New podcast series: The fight against sexual harassment in the Nordic cultural sector
Finland’s gender equality ombudsman Jukka Maarianvaara and head of legal affairs at the Finnish Musicians’ Association Lottaliina Pokkinen are taking part in the first episode of the Me Too podcast.
In the first of seven episodes we hear gender equality ombudsman Jukka Maarianvaara and head of the Finnish Musicians’ Association Lottaliina Pokkinen talk about what increased awareness of sexual abuse has meant for the cultural sector.
“Many freelancers are scared of being stigmatised as troublesome if they talk about sexual harassment, but I think we need this publicity in order to move forwards,” says head of the Finnish Musicians’ Association Lottaliina Pokkinen.
Feminist activism and political action
Theatre director and playwright Lærke Reddersen from Denmark discusses feminist activism with Finnish-Swedish Nina Nyman, doctoral student in gender studies at Åbo Akademi University. They also compare how activists, the media, and politicians have acted in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.
Media, young people, and Me Too
Ebba Witt-Brattström, author and professor of Nordic literature, is a guest on the fourth episode of the podcast together with historian and columnist Nicolas von Kraemer. They offer their perspectives on the media debate surrounding #metoo.
How did young people and those new to the labour market perceive the Me Too movement? The perspective of young people is discussed by gender equality expert Malin Gustavsson, Tanja Rönnberg from Save the Children, and Nicholas Kujala, President of the Nordic Youth Council.
The ministers for culture are behind this focus on #metoo
The Me Too podcast is a continuation of the Nordic ministers for culture’s focus on #metoo in the cultural sector and links back to the series of seminars on #metoo that was hosted by all the Nordic countries in 2019. The podcast is produced by Nordic Culture Point with Finland as its starting point and a focus on the Nordic Region.
“It’s great to see that the Nordic ministers for culture picked up and really took the issue of sexual harassment in the cultural sector seriously. I’m glad that with this podcast we can keep the issue of sexual harassment at the top of the agenda,” says Ola Kellgren, director of Nordic Culture Point.
“Our aim with the podcast has been to bring in the perspective of young people and highlight the progress made in efforts to combat sexual harassment, as well as allow critical voices be heard and raise awareness of the challenges that still exist.”
Me Too podcast episodes:
- Episode 1: Status report for Finland and the music industry (published on 3 September)
- Episode 2: Status report for Denmark and feminist activism (published on 10 September)
- Episode 3: Status report for Åland and children’s and youth culture (published on 17 September)
- Episode 4: The debate surrounding Me Too (published on 24 September)
- Episode 5: Status report for Norway and Sweden and the role of men (to be published later)
- Episode 6: Young people and graduates in the performing arts industry (to be published later)
- Episode 7: Status report for Iceland, social media, and legal processes (to be published later)
The podcast series is in Scandinavian, hosted by Madeleine Dunderlin from Nordic Culture Point.
