(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
The #MeToo campaign has given thousands of women the opportunity to come forward with their stories, and many of them are doing so for the very first time. I wish I could say I'm shocked at both the number and the stories that have emerged – but I'm not. Today, sexual harassment is far too largely dismissed and perceived as "normal" – because it is something women do not experience only once, but repeatedly throughout their lives.
Sex education must be strengthened while schools and employers take sexual harassment seriously.
What Is Sexual Harassment? Sexual harassment is unwanted attention related to body, sexuality or gender. This means that it is up to the victim to decide whether the incident is undesirable, whether it is sexual harassment. This makes the whole debate that has been in the wake of the MeToo campaign a little distant. Some claim that "it must be allowed to try out" or that it will be very difficult for boys who just do a little "flirting" if all women are to shout about sexual harassment. If you can't "try on someone" – of the same or opposite sex – without making the other party feel uncomfortable, then you should really sharpen, I mean.
Sexual harassment is something quite different from minor or bitchy flirting. Sexual harassment is not an individual problem that every woman has to endure and take responsibility for. It is a societal problem – which, unfortunately, almost all women have to live with – that we have to treat as just a societal problem.
Only the beginning. The fight against sexual harassment must not stop the MeToo campaign on social media. The women who have come forward with their stories should not have done it in vain. We must continue the fight and demand change. Young boys and girls must learn about boundaries – that only yes means yes. They need to learn early on that there is a difference between minor flirting and sexual harassment, that there is a difference between getting dressed and being an asshole. Sex education must be strengthened while schools and employers take sexual harassment seriously.
The fight against sexual harassment and abuse continues until everyone is safe and free to decide on their own body.
