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Shocking figures were presented when the Armed Forces presented their second investigation for sexual harassment and harassment. More than 10,000 people who have worked for more than six months have responded to the survey.
Among the 2,410 women who responded to the survey, up to 46 percent say they have experienced sexual harassment. This corresponds to more than 1,100 women, and if you are under the age of 30, the proportion is 63%.
– “In the panties, up on the mouse” is a compass rule used in the field.
– Disappointing numbers
Private in service for the first time is overrepresented in the statistics. The decline in sexual harassment is also less among younger women. Defense chief Eirik Kristoffersen should see that the figures from the previous poll from two years ago have only marginally improved.
– It’s a disappointing number. We see a decline from 2018, but it is too small. It is not sustainable and we have to work with it, Kristoffersen tells Dagbladet.
He considers that the improvement that the Armed Forces will ensure will require the solution of two challenges in particular: the attitude of young people to what is accepted and the culture of the Armed Forces itself. Kristoffersen himself expected the range to be much less than the results show.
– We have an important job to do. This does not correspond to the values of respect, responsibility and courage of the Armed Forces. The threshold for what young people accept is too high. Too many people accept bullying and harassment without warning. An abuse is too much. The attitude of the youth and the culture of the combined Armed Forces are the problem, believes the Chief of Defense.
One in five has suffered sexual harassment
Worse in pupils and students
Despite the extensive work of the Armed Forces with the aim of recruiting young women, statistics show that the problem is pronounced in this group. 73 percent of female students say they have experienced sexual harassment in one form or another.
Gender-based harassment, followed by unwanted sexual attention, is the most common sexual harassment among survey respondents. The report also states that it is more common for women than men to experience various forms of sexual harassment.
Kristoffersen believes that a culture in which people wanted to do their best leads to a higher threshold for reporting unacceptable behavior and abuse. Now he wants to sharpen the fight against harassment for abuse in the Armed Forces. Although he is disappointed with the marginal decline shown by the recent survey, he does not believe that major consequences are the answer to the problem.
– We have a disciplinary regulation that I consider sufficient and I do not believe that our consequences are too slight. The challenges are the lack of reports. We cannot hang people or individuals to set an example, says the Chief of Defense, who has trouble predicting what the situation will be like in ten years, given the evolution it has had since the survey in 2018.
– We are working towards a zero vision and I expect a significant decrease already in two years, says Kristoffersen, who already anticipated that there will be new polls.
The Armed Forces have no control over sexual harassment and abuse
– An enemy within
In addition to sexual harassment, the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI) report points to bullying as an ongoing major challenge. One-tenth of those who have responded say they have experienced bullying in one form or another. Here, too, women are over-represented, but to a much lesser extent than in the case of sexual harassment.
– Intimidation and harassment is an internal enemy that you will lose in the Armed Forces. The work we are doing to combat this is long-term. Everything indicates that we should have gone further in both sexual harassment and bullying, but we must admit that we have not, says Kristoffersen.
Harassment related to people, exclusion and harassment related to work are the three most common types among respondents. The Defense Chief has no doubt that it will take time to get rid of the problems, but at the same time he says that the goal will always be for the statistics to show zero cases.
– Many believe that zero vision of bullying and sexual harassment is unrealistic, but we have an infinite perspective. I don’t dare to predict when we will reach vision zero, but we will work harder and take more steps to get there. We are human beings, unfortunately we can make mistakes to one degree or another, but we take all matters that end up on our table very seriously, says Kristoffersen.
