Pressure to get undressed, alcohol- induced fights and sexist songs – all behind locked doors. A former worker at Malmö Nation testifies feeling pressured and violated by the culture at the nation’s parties.
Emma joined Malmö Nation the moment she began her studies in Lund. She went to the nation to feel included and to be a part of the student life – but chose to leave the nation after multiple grave circumstances.
Then a man had forcibly tried to rip her clothes off, people active in the nation had sung songs glorifying paedophilia and she had experienced intense peer pressure that made her feel vulnerable – all at Malmö Nation’s parties.
Talks about a vulnerable situation
She talks about a culture at the nation’s parties where alcohol rules and it is a very vulnerable situation for those who choose not to fall in line.
“I can’t believe that I was part of this nation”, she says as she reflects about her time at Malmö Nation.
When Emma became a member, she quickly decided to be active within the nation. She served food at sittningar and worked a few times a month. After each time working, there was an after-party with the whole team.
After the nation had closed, the whole team went down into one of Malmö Nation’s basement areas. Waiting for them there was a large amount of alcohol and the party quickly started. And with that, one of the after-parties’ most common forms of entertainment: stripping.
“The stripping gets started pretty quickly. Someone gets it going by turning to someone else, putting pressure on them to sing and strip”, Emma explains.
“Then everyone turns and starts shouting ‘Strip! Strip! Strip!’”.
The ritual goes on until everyone taking part is down to their underwear. The people in charge say that the stripping is voluntary – but the reality is different, says Emma.
“You can’t say no. Because then you kill the mood in an instant. It’s so hard to say no in front of a crowd screaming at you to take your clothes off”, she says.
A guy started pulling at her clothes
But it is not just the peer pressure she had to worry about. Sometimes the excitement of her taking her clothes off got so intense that people started getting physical.
“There was so much pressure if you still had your clothes on. One guy came up and started pulling at my clothes, physically trying to rip my clothes off. Even if you said no and managed to fight it for a while, they wouldn’t leave you alone until your clothes were off”, she says.
Even though many saw how a person tried to pull Emma’s clothes off, no one reacted – and at the end she was forced to give in to the peer pressure.
“It was a really tough situation. It was very violating and you feel vulnerable. I wondered how it all of a sudden ended up like this. It was chocking when people started taking their clothes off and I got very nervous and worried”, she says.
Sexist songs are sung
In addition to the fired up mood connected to the stripping, many sexist and crude songs are sung during the after parties. They could, amongst other things, be about “raping social democrats” and glorifying paedophilia, Emma tells me.
The after-parties take place right in front of the people in charge at Malmö Nation. Representatives often came in to thank the team for their work and could see what was going on. At multiple occasions some of them would also join in during a song about paedophilia.
“God, I feel so ashamed for joining this nation. Girls are violated when people sing along in these crude songs”, says Emma after she has talked about the conditions at the after-parties.
But even though Emma obviously felt very bad about the circumstances at the after-party, she chose to not bring up her experiences with anyone at the nation.
Sees a clear pattern
The after-parties were surrounded by the feeling that what happens in Malmö Nation’s basement, stays in Malmö Nation’s basement.
“They tried to maintain an image of the parties as being crazy and everyone there going off the rails – you’re naked and stripping. When a new person joins the team, the ones in charge make sure to point out that ‘what happens down there – we don’t talk about it’. Everything was supposed to stay there”, she says.
When Emma adds her own experiences with the other ones that have been reported last week, she sees a clear pattern.
“I think that there’s a very unhealthy and sexist culture within Malmö Nation, where girls are violated”, she says.
Clear rules about issues like these
When I mention that the nation has rules about equality that have to be followed, she falls quiet – and then laughs.
“These are clear violations – no doubt about it”, she says.
Emma has, for a long time, thought about telling people about her experiences. She now hopes that her story can motivate others to reveal what really goes on behind the closed doors of Malmö Nation.
“It is a very sensitive to be critical of a group and a group tradition, but I hope that this will give more girls the courage to step forward. It would strengthen our position. We have to get it out, that there really are problems at Malmö Nation”, she says.
Do you have similar experiences of student life in Lund? Don’t hesitate to write to casper.danielsson@lundagard.se or call 072-744 40 20 and tell us your story. You can be anonymous.
Emma is in reality called something else.
Translation: Emily Eriksson
