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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.
Investigators have sounded the alarm about a culture at Camp B3, which is a bachelor’s degree in police education: operational training during camp stays in the third year, at the Police Academy.
– I heard about abuse of position to achieve sexual acts in exchange for favorable guards or good references. I heard about the party culture and about the so-called “Fuck Thursday” at Camp B3, Police Director Benedicte Bjørnland said in a press release Wednesday.
Hear what Heidi Helene Sveen thinks about reports of sexual harassment by police on Dagbladet’s “Right on” podcast:
– I laughed
Equality and discrimination ombud Hanne Bjurstrøm believes that the results of the research project are worrying.
– This is a very central agency with important tasks and which, in my opinion, should be a pioneering workplace where things are in order when it comes to sexual harassment, Bjurstrøm tells Dagbladet, continuing:
– Cases of sexual harassment are serious for the police. It is also serious because I know that the police are concerned about recruiting women for leadership, and this can deter them.
Missed homework after “fuck Thursday”
– not surprised
The Ombudsman for Equality and the Fight against Discrimination, on the other hand, is not surprised by the results of the research project.
– Unfortunately I’m not surprised, but I hadn’t thought that there would be such serious individual incidents. I thought people after metoo would understand how serious this is and how serious it is for those who are exposed to this, he says.
Bjurstrøm still believes that the Police Academy shows a great willingness to clean up.
– They are clear that this is unacceptable, he adds.
New camp next week
Siw Thokle, head of the department of continuing and higher education at the Police Academy, has overall responsibility for the section responsible for training in the camps.
– We cannot discuss the investigative report until it is available, but one sexual abuse case is too much. We have zero tolerance for bullying behavior. We need to investigate this further and better understand if it’s individual episodes or if it’s more intrusive than we’ve thought so far, Thokle tells Dagbladet.
Worried about “fucking Thursday”
She claims that the next camp in education is next week, but then B2 will go to the camp. For B3, the next camp is in January 2021.
– It is too early to say if there will be changes before the next camp. We are now discussing whether the internal guidelines should be stricter or more emphasized, but it would have been irresponsible not to have tried this, Thokle tells Dagbladet.
– Two or three instructors
She says they have worked against sexual harassment at the Police Academy for many years, and that in 2018 they saw the need to further clarify the role of instructors in writing.
Thokle has been a department head since 2014 and says that with her as the head, there have been two or three instructors who have been told they “didn’t want them back.”
– It has not been about sexual harassment, but it may be people who have not followed the guidelines of the Police Academy, who do not have the professional skills or understanding of the role that must exist to be an instructor. It may also be that they haven’t helped create a good learning environment, he explains.
The department head says that today they had a department meeting with all the employees of the Continuing Education Department.
– There we address the question: What can you do in your studio? How can we jointly prevent this from happening? Responsibility was also emphasized in asymmetric power relations.
Course conducted in 2018
“Fuck-Thursday” has had consequences
Equality and discrimination ombud Bjurstrøm, informs Dagbladet that they conducted a course on sexual harassment for management at the Police Academy no later than 2018.
– We have been teaching courses on sexual harassment in many workplaces for a long time, as we have the primary responsibility to teach about warning and prevention of sexual harassment, Bjurstrøm tells Dagbladet.
He points out that they have a cooperation agreement with the Armed Forces, and says that they are open to taking courses at the Police Academy if they are interested.
– This should be discussed and evaluated in more detail by the rector’s management group, replies Thokle at the Police Academy.
– Must be on guard
She says the issue of sexual harassment has been raised in the camps, for both instructors and students. Thokle does not know if separate courses have been taken in the bachelor’s program, as he is responsible for the training at the camp.
– But individual incidents have been discovered that we have addressed, now management has sent information to all employees and we have also had an account of what we have done and what we will do in the future. My approach is that we, as leaders, must receive messages from students in a good way. We must be vigilant, he explains.
Equality and discrimination ombud Bjurstrøm emphasizes how important it is to work with long-term sexual harassment.
– It is something you have to work with long-term and continuously all the time to be aware of how to behave with each other. Even after several years with metoo, many shop stewards report that not enough has been done to prevent this, he tells Dagbladet.
– Big change in recent years
“Sorry I thought we had a desk”
Anja Sletteland has written together with Hannah Helseth the book «What I should say. Manual on sexual harassment ».
Over the past three years, they have taught a series of courses on sexual harassment, including for cadets and War College employees.
Sletteland has received the results of the investigation at the Police Academy and is not surprised.
– Two years ago, sexual harassment was put on the military’s agenda, and there has been a big change in just those years, Sletteland tells Dagbladet, noting that there are several similarities between the military and the police.
– Both institutions are characterized by strong hierarchies, a male-dominated culture, and risky work tasks that require great trust among colleagues. The courses we teach are highly adapted to the specific environment of today’s industry. We take as a starting point what generates the greatest risk there, we provide participants with a conceptual framework so that they can reflect on their own daily work and practice scenarios. It’s not enough to tell people what not to do, he explains.
The settlement about the star author nachspielet
Sletteland notes that they have not worked with the Police Academy.
– But the police academy and the Armed Forces are places where you depend on your partners and where the loyalty of the people around you is high. There is not necessarily a higher risk of sexual harassment there than in other parts of society, but the consequences can be very serious when it occurs, he concludes.
