Swedish Workers Can Call Hotline to Report 'Mansplaining'

Swedish workers now have a hotline they can call to report "mansplaining" in the workplace, the Local reports. For those who don't know, Unionen—Sweden's largest union and creator of the hotline—defines mansplaining as when “a man explains something to a woman without being asked, particularly something which she might already know more about than the man." According to the New York Times, the hotline, which started Monday and runs through Friday, is being staffed by 20 gender experts, academics, and authors—plus feminist politicians, scientists, and comedians. "No matter what a woman says, a man always seems to know better," one woman working the hotline tells CNN. "While it can happen both ways, more women tend to be the victims of this presumption."

Unionen says the goal of the hotline is to get people thinking about mansplaining. "It's important to create awareness about how seemingly small things that we do or say add up to a larger issue," the Times quotes a union spokesperson as saying. Unionen says mansplaining can make women seem less competent, and it contributes to the gender wage gap and glass ceiling. So far, callers have sought advice for what to do when male colleagues talk over them, ignore them, or take credit for their work. Men have also been calling the hotline, asking how they can know if they're guilty of mansplaining. (More Sweden stories.)