Harassment The Coalition promised to improve intervention in harassment, how do other parties do? “Basic Finns have a gentleman as a factory setting,” says the party secretary

Parliamentary parties there are differences in the way in which possible cases of harassment should be reported, according to a survey conducted by HS for the parties.

Most of the parties elected to Parliament have permanent harassment liaison officers. Some of them are only named for events. Some parties call for direct contact with party leaders.

Harassment in the political field has risen to public debate after several young women told MPs Wille Rydman behaved inappropriately towards them. Helsingin Sanomat published on Sunday extensive story on the subject. Rydman himself has denied the allegations.

Read more: “I have two underage girls involved” – MP Wille Rydman is said to have approached underage girls for years and has been warned

Coalition Party Secretary Kristiina Kokko said on Monday that, as a result of the Rydman case, the party plans to create new practices to deal with harassment cases within the party.

For example, the Coalition Party decided to use harassment liaison officers on an ongoing basis, whereas in the past they had only been used at major events, such as party meetings and cruises. In addition, the party intends to create an anonymous reporting channel for reporting grievances related to party activities.

Read more: Coalition says it will improve intervention in harassment – Anonymous reporting channel and harassment liaison officers coming

PartiesET deal with harassment in very similar ways. For example, efforts are made to address them quickly and the person who experiences the harassment is best supported.

“In the event of a serious personal integrity situation, the harassment liaison officer will always advise the victim to report the crime,” says the SDP party secretary, for example. Antton Rönnholm.

Instead, there are differences between parties in the way in which harassment is encouraged to be reported. The SDP, the Center and the RKP have permanent harassment liaison officers, which the Coalition Party said it would appoint. In addition, harassment liaison officers will be appointed separately for larger party events.

After the summer, the Left Alliance will also nominate national, more permanent harassment liaison officers in addition to those nominated for party events, says the party secretary. Mikko Koallinen.

On the Greens, harassment liaisons are only available at party events and occasions. Party Secretary Brother Liikanen harassment and inappropriate behavior can also be reported to the party office using the contact form anonymously or with contact information at any time.

Basic Finnsthe Christian Democrats and the Movement are now directing in cases of harassment to contact party leaders or key leaders.

In basic Finns, the party secretary acts as a harassment liaison Arto Luukkanen, according to which there is a “zero tolerance” for bullying and harassment in the party. According to him, any rumor or information about possible harassment is taken seriously and will be investigated immediately.

Luke has not been contacted during this parliamentary term in connection with cases of harassment.

“Basically, basic Finns have a‘ factory setting ’of a gentleman, that is, a polite and considerate person who takes their neighbor into account,” he says.

Christian Democrats do not currently have harassment liaison officers, but they could perhaps be introduced to lower the threshold for reporting, says party secretary Elsi Ranta. According to Ranta, the person in charge of their own member association must be notified of the harassment in the first place, but the matter can also be reported via an anonymous feedback form.

The Vice President is the liaison officer for the Movement Movement Karoliina Kähönensays the party secretary Juhani Klemetti. To date, the party has not been contacted about incidents of harassment. According to Klemet, if cases arise, they will be handled with confidence and an improperly behaving party member can be expelled from the party, for example.

How much is reported about harassment? According to the interviewees, the cases are brought to the attention of the party management very rarely, at most a few per year.

Acting as a liaison for downtown Juha Iso-Ahon according to the majority of cases can be resolved locally. In general, the role of the harassment liaison officers is still very unknown, he said, and most cases are handled along other routes.

“There have been several elections during this parliamentary term, which has been reflected in cases of electoral disruption. On the other hand, there have been fewer face-to-face meetings during the Korona period, which may be reflected in the number or nature of the cases, ”says Iso-Aho.

Also the party secretary of the RKP Fredrik Guseffin according to the exception is the election campaign time, when the polling station contacts the harassment liaison a little more often. Otherwise, there will be contacts about once a year, he says.

According to the Greens Liikanen, between 2020 and 2022, the party office received a couple of reports of sexual harassment. Cases have been responded to, for example, by interviewing the perpetrators or imposing a gate ban.

“In addition, there are known individual cases that have been responded to in our member associations. I believe that there have actually been more cases than these announcements suggest, ”says Liikanen.