Nordic Co-operation Opens New Perspectives on Sexual Harassment
More knowledge is needed on how to handle and prevent sexual harassment. As a contribution to knowledge building, the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research and NIKK, Nordic Information on Gender, have co-produced a Nordic anthology published in April. In the book, academics and literary authors open up for new understandings of sexual harassment, violence and justice.
"Sexual harassment is a major problem for society in the Nordic countries and more research is needed on prevention and on understandings of sexual violence and harassment. This book shows that the Nordic region is complex and that the idea of some countries have made so much progress, or are even finished with the work for gender equality, can stand in the way of actual change", says Maja Lundqvist, analyst at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research at the University of Gothenburg.
Together with Kajsa Widegren, PhD in gender studies, and Angelica Simonsson, PhD in education, analysts at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research, she is co-editor of the upcoming anthology Re-imagining Sexual Harassment - Perspectives from the Nordic Region. The book will be published on 18 April by Policy Press, an imprint of Bristol University Press. Researchers and writers from across the Nordic region have contributed with different perspectives, including workplace violence, sexual harassment in academia, and the challenges and opportunities of the legal system. Academic text is alternated with more fictional contributions.
"We primarily invited researchers active in the Nordic region, who we felt could give new perspectives and theoretical approaches. But it was also important for us to have contributions from people outside academia, in order to nuance the picture of knowledge about vulnerability. There are experiences and embodied knowledge of vulnerability and resistance that non-academic writing can access in a better way", says Maja Lundqvist.
While working on this anthology, we also deepened ideas and perspectives that have emerged in the organization after working with sexual harassment since Metoo
The book has been produced in co-operation between the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research and NIKK, a co-operation body of the Nordic Council of Ministers, placed at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research.
"We see a need for a boost in knowledge about sexual harassment in the Nordic labour market. While working on this anthology, we also deepened ideas and perspectives that have emerged in the organization after working with sexual harassment since Metoo", says Fredrik Bondestam, PhD in education and director of the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research.
The Metoo movement in the fall of 2017 sparked much debate and created a demand for more knowledge on sexual harassment. In response, NIKK has in recent years produced and compiled several Nordic knowledge and policy reviews on sexual harassment, and also administered a Nordic research initiative on sexual harassment in the labor market. The Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research has produced research reviews, participated in expert groups and collaborated in research projects on gender-based violence and sexual harassment in Sweden, in the Nordic countries and internationally. This long-term work has highlighted the extent and complexity of the problem.
"The knowledge gaps we have identified have raised both curiosity and frustration, in relation to research, knowledge and policy development and how sexual harassment should be managed and prevented. We hope that this book can be important in the conversation about sexual harassment. It adds nuance and broadens the understanding of what sexual harassment and violence are and its consequences for people living in the Nordic region", says Maja Lundqvist.
Re-imagining Sexual Harassment – Perspectives from the Nordic Region will be published on 18 April 2023 by Policy Press, an imprint of Bristol University Press.
The book will be available in bookstores and can be ordered through the publisher. It will also be available in OpenAccess.
