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– It is lived as if the director stamps an entire agency, and I react to the director’s language. JI have received member feedback on this.Kristin Aga, head of the Oslo Police Association (OPF), tells Dagbladet.
Recently, several cases of sexual harassment and unwanted behavior were discovered in the police service, in a research project by investigators Dag Ellingsen and Ulla-Britt Lilleaas.
Hear what Heidi Helene Sveen thinks about reports of police sexual harassment on the “Right on” podcast.
“Fuck-Thursday”
Police Director Benedicte Bjørnland said the following in a press release on the police website:
– I heard about abuse of position to achieve sexual acts in exchange for favorable guards or good references. I heard about party culture and so-called “Fuck Thursdays” at Camp B3.
– When you talk about “fucking Thursday”, you discount something that is important, says Kristin Aga.
Vocabulary skeptic
There are several in the Oslo Police Association who believe that Bjørnland’s vocabulary is pure, says Aga.
– I am skeptical about the choice of words and I think the case could have been put in a more nuanced way. There will be more harassment surrounding the writing, rather than addressing the content of the case, he says.
Aga is happy that the issue of sexual harassment is being highlighted, but she doesn’t recognize herself in Bjørnland’s descriptions of a culture at the agency.
– Everyone is concerned about taking this seriously, while it is important to say that we are not an agency where everyone commits sexual harassment, says Aga.
She believes this will especially affect the police on duty.
– The crew will hear “how are you fucking Thursday”. You know you run into that, she says.
Don’t seal an entire agency
Police Director Benedicte Bjørnland writes the following in an email to Dagbladet about the use of the word “fuck-Thursday”:
– This word is explicitly expressed to investigators Ellingsen and Lilleaas from various informants who have contacted them during the last year. The researchers reported their new findings to me at a meeting last week, and I understand the word was used to describe an undesirable practice that several informants had information about.
– I don’t see any reason not to be able to reproduce the explicit information that the researchers have communicated to me – I think that with this I do not seal a complete agency, says Bjørnland.
Be contacted
– Are the results of the investigation something that you in the Oslo Police Association are familiar with before?
– Yes, as the leader of the Oslo Police Association, I will admit that it is a problem. Each case is too many, and we have zero tolerance for sexual harassment, says Kristin Aga.
– Do you maintain a close dialogue with people who have been sexually harassed?
– Yes, we will be contacted. So we must find good solutions to stop it, in consultation with stakeholders. When these cases are discovered, it is important that the person exposed to this does not become a loser and has to change their workplace.
“Fuck-Thursday” has had consequences
Measures implemented
The Oslo Police Association has a good collaboration with the leadership in the Oslo police district and several measures have already been implemented, says Aga.
– The problem must be highlighted and discussed. Concrete measures will make the problem visible and help change the culture, he says.
Among the measures are the formation of dilemmas and the training of managers.
People who perform acts that are incompatible with working in the police should not be allowed to keep the job, says Aga.
Missed homework after “fuck Thursday”
Start the interview with the employee
Police Director Benedicte Bjørnland further writes that she has tried to be as accurate as possible in the media.
– Among other things, noting that 1.3 percent of our employees report sexual harassment in the latest employee survey. Therefore, the clear majority of our employees are not exposed to such incidents, writes Bjørnland.
However, on the basis of the serious picture that has now been presented to us through investigation, we, as responsible employers, are obliged to dig deeper into the matter. Therefore, we are now starting a new employee survey, which will be more detailed and will focus on sexual harassment. In this way, everyone will have the opportunity to contribute to providing as accurate a factual basis as possible, so that we can implement specific measures, he writes.
