The autumn in Lund was dominated by news of sexism in the world of Nations. Now, Kuratorskollegiet is demanding measurements and takes the initiative to have talks with the Nations in order to sort out the problems.
Malmö Nation was in a tight spot last autumn.
It all began when a female guest was thrown out by a security guard during a sittning. This occurred after she questioned why said guard had not intervened when she and her friend received sexist and invasive comments from a male guest.
A few days later it surfaced that, among other things, a female member was at a prior date pressured into taking her clothes off during an after-party at the Nation.
In conjunction with the discussion that was sparked in the aftermath of these events, Malmö Nation’s representatives declared that they were working on a plan of action with the purpose of counteracting similar incidents in the future.
Even Kuratorskollegiet’s, KK, former Chairwoman Märta Skoglund was open to the possibility of implementing a similar plan.
During this spring term these plans has begun to substantialise, to some degree.
As a consequence of the incidents at Malmö Nation, KK is to meet the curators of the Nations a few times each semester to discuss if sexual molestation occurs within the Nations’ establishments, and if so, how to counteract them.
“We will meet in order to see if we can follow trends and if it is something that is becoming better or worse. Also, we will discuss possible cooperation with Uppsala University, to compare how the situation is over there” says Fredrik Grotte, chairman of KK.
According to Fredrik Grotte, who was the curator for Östgöta Nation 2015, questions about sexism and molestation have been scarce among the previous curators. This changed after information about the incident at Malmö Nation caught wind.
KK has because of this demanded that the Nations appoint a person who people can turn to if subjected to sexual molestation. The demand has largely been positively received.
“Every Nation has organised it differently. Some have created a special office for this type of question, and in other cases they allow people to be anonymous when contacting the Nation, if it is something you have experienced”, says Fredrik Grotte.
Martin Brandt, the current curator at Malmö Nation, welcomes the talks the meeting with KK. But at the same time he calls attention to that it is ultimately the Nations’ own responsibility to pre-empt this kind of phenomenon. Malmö Nation have since autumn taken steps themselves to correct their Nation’s culture.
“We have among other things posted our basic values and principles on our website, and tried to clearly propagate it to our members” he says and continues:
“We have also formed a guard document and a contract for everyone employed at the Nation, which among other things stipulates that you are responsible to intervene if you see something that is not alright. We have also introduced an anonymous notification document”.
In addition, Blekingska Nation’s Curator Helene Andersson welcomes the talks initiated by KK. She says that neither report of sexism or molestation have occurred at the Nation during the half-year she has had her post, but states that it is important to work proactively in order to counteract these kinds of events in nation life.
“Equal treatment and harassment are subjects which we should always talk about. Because society is constantly changing, we have to follow its development”, says Helene Andersson.
Translation: Viktor Jönsson
