https://www.thelocal.

se/20171109/456-swedish-theatre-stars-share-stories-of-sex-harassment

456 Swedish theatre stars share stories of sex harassment

Sweden's culture minister called theatre bosses to crisis talks after 456 stars – including some of the
country's top names – signed a letter detailing sexual abuse in the industry.

The letter, published by Svenska Dagbladet, is signed by some of Sweden's most famous stars, including
Sofia Helin of The Bridge fame, Alexandra Rapaport, Helena Bergström, Lia Boysen and Lena Endre.

It details a number of in-depth and shocking accounts of inappropriate conduct ranging from rape to
sexual assault and harassment in the Swedish theatre industry, without naming either the victims or the
perpetrators.

"The entire crew and actors were staying at the same hotel. When I'm sitting there alone later in the
evening I overhear the director and the person playing my husband talking about who's going to have
me first. I get scared and go to my room on the ground floor. The whole night through I hear them trying
to get into my room, both through the door and the window. I asked a male actor, whom I had never
met, to protect me. He did and I am eternally grateful to him," reads one of the anonymous stories
shared.

"I was shooting with one of the country's great male stars. He came and went as he pleased on set,
often high, drunk or hungover. The whole team waited for him, sometimes for hours, every day. When
he eventually turned up it was all about keeping him in a good mood. We had a couple of sensitive
scenes together, the star and I. He never knew his lines, the script supervisor had to read them first, it
was almost impossible to do the job. One day the star took me to the side. Said I had to understand that
it was impossible for him to remember his lines when I was so damn hot and all he could think about
was what I looked like naked, and what he wanted to do to me," reads another.

Other stories speak of sexual harassment, outbursts of anger, bullying, threats and other incidents
including male colleagues masturbating, showing their genitals, or making their female co-stars touch
them.

"We will no longer be silent," vow the 456 signatories.

"We're going to hold those responsible to account and let the justice system do its job when there's a
reason for it. We will put the shame where it belongs – with the perpetrator and those protecting him."

Culture Minister Alice Bah Kuhnke called bosses of Sweden's National Theatre Company, the Royal
Dramatic Theatre and the Royal Swedish Opera to a meeting on Thursday.

"I was clear about how seriously the government views this. We demand change," she told Svenska
Dagbladet after the meeting.

Asked how she reacted to the stories, she said: "I was shocked, disgusted, upset and furious."

Under the #metoo hashtag, millions of people around the world have shared their own experiences of
harassment, sexual assault, and rape, in the wake of sex assault allegations against Hollywood producer
Harvey Weinstein. Sweden, one of the world's most gender equal countries, has been no exception.
Opel, Vauxhall seek to avoid forced layoffs in turnaround
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/carmakers-opel-vauxhall-to-avoid-involuntary-
layoffs/2017/11/09/e462c298-c522-11e7-9922-4151f5ca6168_story.html?utm_term=.7e7cf9c33641

BERLIN — European automakers Opel and Vauxhall said Thursday they want to hold onto all of their
current manufacturing sites and avoid forced layoffs as part of a turnaround plan under French owner
PSA Group.

Speaking 100 days after General Motors sold Germany-based Opel and Britain's Vauxhall to PSA,
managers outlined a blueprint that will see the company become profitable again by 2020 and electrify
all of their passenger car lines by 2024.

"Status quo is no option," Opel/Vauxhall CEO Michael Lohscheller said, as he presented a plan that will
also see the company reduce the number of platforms on which models will be based and push into as
many as 20 new markets including Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.

PSA Group chairman Carlos Tavares warned that the turnaround would only work if unions representing
the 38,000-strong workforce agree to a number of cost-saving measures. These will include flexible
working time arrangements, buyouts and early retirement schemes.

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"Opel is facing a dramatic situation," Tavares said. "There is no time to waste."

Tavares noted that the company has been burning through its cash supply and lost a total of 19 billion
euros ($22 billion) between 1999 and 2016. The combined market share in Europe currently stands at a
modest 5.7%.

"This plan is not a gimmick plan," Tavares said, adding that the engineering and design capabilities
acquired with Opel/Vauxhall would help PSA Group as a whole achieve the ambitious goal of sharply
cutting its vehicles carbon emissions as required under national and international rules.

The European Commission proposed Wednesday that 30 percent of new vehicles on the continent
should be electric-powered by 2030 and average emissions of carbon dioxide in new vehicles should fall
by 30 percent by 2030 from 2021 levels — a target that some in Europe's auto industry have criticized as
too high