The club is acting after the events in Italy
On a recent Häcken trip to Italy, there was drunkenness, fights between participants and a sexist environment, according to information from Sportbladet.
The club’s management stated that they acted immediately.
“We had a meeting with the whole group right away and after we got home we had a conversation with those involved,” said the club’s deputy director, Malin Vahlin.
A little over a week ago, SM went hunting for gold BK Hacken On a conference trip with the biggest sponsors. About 50 people took part in the excursion to Italy’s Lake Garda, including about ten women.
Sportbladet spoke to six people about the ride, which is sometimes described as “messy”. However, none of the people wanted to appear in public for an interview, and several point to Häcken’s communications director and club deputy director, Malin Fahlén.
According to Sportbladet’s information, a number of participants were completely drunk on several occasions, sexist behavior took place and two of the participants got into a fight with each other.
Malin Fahlén, who took part in the trip, confirms that Häckenledningen’s attention felt overcrowded and that the problem was brought before the entire group of sponsors.
– We learned that there are women who have experienced the discomfort of some men getting too close. I think all women know what I mean when I describe the feeling when a man goes overboard. It could be through looks, comments or invites, Vahlin tells Sportbladet, a general and structural behavior that’s hard to describe concretely.
It’s rather uncomfortable and I think many of us women have learned to avoid and navigate. But of course you shouldn’t do that. As we are a club that works for gender equality on and off the field, it was important for us to bring this issue up to the whole group,” Malin Vahlin continues. So, the importance of respecting others and their limits, and thinking about one’s own behavior and how anyone else might experience it.
fight between two people
People Sportbladet spoke to described the atmosphere regarding the fact that many of the participants were drunk on the subsidized flight as “drowning” and with some of the participating women being particularly at risk.
According to Malin Vahlin, none of the incidents led to a police report. Individual conversations were held with the women concerned to ensure this.
Was there physical contact?
– I will not go into and comment on the details out of respect for all concerned, because a large group was far away. Not everyone was present in the situations that were present. It was important to know if there was something we needed to report, and so far we haven’t been able to see any such situation, Malin Vahlin says.
According to Sportbladet’s information, was there also a fight?
We know there was a fight between two people late one evening when most of us got home. A situation we discovered immediately the next morning and sorted the two between them. We’ve also brought this situation up to the whole group in terms of talking about respectful behavior and have mentioned that this is also unacceptable behavior.
mute any option
BK Häcken is a club of very elite men’s and women’s teams with great ambition to be on an equal footing. Hiding the problem during the flight wasn’t an option, says Malin Fahlén when Sportbladet asks questions about the events.
I think that we show through that conversation in front of the whole group that, on the contrary, we want to encourage – in this kind of event – to break the existing culture of silence about structural inequality in society. And dare to ask them even though they may be unwelcome questions.
What do you do to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future?
For our part, the process will lead us to have conversations with some of our partners that some situations were inappropriate and make them aware of how others have gone through, says Malin Vahlin.
She hopes that the way the club is represented and the courage of those involved in speaking out will be a good step in the direction of a more open climate about this kind of structural challenge in sport and society in general.