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Greta Thunberg says her 13-year-old sister is being bullied, threatened and harassed because of her climate change activism

The 16-year-old activist told a Swedish news outlet that her younger sister, as well as the rest of her family members, have had to face the brunt of her actions
UPDATED MAR 5, 2020
Greta Thunberg (Source : Getty Images)
Greta Thunberg (Source : Getty Images)

Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg recently revealed that her 13-year-old sister was being harassed and bullied back in Sweden because of her worldwide crusade against the environmental crisis.

The 16-year-old activist told Swedish news outlet Dagens Nyheter that her younger sister, who was not named, as well as the rest of her family members, have had to face the brunt of her vigil against climate change. She added that any and all threats made against them had been reported to the police. 

"The one who suffers is my sister. She is 13 years old and she has been subjected to systematic bullying, threats and harassment. The people who write threats and hate to me do it to the whole family, even to her," Thunberg said. "The difference between me and the people who are left at home is that I am always traveling, inaccessible."

She urged her supporters to stand by her sister, who was being "constantly discouraged" by the amount of abuse she has had to face in her homeland. "The best way to help me at the moment is supporting my sister. Not because she is my sister, but because she is a wonderful and strong person," she said. 

Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg delivers brief remarks surrounded by other student environmental advocates during a strike to demand action be taken on climate change outside the White House on September 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)

Thunberg revealed that while there were a few people who had shouted at her during the first few days of the climate strike movement, protesters who opposed her movement have not really bombarded her with negative comments in the recent times. 

Alexandra Ursiman Otto, the Dagens Nyheter reporter who spoke with Thunberg, told Newsweek that it was "very upsetting" that both Thunberg and her sister had been targets of abuse and that, while he knew that the problem existed, he did not know that it existed to such an extent. 

However, he corroborated Thunberg's account, saying that he had not witnessed her being verbally abused out on the streets when he spent time with her. 

"What she tells me in the interview, which is interesting from a bigger point of view, is that she never receives any of that while she's out on the streets. When we walked around with her in different parts of the U.S.—we traveled through four states with her and went to the countryside and cities—wherever we went people came up and said: 'Hi, how are you? I follow you and I stand behind you,'" he said.

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