MH students walk out to protest government inaction on sexual violence

Students and staff at Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð walked out of classes to protest what they called government inaction on sexual violence, mbl.is reported. They gathered outside the school for speeches and poetry, and 520 people signed a list of demands in one hour.

Students Hanna Imgront and Ragnheiður Helga Víkingsdóttir organised the gathering to show support for survivors as well as to protest the authorities’ response. They said it was difficult to estimate how many people attended, but students and staff from other schools also joined.

The organisers said schools lacked the resources to respond when cases of sexual violence arise. School managers wanted to help and create the safest possible environment, they said, but authorities had not provided them with enough tools. At MH, survivors can seek support, including from a psychologist, but provision varies between schools and not all have one.

They said schools had limited options for taking action against perpetrators, which could leave survivors having to encounter them in school corridors. The organisers acknowledged that it was difficult for school managers to act in such cases and said they were not asking schools to judge people. Instead, they want the authorities to ensure schools have the resources to handle cases as well as possible for everyone involved.

They also cited a case at Cornell University in the United States, where a group of students seriously violated another student. The university’s response was to have those involved write an essay about how they felt about what they had done, they said. The organisers called that response unacceptable and warned it could discourage survivors from speaking out or seeking help from the authorities. US prosecutors recently reopened an investigation into the case following allegations that the university had not adequately disciplined those involved.

The timing of the gathering was deliberate, the organisers said. Four years earlier, students at MH and elsewhere in Iceland had walked out of classes at 11 a.m. to protest and show support for survivors of sexual violence. They said some things had improved since then, but not enough.