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Culture May 1, 2020
"Still your dream girl."
Image via Instagram/@amalie.haveWomen are raped every single day. No matter who you are or where you are from, chances are that you live close to someone who has been sexually assaulted. If that is something you have a hard time accepting (which it hopefully is) then you should learn more about Amalie Have.
Amalie Have is a Danish feminist who, first of all, advocates for more awareness of rape culture. Second, she is not afraid of standing up against men treating her and other women disrespectfully.
Rape and sexual assault happen all the time. The fact is, someone might be getting raped right now, while you are reading this. Scary right? Surprising, not so much. You might not be aware of “rape culture” because the norm in our society is that rape is taboo. We do not talk about taboos and therefore, people do not speak out loud about it when it happens. But the fact is, taboo or not, rape and sexual assault happen all over the world all the time. Yes, even in one of the happiest countries in the world – Denmark. How do we know this?
We know this because Amalie Have is brave enough to speak up about her experience with rape. By sharing her story, she seeks to empower other women to do the same by educating her audience on Instagram.
Have was raped when she was 19 years old and now she is trying to start conversations about the taboo of rape culture. This helps other girls and women to move on from their own rape or sexual assault experiences.
If you go to Have’s Instagram, @amalie.have, you will find that she has almost 97K followers and describes herself as an “activist” and “troublemaker.” She posts pictures of herself in badass outfits with troubling messages, making people either love or hate her. Overall, she sends the message to her followers that you should never be afraid to stand up for yourself.
Back in 2014, Have was raped during a vacation to Costa Rica. She reported the rape the day after it happened. But, even with video material she could show in court, the man walked away from it all without facing a sentence.
Since that day in 2014, Have has managed to write about the event. She is shining a light on not only the issues of rape and sexual assault, but also women’s rights and equality in general.
Amalie is the creator of the short film “The Face of A Survivor.” It is a documentary that interviews four Danish women that all have faced different types of sexual assault in their lives. The purpose of the film is to educate people on rape culture and shine a light on a big problem.
On her Instagram stories she is not afraid of speaking up. “I’m tired of going out only to be exhausted by men’s lack of empathy, emotional intelligence and understanding of patriarchy and power systems/structures. This is why I don’t go out,” she explains in one of her stories after a night out in Denmark.
One of her Instagram stories even asked the singer, Lukas Graham, to take down a cover he did of an xxxtentacion song on Spotify. Have said that by doing this cover, he was promoting a singer who was a known abuser.
Through posts on her Instagram, people created a lot of awareness on the topic. It created so much awareness that Graham decided to do as Have and her followers asked. Graham took down the song on Spotify and reached out to make a public apology.
This is a perfect example of how Have can use her thousands of followers to lead campaigns. She has the power to bring mass awareness to topics that society does not openly discuss. She has the ability to make social change through social media. By giving back rape victims their confidence, Amalie Have is an influencer of our lifetime.
Denmark is considered one of the happiest countries in the world, according to several surveys. Last year, the World Happiness Report demoted Denmark from the number one spot. Now they are in a solid second place after Finland.
The reason that surveys like this consider Denmark, “happy” is that it as a good welfare system. This includes free healthcare and free education throughout your life. Even if you lose your job, the state will be there to support you and you won’t end up losing everything you own.
That sounds pretty good, right?
Don’t get me wrong, it is a great country, and almost all the time I am proud to say out loud: “I am from Denmark.” Nevertheless, Denmark deals with issues just like any other country does. It might not be issues such as poverty or lack of education, and it might seem like we are ahead on issues such as equality. The truth is though, there is still a long way to go.
As Have states in one of her stories on Instagram, it is not considered “rape” in Denmark if someone tries to have sex with you even though you have not given them consent.
The fact is, as long as you did not try to fight them or clearly tell them, “no” it is not legally considered, “rape.” The perpetrator will walk away with no sentence and the victim will more likely end up feeling guilty. That is when it becomes too taboo to talk about.
According to a report from Amnesty International the number of female rape victims, or attempted rape victims, varies depending on what sources you look at. On the Danish Ministry of Justice’s website, it states that 5,100 women are victims of rape each year. Meanwhile, numbers from Southern University of Denmark claims that number is 24,000.
The Amnesty International report states that in 2017, 890 rapes were officially recorded in Denmark but only 94 of them ended with the rapist getting charged.
The report also explains that a lot of assaults may go unreported. It said that women get harshly questioned and feel that the police doubt them when reporting a rape:
“39-year-old Kirstine tried four times to report a rape to police. The second time she was taken to a police station and warned that she could smoke in jail if what she told was a lie.”
Even when a country seems to be doing great from an outside perspective, taking a deeper look will show the real truth. Denmark and other, “progressive” countries seem to be ahead when it comes to equal rights issues. However, laws such as the ones on rape and consent need to be updated and modernized before we can truly talk about equal rights.
The influence Amalie Have has had by talking about the taboo topic of the rape and sexual assault culture in Denmark has helped shed light on the rape issue not only in Denmark but also in Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. She is a woman that is taking action in order to make a difference. And that action has helped women to stand up for themselves and gain the confidence they need to fight for their rights.
Furthermore, hopefully, more men out there now understand that sexual assault belongs nowhere in the world. The next step in Denmark is for the politicians to follow along and update the laws.
Go give Amalie Have a follow on Instagram; it will change the way you see life.
