Rape victims are receiving support less than a week after the suspects in the so-called Bergen gang rape case were acquitted.
Thousands people in Norway show their support for rape victims, Norwegian media reported.
2,000 people gathered at the demonstration organized in Bergen on Thursday, says the public broadcasting company NRK. A demonstration was also held in Kristiansand on Thursday.
Bergenavisen writes that protesters filled Festplassen in central Bergen with signs showing solidarity with the rape victims.
“I feel that we have had an awakening in the last year, where society has woken up a bit and seen that we have a big problem”, says Liselinn Woll Kampenesone of the organizers of the Bergen demonstration for NRK.
Aftenpostenin in the coming days, demonstrations will also be organized in Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim and even in Harstad, a small town of approximately 20,000 inhabitants in northern Norway.
Rape victims are being shown support in Norway less than a week after the suspects in the so-called Bergen gang rape case was acquitted in the Court of Appeal.
Three men between the ages of 24 and 27 were accused of gang-raping a 20-year-old woman in Bergen in January 2021. All denied their guilt.
Two of the men had previously been convicted in the district court, but on Friday of last week the court of appeal acquitted all men of the charges. However, two of the men were ordered to pay compensation to the woman.
Case has received wide attention in Norway.
According to Norwegian media, the names and pictures of the men accused of gang rape have circulated on social media.
In an interview with NRK, Woll Kampenes emphasizes that demonstrations are not organized because of a gang rape case. Instead, the goal is to show support to all rape victims.
The Bergen demonstration was called “we believe in you”. On social media on Facebook about the event three thousand people were interested and 1,300 had announced their participation.