Bergen Labor Veteran With Strong Settlement – Received Multiple Unknown Stories Overnight – NRK Vestland

Pål Hafstad Thorsen held several key positions at AUF in Bergen and Hordaland in the 2000s.

There he became involved in the fight against a culture with “flat stuffing, (…) sexual harassment, bullying and zero trust among elected representatives,” he writes in a Facebook post Thursday night.

– This is not something unique around Trond Giske’s click. This is something we’ve seen elsewhere with the Labor Party in Norway, says Thorsen, who was a school counselor in Bergen from 2015 to 2018.

In 2018 he was rejected as a councilor in favor of current councilor Roger Valhammer, when then-councilor Harald Schjelderup announced that he would resign.

– Doping, sexual harassment and attempted rape

After publishing the post, he has received a lot of comments both from people who share what they have experienced at the party and from people who say that they themselves helped keep the culture alive.

Several messages contain very disturbing stories from former AUF members in Bergen, who have not been dealt with in the party and who are unknown to most people.

NRK has read several of the stories that are said to go back several years in time.

– These are stories that have never been told before. Women tell us they have been drugged, sexually harassed and subjected to attempted rape, says Thorsen.

Thorsen believes the party now needs to take a new stance against culture across the organization from the 1980s and beyond 2010.

– Labor must take a new agreement with metoo, version 2.0. That round must be very tough. In the political environment, both nationally and locally, one only scratches the surface. This must be uprooted, Thorsen tells NRK on Friday.

– Expect more stories to come

Geir Steinar Dale, leader of the Labor Party in Bergen, will send an email to members of the local team on Friday afternoon.

There he encourages everyone who sits inside to share unpleasant experiences.

– I do not know the background of what Thorsen mentioned, so I cannot comment on it. But that it’s been a culture for several years, which one can question, is probably absolutely correct, Dale says.

I did not receive any new notification

He says he has “heard stories” about former party colleagues, but has never experienced cross-border behavior in the party.

– We have worked many years to change the culture of the party, and I think we have closed well. The organization’s driving rules, including zero tolerance for alcohol in meeting contexts, are reported at all annual meetings and meetings. The organization must be safe for everyone and I think we have made great strides in that process.

Dale acknowledges that there are probably more untold stories among members of his local team.

– I will be surprised if there will be coma stories that apply to the present. But I hope there is some coma that people have experienced before, Dale tells NRK.

As of Saturday afternoon, the Labor Party in Bergen has not been notified of any new stories.

– Open to listen

Mars County Leader Mjøs Persen is the mayor of Bergen and the leader of Vestland Ap. He has also not received any notice in recent days and thinks it is difficult to say if anyone can come.

– But we are open to hearing the stories. In Vestland Ap there is no place for culture or sexual harassment. Of course, there must be a low threshold for notification and any trampling must be dealt with immediately. It should be high under the roof to mean different things, have good political processes and open political debate, he says.

Mjøs Persen points out that the party has been renewed and that those who are elected now mostly were not there 10-20 years ago and vice versa. Furthermore, they are concerned about the organization’s driving rules and the rules against sexual harassment at all levels of the organization.

Respond to the generalization

– I think that at least Labor is a good place to be and discuss, and I think many with me think so. We make sure it is safe and good to express your opinions. You can’t compare Labor today to Thorsen’s descriptions of the 1990s, much because extravagant drinking parties obviously have no place in organizational life. That’s what was settled long ago, my persians.

She emphasizes that the party continually works with the organization and how people should be with each other.

Mjøs Persen further responds to the fact that Thorsen writes on Facebook that he “has seen and heard ministers, secretaries of state, councilors, political advisers, central and local union delegates and journalists who greatly exploit trust in girls and boys.”

– It is important that you do not suspect all those who have held important positions for the Labor Party. Also among our top shop stewards, we have good examples of men and women who have stood up to show another way and be good role models, says the county leader.

Do not allow alcohol

Endre Toft, leader of Vestland AUF, says he is happy that the youth party has taken a clear position against the culture that Thorsen spreads in his Facebook post.

– We have good guidelines in place to address sexual harassment, schooling around borders, and power relations, and we work consistently to ensure that the threshold for speaking is as low as possible. Alcohol is also not allowed at any of the events at AUF, and that’s a good thing, says Toft.