Sanna Marin: 'I lost count' of rape threats — memoir reveals relentless online abuse and fallout from leaked party video

Sanna Marin says she "lost count" of rape threats while prime minister

Sanna Marin, Finland's former prime minister, says she endured a "never-ending" stream of sexually charged online threats while leading the Nordic country. She recounts the abuse and its consequences in her memoir, Hope in Action: A Memoir About the Courage to Lead, published this week in the UK.

Rise to prominence and misogynistic backlash

Ms Marin, who was hailed as the "coolest prime minister" after becoming the world’s youngest head of government at 34 in 2019, led a centre-left coalition that included five other female party leaders. Sexist critics dismissed the lineup with labels such as the "lipstick government" and the "girl government," and the leaders were targeted by sustained online harassment.

"I have been threatened with rape and other forms of sexual assault so many times that I have lost count," Ms Marin writes in the memoir.

The leaked party video and the fallout

Ms Marin describes how a private video of her dancing and drinking at a party was leaked online in August 2022, triggering dozens of complaints that she had undermined Finland's "reputation and security." Investigations cleared her of misconduct, and when allegations that she had taken illegal drugs surfaced she voluntarily took a drugs test and passed.

The episode prompted a global wave of solidarity: women around the world — and public figures including Hillary Clinton — posted videos of themselves dancing as part of an "I stand with Sanna" campaign.

Double standards and the personal toll

Ms Marin argues she was judged by different standards than male politicians. She writes that critics objected to her informality and social life, saying she did not behave or look the way a prime minister was "expected to." Her government's conduct, she says, was moralised in a way that recalled an earlier era of restrictions on women's public behaviour.

She defends her actions, asking rhetorically, "What kind of life would that be?" and says she does not regret the night that became a scandal while Finland — a neighbour of Russia — was weighing its response to the invasion of Ukraine.

How the story unfolded

In the memoir Ms Marin recounts being interrupted during a meeting by an aide who showed her the footage; she immediately anticipated the ensuing uproar. She and close colleagues, including parliamentary group leader Antti Lindtman and his special assistant, retreated to the prime minister's official car to plan their next steps. While they sat in the vehicle, Finnish media published the story and Ms Marin watched reporters gather outside the tinted windows. Crisis talks continued into the early hours before she faced the press wearing a neutral white T‑shirt.

Life after frontline politics

Ms Marin's Social Democrats lost the April 2023 election and a right-wing coalition now governs Finland. After leaving frontline politics she joined the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change as a strategic counsellor. Now 39 and with around 1 million Instagram followers, she reflects on the episode as "like something out of a movie."

Family and private life

The memoir also touches on the breakdown of her three-year marriage to Markus Räikkönen, her partner since she was 18, a split she largely attributes to the pressures of political life. The couple remain on good terms and have a daughter, Emma; Ms Marin writes candidly about the difficulty of balancing prime ministerial duties with parenting.

Ms Marin's account combines a personal testimony about gendered abuse with an insider's account of a political crisis that became international news.