'This is not a Story which would Shock!': The #MeToo Campaign in Slovenia

Abstract

In post-socialist Slovenia, the #MeToo campaign (#jaztudi), which was started by four public intellectuals in 2018, was rather different to its equivalent in most Western counties. The analysis of the #jaztudi campaign suggests that there are local specifics in the Slovenian material and that the campaign appeared at the peak of the era of neopatriarchy where global inequalities are on the rise. Hundreds of women who testified about sexual harassment and sexual violence were not celebrities and public figures. The men against whom they spoke up were not famous, rich and powerful. They disclosed ordinary, 'small' stories, which were far from spectacular. Women wrote about everyday sexual assaults in childhood, in their teens and in adulthood. The majority of them were not interested in taking legal action against the perpetrators, something which can partially be explained by the contexts of rurality, religious influences and the social norms related to sexual violence towards women that are reproduced in educational, judicial and other social systems. This article provides the social context of the situation facing women in Slovenia and attempts to explain why #MeToo campaigns in different countries are contextual. It shows the importance of locally specific factors that influence women’s readiness to speak out and to denounce perpetrators. A number of factors have a great impact on ending sexual violence against women, including the frequency of violence against women; women’s economic and social status; the responses of professionals in public institutions to which women could turn for help; as well as awareness on the part of parents, teachers and communities. The implementation of the Istanbul Convention, which Slovenia ratified in 2015, and its internalisation on both the cognitive and emotional levels, constitute an important historical turning point in the fight to end sexual violence.