– I have received an incredible number of questions from my parents, and my girlfriend sent me a message asking if everything was going well with me. That’s what the battalion representative in the Sanitation Battalion at Setermoen in Troms, Thea Andresen, says. She understands that there have been strong reactions following news’s revelations about bullying and sexual harassment in the Armed Forces. – It is very disturbing that it is like this, but I myself have not experienced anything or received any feedback from my fellow soldiers, says Andresen. She hopes the lack of reports in her battalion means that sexual harassment, assault or bullying has not occurred. – My experience is that the Armed Forces are a very safe place to be. I can of course only talk about my experiences, but they have been incredibly good, says Andresen. She gets support from her fellow soldier and company union representative, Hermann Storvik. – For my part, the initial service is something that I have benefited immensely from. If you want to go in the first service, I recommend it, he says. But even though neither Storvik nor Andresen have been exposed to bullying or harassment, there have been several whistle-blowing cases in the Norwegian Armed Forces in recent years. Whistleblowing in the Armed Forces in 2022 From the Chief of Defense’s internal audit annual report: In 2021, 213 inquiries were received to the Armed Forces’ central notification channel, in 2022 there were 255. 54 of the notifications last year were anonymous. 3 percent of the notifications were about sexual harassment. 37 per cent of the inquiries were assessed as not falling within the definition of objectionable conditions. The chief of defense’s internal audit (FSJ IR) completed a total of 194 cases in 2022, this also includes cases that were transferred from previous years and closed last year. The majority of cases that were closed in 2022 ended with a conclusion that the claim made is not objectionable. The report states that the marked increase in the number of notification cases in recent years, as well as the legal requirement to deal with the cases within a reasonable time, leads to a very challenging staffing situation. This is despite the fact that several new employees have been appointed to help close the notification cases. On Tuesday, the Minister of Defence, the defense leadership and union representatives met for a meeting to clean up the dishes. – I experienced it as a trust-building and productive meeting. Some of the challenges we face in the Armed Forces were addressed, and then good measures were brought to the table from the union representatives and others in the meeting, says leader of the Military Women’s Network Amanda Bergh to news. The Army employs more whistle-blowers The Army has already started concrete measures to prevent and handle whistle-blowing cases. Among other things, they now employ two people in permanent positions in the Army Staff at Bardufoss. They receive notification cases as work fields. The two will not work in a vacuum, but act as the glue in the Army’s warning system. They receive support from the personnel and HSE department. – The whole purpose here is to establish a system that enables the Army to process cases in a uniform, responsible and trust-inspiring way, says head of the personnel department in the Army, Colonel Svenn Egil Grøtte. – We are establishing a system that will support Commander Hæren and his subordinate commanders in taking care of the employer’s duties, and at the same time have a system that takes care of the personnel involved and alerts on objectionable conditions in a structured and as professional way as possible. Colonel Svenn Egil Grøtte, head of the personnel department/G1 The army is aware that long-term and continuous work and follow-up is required. Photo: Sigrid Vormeland, Norwegian Armed Forces – It must be safe to report According to Grøtte, the aim is to have a system that inspires confidence, and which means that the threshold for reporting for particularly young soldiers is low. – It is important to handle the notifications in a good way, but it is also important that we get something out of the notifications so that we can improve. That is part of the purpose of notifying, and it must be safe to notify, he says. The two who will have notification as their main task must both work to lower the notification threshold and proactively approach managers, employees and soldiers. – Could the fact that you intensify the notification work lead to more notifications? – It is difficult for me to assess whether there will be more or not. We work preventively with a goal of as few notifications as possible. At the same time, we should not be afraid of receiving notifications, as this should make us even better and further develop us. That is what is important, he says and emphasizes that they are already seeing results from the work that has begun. On Tuesday, it was also announced that the Norwegian Armed Forces will establish a central notification unit. – This is a major project in the Armed Forces. The Norwegian Armed Forces are now working on their measures to come up with an organization for the summer. We are out a little earlier, so we will have to adjust based on what the Defense comes up with. But I think it is absolutely right that the Army has its own notification reception, says Grøtte. – We lack a continuous focus Chief shop steward in the Air Force, Ingrid Furulund is satisfied after the discussion meeting on Tuesday morning, which the Minister of Defense had called. She sees the creation of a central notification unit as positive. Today, all the branches have their own whistleblowing reception desks and different practices on how whistleblowing cases are handled. – We have different resources in the form of personnel, which affects the processing and follow-up of all notifications that come in. Now we get a more comprehensive system that helps us to learn from the experiences we get, she says. Chief shop steward in the Air Force, Ingrid Furulund was satisfied with the signals from the discussion meeting on Tuesday. Photo: Skjermbilde / news Furulund believes that the Norwegian Armed Forces have too many leaders who sit with too little competence and experience when it comes to the handling of notification cases. She thinks it is very good that the revelations in recent days have focused on these issues. – Against bullying and sexual harassment, we lack a continuous focus. It is important to talk about this and provide sufficient training. That the soldiers know what bullying and sexual harassment are, what is okay and to have openness about boundary setting, good team discussions, we are not quite able to do that today, says Furulund.
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Trade union representatives in the Norwegian Armed Forces hope whistleblowing cases do not scare away young people – news Troms and Finnmark
