After a man allegedly sent her sexually explicit photographs online, Ariane Friedrich, a German high jumper who expects to compete in this summer’s Olympics, decided to publicly shame him.
“I’ve been offended in the past, sexually harassed and I’ve had a stalker before,” she wrote in a recent Facebook post that included the name and email address of a man who she says sent her explicit messages and pictures of his genitals. “It’s time to act, it’s time to defend myself. And that’s what I’m doing.”
German authorities are now investigating the matter, according to Friedrich’s manager. The matter has touched off an intense national debate on privacy with Friedrich, who is trained as a police officer, at the forefront…
“The removal of anonymity is a means to clarify,” she wrote in a statement translated from German. “Just think of all the children, young people and adults who are secretly harassed by perverts and don’t know what to do or how to defend themselves. Should we not go forward as a good example and demonstrate strength?”
German newspapers have asked whether Friedrich had a legal right to publicly disclose the man’s name. In that country, names of offenders aren’t disclosed in the media.”
“As Niko Härting, a lawyer specializing in media and Internet law, points out, the legality of the issue hinges on the question of whether the man named by Ms. Friedrich, who has become a public personality in Germany since placing seventh in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, actually wrote and sent her the message.
“It all hangs on one question: Is it true or false?” Mr. Härting said. “If it is true, then she is allowed to post it.”
Why would she make this up? And surely she has copies of the photos. It always makes me feel like the people who protest this have something to hide. Like the people who are upset when we call out harassers. Why would anyone be upset about that, unless they’re harassers?!
It took a lot of guts to disclose the name of this man who is harassing her and guess what, I bet he doesn’t harass her or anyone else in this way again. And it may put other would-be stalkers on notice.
