Yle documentary captures journalist facing sexual harassment
Tuesday 3rd November 2026 on 17:01 in
Finland
Journalist Wilma Ruohisto encountered unwanted touching and other sexual harassment during nights out filmed for Yle’s documentary series “Älä koske!” (“Don’t touch!”), Yle reports. The series follows her in bars, at concerts and on nightclub dance floors across Finland.
Ruohisto and the crew spent 16 nights filming, travelling from Helsinki to Lapland and taking a party cruise on the Baltic Sea. The crew stayed nearby as Ruohisto moved through nightlife venues, and she wore a microphone to record interactions. Yle used covert filming to document the harassment.
Among the incidents, people came too close on the dance floor despite her objections, slapped her on the backside, and tried to kiss or hug her after she had refused. In one encounter, when Ruohisto asked a man why he kept getting close to her, he replied: “I’m making advances on you.”
The series begins in Seinäjoki. On one night Ruohisto wore a long dress and on another a short one; she wondered whether her clothing affected the attention she received. Emma Winiecki, communications manager at UN Women Finland and an expert featured in the series, said women are not responsible for the expectations others attach to their appearance. Women have the right to dress as they choose, go to bars, dance and turn down advances, she said.
A 2024 Equality Barometer found that the most common forms of sexual harassment included unwanted touching or groping, shouted remarks and inappropriate sexual comments. A 2024 survey commissioned by UN Women and Norlyn found that more than half of women under 35 did not feel able to dress as they wanted because they wished to avoid harassment.
Ruohisto said people’s behaviour can be influenced by alcohol and by the attitudes they grew up with. Some may not realise their actions are uncomfortable unless someone tells them, she said, while others know they are acting inappropriately or unlawfully and disregard how it makes the person experiencing it feel. She said the series is not intended as an accusation against anyone.
The series will be available on Yle Areena on Wednesday.