In the 20 years since the ground-breaking UN Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, women’s access to formal peace processes is continues to be severely limited despite years of active advocacy from Women, Peace and Security actors. Formal peace negotiations remain a secluded and heavily male dominated arena. It is time to move beyond demanding a seat at the table for women, and rather to re-think and re-strategize what inclusive mediation should look like.

A workshop on inclusive mediation was held in Reykjavík in November 2021 with the objective of looking beyond the narrow models of women’s inclusion, and to focus instead on exploring a variety of avenues available for women’sparticipation in peace processes. Attendees of the workshop got the opportunity to discuss and develop concrete ideas of different avenues that could be utilized to ensure women’s active inclusion in peace processes worldwide.

New Nordic Narratives is a hands-on, think-tank-inspired seminar, research and development process designed to solidify new networks and bring sustainable change by identifying the best actions and methods to rethink and transform key issues of representation, gender equality and sustainability across the Nordic film- & tv industry landscape.  

With New Nordic Narratives, the first steps have been taken towards creating new norms, new cultures, and new processes and methods within the existing culture of film and TV production in the Nordic region. The focus has been on the story and script development process, from idea to when the project is fully funded and ready to start the production process. Work on sustainability and diversity must start early if it is to have a better chance of surviving the funding process and making it to the screen. Knowledge and tools on sustainability, gender and diversity have stimulated ideas and opened up participants’ views on their own material, while the funding process was seen as a major obstacle to artistic freedom.

In the political imaginary, the meaning of justice in cases of sexual violence is usually equated with criminal justice. However, research shows that justice for survivors of sexual violence is a more nuanced and complex phenomenon. Taking survivor-centred justice seriously demands the rethinking of different justice mechanisms and the creation of different political, social and legal pathways to justice. To address the “justice deficit” in cases of sexual violence the conference explored alternative approaches to justice as part of efforts to hold the state and offenders to account.

The conference was open to all and consisted of five panels exploring the topic across different themes and regions with a particular emphasis on the Nordic context. A special Nordic workshop was also held parallel to the conference. Results include further collaboration between researchers on the topic as well as video recordings from the conference for public dissemination.

NORDREF (Nordic Digital Rights and Equality Foundation), in collaboration with women’s shelters, police authorities and courts, has conducted research aimed at establishing offender profiles linked to online gender-based abuse in Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. In their work, the actors utilised several different methods and sources.

The study focuses in particular on image-based sexual abuse, threats and sexual harassment (including so-called dickpics). The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in the use of digital communication, and at the same time to an increase in digitally manifested violence against women, which the UN has labelled a ‘shadow pandemic’. The negative impact this has had on women’s lives, in both public and private contexts, has been evident in the Nordic as well as the global context.

Establishing a perpetrator profile with data including age, gender, motive and relationship to the victim lays the foundation for evidence-based initiatives aimed at countering and ultimately preventing online abuse, which in turn contributes to strengthening democracy and increasing gender equality.

The results of the study have been presented in various contexts during 2024, and have led to new projects based on the results of the study, such as the Game Changer.

The aim of the project was – across the Nordic region – to gather knowledge and shed light on what inhibits and promotes gender balance in the media industry. The aim was to develop solutions that can lead to greater gender equality and equity in the industry.

A widespread sexual harassment culture has been uncovered in the Danish media world – a culture that can be interpreted as a symptom of a lack of gender balance and equality. The industry is struggling with informal power structures and a continued hierarchical gender gap. In Norway, Sweden and Iceland, gender equality has been on the agenda for a long time – especially after the MeToo wave. The Danish debate also gave Danish media companies the opportunity and motivation to work with the culture and push further for the necessary changes. 

The three-year project has ensured that knowledge about formal and informal gender equality in the Nordic media industry, as well as the best experiences and solutions, are shared so that they can be put into practice in the individual Nordic media companies. The goal was a real norm change.

The project was led by the Danish School of Media and Journalism in close co-operation with experienced media leaders, the Nordic journalist unions and other relevant partners.