Security Cameras to Be Installed For Westmann Islands’ Next Thjódhátíd

Five sexual assaults were reported over the bank holiday weekend in Westmann Islands’ festival, Thjódhátíd; one incident took place by the portable WC facilities, an area that was supposed to be monitored. One sexual assault was reported in Akureyri’s Ein med öllu in North Iceland.

The number of sexual assaults this year is higher than it’s been in previous years in the Westmann Islands with only one rape reported in 2009 and none reported in 2008 and 2010, the local sheriff told ruv.is.

A 23 years old woman said she had been raped inside one of the portable toilet restrooms; no security cameras were in place and she could not identify the attacker. However, the security staff on duty was able to find the suspect out of a crowd of 14.000 guests. He has been placed under arrest by the local police department and is to remain in custody.

“We break up the area into zones and make sure there is someone attending each area. The portable WC restrooms are one of the zones that are supposed to be monitored but we must have missed this one. Fortunately, security staff was able to find the suspect in the crowd,” Páll Scheving Ingvarsson, the chairman of the Thjódhátíd committee told the Rúv news room yesterday.

In addition to local security staff, the presence of Stígamót, an Education and Counseling Center for Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Violence, send specialist teams to assist rape victims when an assault is reported in the festival; the organization has staff present in every festival held around the country.

Last spring Páll was quoted to have said in a council meeting that it seemed Stígamót fed on a pre-existing problem; the organization encouraged the problem rather than prevented it.

“We are certain our response to reports of sexual assaults are more than satisfactory; however, following the assault we are inclined to co-operate further with Stígamót’s specialist team in the future,” Ingvarsson told the Rúv news room yesterday.

He added that it might be time to add security cameras to the pre-existing security measures.

The second rape reported over the weekend took place in a private residence in Westmann Island; a 21 years old woman was assaulted.

Charges have been pressed in two out of the six assaults reported to the Police department in Westmann Islands.

The guidelines for entertainment organizers clearly state that specific conditions must be fulfilled to be granted permission to host a festival where large numbers of people are expected; however the same does not apply to festivals organized by local communities. An independent organizer must provide a security staff and center for victims of sexual assault whereas the community festivals do not.

A festival such as the bank holiday Thjódhátíd in South Iceland’s Westmann Islands is not required to follow the same regulations as one held by independent organizers; the festival is organized by the local community and is therefore not obliged to fulfill the necessary conditions of an independent festival.

The Westmann Islands’ festival Thjódhátíd, is a community festival held every bank holiday weekend at Heimaey island, the largest of the Westmann Islands where a population of roughly 5000 people resides; the festival is a legend in Icelandic cultural heritage and for generations Icelanders from all over the country have traveled to the island for the bank holiday weekend in late July or early August.

The highlight of the festival is the the sing along conducted by Iceland’s parliament member Árni Johnsen. The festival is organized by the Thjódhátíd committee led by Páll Scheving Ingvarsson. The festival is held in Herjólfsdalur valley just outside the Vestmannaeyjar town.

This year’s festival has exposed the flaws in the regulatory system after six reports of sexual assaults, one of which occurred by the portable WC restrooms; Ingvarsson has said that security cameras must be placed for next year’s festivals and Stígamót, an Education and Counseling Center for Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Violence, and the Nei-hópurinn or the “No-movement,” an entity of the Icelandic Feminist Movement, have volunteered their assistance for next year, visir.is reports.

According to the Rúv news room, 6 rapes have been reported in the Thjódhátíd alone and the local police authorities have one man in custody suspected of raping a 23 years old woman inside one of the portable WC restrooms.

Another rape was reported shortly after but the Police department in Selfoss is now looking for witnesses who might have seen a young woman in her twenties assaulted by one or two males between 1:30 and 2:00 am on Monday August 1, visir.is reports.

So far 10 sexual assaults have been reported from festivals around the country and numbers are expected to escalate. A former managing director of UN Women in Iceland, Steinunn Gyða Gudjónsdóttir told the Rúv news room last night that there is a growing rape culture in Iceland.

“With rape culture I refer to the tendency of undermining the severity of sexual assaults in our attitude, legal system and community. It is the rapist who is “excused” rather than held accountable for his action,” she told ruv.is.

Twice as many rapes were reported in the Thjódhátíd this year, where 14.000 were gathered in the Herjólfsdalur valley, than in the Glastonbury festival in England 2008 where 100.000 guests were gathered. The root of the problem lies in the rape culture, Gudjónsdóttir told ruv.is.

