Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassers - eviltoast

The National Science Foundation, the federal agency that oversees the U.S. Antarctic Program, published a report in 2022 in which 59% of women said they’d experienced harassment or assault while on the ice, and 72% of women said such behavior was a problem in Antarctica.

But the problem goes beyond the harassment, The Associated Press found. In reviewing court records and internal communications, and in interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees, the AP uncovered a pattern of women who said their claims of harassment or assault were minimized by their employers, often leading to them or others being put in further danger.

  • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Yup. It boils down to power imbalances that are systemic in a world where men still control almost everything.

    I had always hoped we’d move past this but it seems we may not get the chance now (with climate change raging around us).

      • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Ofc it’s not all men, but it’s enough men that make everyone’s lives harder. So instead of arguing “not all” maybe focus on the some that are the cause of the problem.

        • Nate Cox@programming.dev
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          1 year ago

          I feel like the primary complaint here is that the parent commenters very much want to focus on the some that are the cause of the problem, rather than simply stating that men are problematic.

          • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Yup. If men as a group policed their own there would be a change. But as it stands they don’t seem to want to do that all the time because it’s easier to just let the bad ones slide through.

            • Mardukas@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              What’s there to police? It’s not like most aggressors are openly grabbing people in their genitals for all to see. These people know that they are wrong and so they hide it. What am I, as a man against this behaviour, supposed to do about other men?

              • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                When you hear men joke about what women they’re gonna try to f’k, let them know how shitty that is.

                When you hear men make sexist jokes, let them know how shitty that is.

                When you hear men talk about their wives as somehow less than, let them know how shitty that is.

                And if you ever think any of those things in your own mind, remind yourself how shitty that is.

            • CorruptBuddha@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              If men as a group policed their own there would be a change.

              This is actually a great idea! To make things simple perhaps we can give these policing men like… some form of identification, like a badge or a uniform so people know who to trust. This is the game changer we needed.