Now worthy Nobel Prize is rocked by ‘sex abuse’ claims

THE body that awards the Nobel Prize for Literature has become the latest famous institution to be engulfed by a sexual abuse scandal.

The Swedish Academy launched an investigation last year after the husband of one of its members was accused of decades of sexual harassment.

Jean-Claude Arnault, a well-known cultural figure in Sweden who is married to poet Katarina Frostenson, is alleged to have behaved improperly to at least 18 women.

The scandal, which has led to the departure of six members of the 18strong academy board, has reached the top level of Swedish life with the prime minister, the king and the Nobel board all expressing concern.

In a statement yesterday, the Swedish Academy said the investigation found Arnault had demonstrated ‘unacceptable behaviour in the form of unwanted intimacy’, though it accepted this was ‘not generally known’ within the institution.

It said the findings would be turned over to police, who continue to investigate some of the abuse allegations. The probe also found the names of previous prize winners had been leaked in advance and it promised to reform governance rules dating back to its founding in 1786.

On Thursday thousands of demonstrators gathered in Stockholm to demand that the remaining board members resign.

Arnault’s alleged victims came forward last year as part of the global #MeToo movement, in which women took to social media to detail their experiences of sexual harassment following revelations about disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Accusations of inappropriate sexual behaviour were then also made about figures and VIPs elsewhere.

The allegations against Arnault – who also runs the Forum, a club for artists subsidised by the Academy – go back to 1996 when a young artist contacted the committee to accuse him of harassment. No action was taken.

Several of the incidents were said to have happened in flats belonging to the Academy.

Arnault’s lawyer has previously denied all allegations of sexual harassment, and others including leaking names of winners. The Nobel body cut all ties and funding to Arnault shortly after the allegations came to light.

‘Unwanted intimacy’