Ellidi Vignisson, the mayor of Vestmannaeyjar town on Heimaey island told ruv.is the need for security cameras and better lightning will help to prevent incidents to happen but the fault lies with society as a whole:

“We must find the source of the problem; it seems sexual assaults are occurring more frequently. The perpretators are distorted individuals and we must deal with them as a whole. We must involve parents and the school system,” Vignisson said.

However, several festivals organized by local communities did meet the necessary requirements and the organizers of the Ein med öllu in North Iceland's Akureyri opened an emergency phone line and had volunteers from Afllid or "the force", a group against sexual and domestic violence, ready to assist.

Skúli Gautason, the project manager for Ein med öllu told mbl.is that cooperation with local authorities has proved to be very successful and sheriff Björn Jósef Arnvidarson agreed.

The organizers sit down with local authorities to discuss security:“We meet months in advance to discuss security details,” he told mbl.is

Other communities such as Akranes in West Iceland where Írskir Dagar or the “Irish Days” have been held in July every year, the organizers use age restrictions. Tómas Gudmundsson, one of the organizers in Akranes told mbl.is that fifty percent of the expanses go to security matters and children under the age of 18 cannot come by themselves.

All parties agree that prevention is the key.

The Icelandic band Quarashi temporarily came out of retirement and lend a voice to the cause. Last weekend they played in the Besta Hátíd or “the best festival”, held in Gaddstadaflatir near Hella town in South Iceland, and insisted the No-movement be invited to the festival. Volunteers from the organization placed the red “Nei” or "no" on various locations around the area to remind guests no means no, Morgunbladid reports.

The man suspected of raping a 23-year-old woman during the Westman Islands’ bank holiday festival has been remanded to stay in custody until September 2; he is considered to be a threat to public safety.
The District Court of South Iceland arrested the individual after a 23-year-old woman identified him as the man who assaulted her inside a portable restroom in Thjódhátíd festival (July 28 to August 1). In the remanded custody verdict the court stated the individual in question is considered to be a threat to public safety and that he “is likely to re-offend should he be released as his choice of victims appears to be completely random,” mbl.is reports.

According to mbl.is, the court’s premises for remanding the custody are “the intention to brutally assault the victim’s character and rights to physical control over her body.

“When a suspect is considered to be the primary offender and the nature of the violation is examined, public safety must be taken into the equation.”

The same man was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in 2006 for a similar assault during the Humarhátíd or the Lobster festival in Höfn in Hornafjördur, for which he served a total of one year in incarcaration, according to pressan.is.

The rape for which he was found guilty in 2006 was savage and violent. He pulled the girl’s hair and squeezed her neck before forcing her to perform oral sex on him. Following the event he laughed in her face and threatened to kill her if she dared to tell on him.

The young woman suffered from a post-traumatic stress disorder following the assault and a forensic medical professional is documented as having said that never in his life had he seen an individual so traumatized, pressan.is reports.

His sentence was reduced to 18 months because he was a first-time offender and young age.

The suspect has admitted to entering the portable restroom with the woman where she performed oral sex on him. He claims that when the door was open she ran out in embarrassment and afterwards he went to look for her. When he caught up with her she was frightened and did not want to speak to him.

His statement is not considered credible.

The young woman ran to security staff and hid behind them as the suspect caught up with her; she made a positive identification in a police lineup. The evidence against the suspect is a sound and video recording of the woman’s recognition of his facial features where he was number five in the lineup.

Three security staff members that assisted the girl confirmed that the suspect was chasing her when she came to them for help. Her strong hold on the staff member’s arm and her agitated demeanor as the man approached caused the security staff to be suspicious of him.

Security staff told the authorities the suspect was highly intoxicated and appeared to be holding his genitals and offered them to the victim as she hid behind them, pressan.is reports.

In the remandment of custody order contradictions in the suspect’s testimony concerning his clothing at the time are documented.

The suspect can expect a heavy sentence should he be found guilty of rape for the second time and can expect as much as 16 years imprisonment, pressan.is reports.

The suspect is still to pay the victim in the 2006 assault ISK 200.000 in compensation but the state has already paid her ISK 600.000 from state funds, pressan.is reports.

The amount paid by the state funds is to be reimbursed by the accused offender but rape victims in Iceland have to claim the rest of the money they are owed from the accused.

In July this year the state was owed ISK 266 million from 306 cases. Every year the state has to pay somewhere between ISK 130 to 160 million to victims of violence and sex crimes, pressan.is reports.