People’s open access to online forums, comment fields and debates in social media is generally considered to greatly benefit the democratic dialogue in society. However, the tone can be tough, polarising and insulting, which puts strong pressure on the democratic debate and freedom of expression and affects women’s and men’s access to the public debate in the Nordic region.

This project has establish a new Nordic network focusing on sexism and online hate speech. The network consists of a number of Nordic actors involved in the work for equal treatment in society, including the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the Norwegian Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud and the Icelandic Human Rights Center.

The project has arranged three expert seminars and put together an anthology with a series of recommendations on how the Nordic equality bodies and ombudsman institutions can work to combat sexism and online hate speech.

Sexual harassment and sexism in the hotel, restaurant and tourism industry has long been a problem. In this project, relevant Nordic trade unions joined forces to review the research in the area and share best practices.

A fact sheet produced within the framework of the project, Not on the Menu, described the situation in the industry. A conference was also held (June 2015) with the overarching objective to make a joint Nordic effort to address the issue of sexual harassment and sexism in the industry and to strengthen the ability of trade unions to promote gender equality in the workplace.

The project has also facilitated dialogue with employers at the European level. The trade unions were enabled to develop and share examples of successful practices. The Icelandic Federation of General and Special Workers (SGS) and the Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference (RIKK) have after the end of the project period initiated efforts to facilitate continued research on how sexual harassment in the hotel, restaurant and tourism industry is affecting salaries and status in the Nordic labour market.