A cartoon on sexual violence as a prevention method for abuse of children is currently being made in Iceland as part of the project “Say no, tell others!” worked on by various parties under the umbrella association Rights of Children.
“It is demanding to find ways to deliver the message on such a sensitive issue in the right way,” Felix Bergsson, the cartoon’s screenplay writer and director, told Fréttabladid.
The project was initiated by the organization Blátt áfram, which fights sexual violence against children. Other partners are Reykjavík City, the Ministry of Education, The School of Multimedia and computer game designer CCP.
A book on sexual violence in Iceland, Á mannamáli (see picture) by Thórdís Elva Thorvaldsdóttir, was released recently, uncovering facts such as reports on sexual violence against children increasing by 70 percent between 2003 and 2007, a press release from the publisher, Forlagid, states.
According to Thorvaldsdóttir’s findings, one out of every five girls and every ten boys in Iceland suffer sexual abuse before the age of 18.
The book also reveals that in 2003-2006, 40 percent of all cases handled by the Attorney General were dropped, including 71 percent of all cases on sexual violence.
It references almost 30 recent Icelandic criminal cases and quotes a number of people, including Supreme Court judge Jón Steinar Gunnlaugsson and Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir.
The book criticizes decisions made by authorities, media coverage, funding, prison sentences and compensations to victims of sexual abuse and encourages the Icelandic nation to discuss these issues, which have been swept under the carpet in the past, openly.
