back 30 years. Anja Beate Sletteland, author of two books about the Metoo movement, thinks it is positive that the debate is flaring up again. Sletteland believes that the debate will continue and that it is important that it does so. Østhus Erikssen is proud to work in a newspaper that puts sexual harassment on the agenda. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. “Young Miss”. “Sweet”. “Young Lady”. “Of course I want to talk to you. I can’t say no to someone as sweet as you!”. These are some of the comments Heidi Østhus Erikssen, debate officer in the newspaper Varden, says she received while she was at work covering the opening of the Notodden Blues Festival two weeks ago. One of the men she interviewed is said to have said that he had space available in the motorhome if she wanted to spend the night. Unacceptable, says Østhus Erikssen, and wrote a debate post about the matter. Heidi Østhus Erikssen believes there must be room to focus on everyday little things that add up to a big problem, and not just the worst stories. Photo: Lorentz Berg / news But not everyone agrees with her. My colleague disagrees – I think you have to put up with that much. Juni Wendelin Fasting, journalist in the newspaper TA, thinks most of the examples from Notodden are inside. Also an invitation to spend the night in the motorhome. – I would probably have said no thank you, I’m going back home or something similar. I would have probably just dismissed it, says Wendelin Fasting. Nor had she experienced the comment from a man that he “couldn’t say no to someone as sweet as you” as problematic. – I would have been grateful for that, says the TA journalist. Heidi Østhus Erikssen and Juni Wendelin Fasting met on Friday for a debate in Dagsnytt 18. – We shouldn’t think that everything is so terribly bad all the time, says Juni Wendelin Fasting. Photo: Lorentz Berg / news Must be seen in context For his part, Østhus Erikssen believes that it is about time and place. – Regardless of whether it’s a joke, whether it’s meant as a dominance technique or flirting, it’s inappropriate to focus on that type of appearance in a professional setting. Wendelin Fasting thinks her newspaper colleague is easily offended. That provokes Østhus Erikssen. – I feel, quite frankly, that Wendelin Fasting’s comment sets the women’s struggle back 30 years. And that she is helping to undermine the history of women who experience harassment at work by saying that we should just laugh it off. A survey published by FHI last year showed that 22 per cent of journalists and editors had experienced unwanted sexual attention in the past six months. In one out of three cases, it was sources or others outside the editorial office who had harassed them. Classic #metoo debate – This debate is a bit of déjà vu from the early #metoo debate. So says Anja Beate Sletteland, author of two books about the #metoo movement. – A very big objection to #metoo was that the movement came together big and small. At that time, it was common to recognize the large, gross abuses, but not everyday harassment. This kind of resistance came from two different places, says Sletteland. – One was from men who felt stigmatized as abusers. The second came from women who felt stigmatized as easily offended victims, or who felt sympathy for men who are stigmatized as abusers. According to Anja Sletteland, it is not unusual for this type of debate to be about what it means to be strong; to speak up or to bite it. Photo: Eivind Volder Rutle Sletteland thinks it is positive that the debate is flaring up again. – It is good that we constantly talk about what people think is okay and what we expect from other people’s behaviour. It is only when that conversation is kept alive that we get to know different attitudes. She emphasizes that she would still like the debate to move forward more. Has led to the personhood Østhus Erikssen stopped counting comments, sms’s, instant messages and other feedback when the number reached a thousand. Many of the messages are gross personalizations by Varden’s debate leader. It has been costly to bring up the topic. – As debate leader, I am used to standing in the storm, but this is an issue I have known first hand. I have never experienced receiving so many comments that are directly personal. She fears that hostile and inflammatory comments in the wake of such debates lead to people not being able to speak up. – I have been in contact with politicians, nurses and other women who have stories they want to tell. But they don’t dare, because they can’t bear to stand in the storm I’ve now stood in. Still, the storm doesn’t make everyone calm down, says Sletteland. She believes the debate will continue. – This has been a track in the debate all along. That people react to someone reacting. But people continue to talk, even if it’s noisy and even if it’s uncomfortable to stand in it. Østhus Erikssen also believes it is important that the debate continues. – I am proud to work in a newspaper that puts sexual harassment on the agenda, because it is also necessary in 2023. What is sexual harassment? Sexual harassment is unwanted sexual attention that has the purpose or effect of being offensive, intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or bothersome. Sexual harassment can occur in many different forms and can be both physical, verbal and non-verbal (body language). Sexual harassment can be anything from sexual comments about the body and appearance, simulation of sexual movements, scratching, pawing, touching to sexual abuse. Showing images and videos with sexual content will also be sexual harassment. Source: Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority
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– Sets the women’s struggle back 30 years – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
