Copenhagen mayor resigns as #MeToo wave swells
Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen holds a news conference at Islands Brygge in Copenhagen, Denmark October 19, 2020
Copenhagen mayor Frank Jensen resigned on Monday over growing sexual harassment allegations against him, the latest political casualty in a belated #MeToo wave sweeping Denmark in recent weeks.
Jensen, 59, had in recent days admitted to and apologised for having harassed women over the course of his 30-year career, after two women accused him of touching them inappropriately in 2012 and 2017.
On Sunday, the head of the youth wing of the Social Democratic Party told daily Jyllands-Posten that she had been informed of eight other people who had either been harassed by Jensen or who had witnessed harassments.
Jensen, who has served as mayor for 11 years, received the support of his Social Democratic Party on Sunday to continue as mayor, but threw in the towel nonetheless.
Also read:The 22-year-old force behind Egypt’s growing #MeToo movement
"Now I have slept on it. This is going to overshadow all the political work I want to do. That is why I have decided to resign as mayor," he told reporters on Monday.
He also stepped down as deputy head of the Social Democrats, a post he had held since 2015.
Thousands of women have come forward in recent weeks with accounts of sexism and harassment in the Nordic country, which is often viewed as a bastion of gender equality.
Earlier this month, the leader of the Social Liberal party, Morten Ostergaard, resigned after it emerged he had placed his hand on the thigh of a female colleague 10 years earlier.
In 2017 a public discussion arose in Denmark as the #MeToo movement emboldened women across the world to speak out about their experiences of discrimination and sexual assault.
However, a widespread change in Danish attitudes did not materialise.