Her life was turned upside down one night in 1995.
She was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Even she traces it back to this night.
Only now does she dare to believe in justice.
Only now does she dare to tell about when a friend, someone she trusted, threatened her.
“Today you will die.”
The man is said to have stood over her and held a knife to her head.
They are both in their 20s this night in the mid-1990s. They are veins.
In her own bedroom in a flat in Bergen, she is threatened with her life. The man held a knife to her head.
He hits.
He holds her tight and prevents her from leaving the room.
Then he raped her.
The woman’s voice is unsteady when she tells about the painful experience for the first time.
Her version also appears in the indictment from the state attorney, 29 years after the incident is said to have occurred.
But the man who stands accused is uncomprehending about the whole story. He denies criminal liability.
The only certainty is that the case will go to court in August.
For women, this is a story of hope. To finally be seen.
– Just being believed and being taken seriously is a vindication, she says to NRK.
– My life was shattered
Today she lives with psychological damage and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The diagnosis is connected to the fact that she must have been raped, the state attorney believes.
– My life was destroyed by this incident, she says.
Back to 1995: The woman goes to the police to report the man. But she does not dare to give his name.
Therefore, the police should not have done anything about the case then.
In the years that followed, the woman had a difficult time. She has lost trust in the police. She feels her life has been robbed from her.
Only in 2022 will he make new contact with the police. She wants a contact ban for the man.
Then, for several years, he is said to have sent text messages, in which, according to the woman, he wants to break things up after the incident. She experiences the messages as a great burden.
Finally, he calls the police to put an end to it. They say she should report the man to the police, which she does.
The meeting with the police this time makes her feel seen and cared for.
The woman, who is now in her 50s, feels a great ease.
Shortly after the indictment becomes known, she meets NRK. It has been 29 years since she first went to the police. Two years ago she contacted them again.
– I understood that young people today can get help. I told everything to the police, so they got to do what they think is best, she tells NRK.
The woman is said to have lived with mental difficulties since the incident occurred. She does not want to appear with her name and photo.
Photo: DANIEL HONG HANSEN / NRK
– I feel that justice can be done
The police believe the woman.
In January 2024, the state attorney brought charges against the man for threats and rape of the woman.
The tears flow when she learns about the indictment.
– Just being believed and being taken seriously is a compensation. There is one word to say: justice.
The man does not admit criminal guilt, and believes the incident did not happen, according to defense counsel Erik Johan Mjelde.
He questions both memory, psychological diagnoses and the presentation of evidence so long afterwards.
But for the woman, the indictment is a major milestone.
– I am very grateful. I feel that justice can be done, and that I am seen and taken seriously. It restores confidence in the system, she says.
Now the woman hopes that the case can give hope to others in similar situations.
Markings against rape
Recently, the debates about rape and consent laws have flared up again.
Three young men were acquitted by the Court of Appeal in the much talked about gang rape case. Afterwards, many have questioned whether there is any point in reporting rapes to the police.
Thousands have lined up in demonstrations in support of all victims of rape, under the slogan “we believe you”.
Statistics show that one in five women has experienced rape.
In March, the authorities were strongly reprimanded by the rape committee for doing too little to prevent rape.
Few of those who are accused of rape report the case to the police, and of those who do, most of the cases are dismissed, according to the report to the committee.
– Seeing that sea of people… Feeling powerless is very heavy. But it’s so touching when people say we believe you, says the woman in her 50s to NRK.
She is aware that strict demands are made on evidence in order to convict someone.
– A judgment is about legal certainty. If the defendant is acquitted, it is not because I am not believed, but truths are difficult to set up against each other, she says
Rejects the whole incident
The woman’s lawyer has described her case as serious.
In August, the two former friends meet in Hordaland District Court.
Because the woman is said to have suffered significant psychological damage, the case has a maximum penalty of 21 years, says state attorney Kristine Herrebrøden.
State prosecutor Kristine Herrebrøden issued the indictment in January.
Photo: Paul Andre Sommerfeldt / NRK
The accused man does not want to be interviewed, but his defender, Erik Johan Mjelde, is answering on his behalf.
– The police report in 2022 came as a huge surprise to him. “He completely understands that there must have been an incident between them, on an unspecified day and date, in the winter of 1995,” says Mjelde.
Earlier, the defender has announced that they will refute that the incident took place at all. He also questions the evidence situation and memory so long afterwards.
Look at the indictment, which speaks for itself
The man and woman had a friendly relationship for many years before 1995, says Mjelde.
He also confirms that his client and the offended woman had “very sporadic contact” via SMS in the years after the alleged rape.
But Mjelde denies that the contact should have been about the alleged incident.
– He experiences the case as an incomprehensible and malicious debt and does not want to comment on the case further in the media, says the defender.
Erik Johan Mjelde is defending the accused man.
Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / NRK
State prosecutor Kristine Herrebrøden does not want to comment on the extent to which the text messages will be used as evidence in court, but says that the indictment is based on a joint assessment of different types of evidence.
Regardless of how things go in the court case, the offended woman says that she sees the indictment as a statement in itself.
– It can be very healing that you experience being believed, that someone recognizes and validates what you experienced, she says.
