“I felt uncomfortable when Rajgelj touched me and told me I had a nice ass. I had enough, and after a couple of months, I left. I told her I had a boyfriend and asked her to stop, but the harassment just continued. It even went so far that she told me she knew I liked girls and advised me to leave my boyfriend.” This is how a girl who worked as a waitress at her former bar, Kavarna Open (Coffee shop Open), described her relationship with Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy activist Barbara Rajgelj.
The National Press Agency (Nacionalna tiskovna agencija – NTA) has obtained the exclusive testimony of a girl who worked as a waitress at the bar of Barbara Rajgelj, a prominent lesbian activist, professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences and activist of the NGO Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy (Pravna mreža za varstvo demokracije). She says she was sexually harassed by her boss at Kavarna Open in Ljubljana, a café formerly owned by Rajgelj.
And how did she describe the harassment? It included inappropriate touching, comments about her appearance, cleavage and buttocks. The girl resisted this because she had a boyfriend. However, Rajgelj allegedly even advised her to leave him. According to the National Press Agency, Rajgelj allegedly recruited girls to join feminist and lesbian organisations such as the Lesbian-Feminist University (Lezbično-feministična univerza – LFU) and the magazine Lesbo.
Kavarna Open was the venue for the organisation of LGBT parties and seminars, and on Thursday morning, the presentation of the European Commission’s report on the rule of law in Slovenia was held at Rajgelj’s new bar – Pritličje. The bar is owned by Barbara Rajgelj and her partner Suzana Tratnik. We will let you know how the Commission is commenting on the allegations that the event is being organised by this activist as soon as we receive their answers to our questions. We have also sent questions about this to Rajgelj’s employer, the Faculty of Social Sciences.
The former waitress told the National Press Agency that she was not the only target, but that there were several cases of harassment. Other stories are still being verified and will be published shortly.
Sara Kovač
