'When I said no': Danish women in campaign against sexual assault victim blaming
Women in Denmark have joined a social media movement responding to victim blaming of women who have suffered sexual violence and harassment.
Using the hashtag #dajegsagdefra, which translates loosely to ‘when I said no’, women have described assault, attacks, violence, harassment and humiliation against them which occurred or continued after they rejected the advances of an attacker.
The hashtag began to trend in response to social media comments suggesting women can avoid being assaulted simply by firmly ‘saying no’ (ved at sige fra). Such comments have been criticised as an attempt to place responsibility for sexual assault, violence and harassment with victims.
The discussion is linked to Denmark’s #MeToo debate, which remains a prominent issue in the country after thousands of women shared stories of sexual harassment in late 2020.
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In the hashtagged tweets, the women describe situations of sexual assault or harassment which escalated after they told the aggressor to stop.
Kirstine Holst, the chairperson of support organisation Voldtægtsofres Vilkår, is among those to have shared personal accounts.
“When I said no I was held by the throat and raped”, Holst’s tweet reads.
https://twitter.com/Kirstineholst/status/1417122432557719553
Another voice in the Danish debate, Khaterah Parwani, is also among those to have tweeted using the hashtag.
Parwani is director of Løft, an organisation which works against negative social control.
She described several incidents in which she was subjected to violence and abuse after saying no to an aggressor, including being “unrecognisable at hospital” after an attack and “beaten up in a car and lying bleeding on a wet pavement”.
https://twitter.com/khaterahparwani/status/1417243930870026240
A number of Twitter uses in Denmark also highlighted on Tuesday a report issued by police in North Zealand of an incident in which a 22-year-old man punched and kicked a 15-year-old girl after she asked him to stop whistling at her and friends, and told him her age.
That incident occurred in the town of Espergærde.
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Using the hashtag #dajegsagdefra, which translates loosely to ‘when I said no’, women have described assault, attacks, violence, harassment and humiliation against them which occurred or continued after they rejected the advances of an attacker.
The hashtag began to trend in response to social media comments suggesting women can avoid being assaulted simply by firmly ‘saying no’ (ved at sige fra). Such comments have been criticised as an attempt to place responsibility for sexual assault, violence and harassment with victims.
The discussion is linked to Denmark’s #MeToo debate, which remains a prominent issue in the country after thousands of women shared stories of sexual harassment in late 2020.
READ ALSO:
- New #MeToo wave challenges Denmark’s image as haven of equality
- Why Denmark is in the midst of an epic #MeToo reckoning, three years later
- Sexual misconduct ’53 times in one year’ for Danish Social Democratic party
In the hashtagged tweets, the women describe situations of sexual assault or harassment which escalated after they told the aggressor to stop.
Kirstine Holst, the chairperson of support organisation Voldtægtsofres Vilkår, is among those to have shared personal accounts.
“When I said no I was held by the throat and raped”, Holst’s tweet reads.
https://twitter.com/Kirstineholst/status/1417122432557719553
Another voice in the Danish debate, Khaterah Parwani, is also among those to have tweeted using the hashtag.
Parwani is director of Løft, an organisation which works against negative social control.
She described several incidents in which she was subjected to violence and abuse after saying no to an aggressor, including being “unrecognisable at hospital” after an attack and “beaten up in a car and lying bleeding on a wet pavement”.
https://twitter.com/khaterahparwani/status/1417243930870026240
A number of Twitter uses in Denmark also highlighted on Tuesday a report issued by police in North Zealand of an incident in which a 22-year-old man punched and kicked a 15-year-old girl after she asked him to stop whistling at her and friends, and told him her age.
That incident occurred in the town of Espergærde.
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