A Silenced Voice: The Life of Journalist Kim Wall by Ingrid Wall & Joachim Wall

Author:Ingrid Wall & Joachim Wall [Wall, Ingrid & Wall, Joachim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-07T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Monday, October 30, 2017

“Now it can’t get any worse.” We’ve told ourselves that many times. Each time we’ve been proven wrong. Today we learn that Peter Madsen has recently admitted that he butchered Kim’s body. However, he continues to deny that he killed her. The charges are expanded to include “sexual crimes under particularly aggravating circumstances.” We don’t really know what that means, and we don’t want to think that thought to its conclusion. The knife wounds to the groin speak for themselves. During the day, we can focus on practical things to push away the gruesome pictures, but at night there’s no mercy. The brain ruthlessly creates images of what might have happened down there in the metal hull. If we’re lucky, we have a couple of hours of uneasy sleep.

During our trip to the US, the #MeToo avalanche dragged along representatives from virtually every professional group. As for myself, I don’t hesitate to sign #deadline, the Swedish media’s #MeToo. A long professional life as a female journalist has, unfortunately, provided me with such experiences as well. The connection between #MeToo and Kim is also obvious to many.

Even in the first days after Kim’s disappearance, we and her friends heard the insinuations—why wear a skirt on a submarine? Journalists are a vulnerable group, and freelance journalists even more so. Add to that being a young female freelancer. Is a woman supposed to refrain from doing her job? Haven’t we come any further in our struggle for equality, even here in Scandinavia? Many female journalists, both those who knew Kim and those who never met her, have spoken up: “We would have gone out in the submarine, too—we would have done exactly the same thing. That could have been me!”

Kim’s relationship with Madsen was strictly professional. They had never met before—the agreement about the interview was done by email, and the entire conversation has been saved. Kim was in no way naïve. She took karate lessons as a child, and she had had training in how to handle violent situations. She had radar for dangerous situations.

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