Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassers
Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassers
Many women who work at McMurdo Station, the main United States research base in Antarctica, say the isolated environment and macho culture have allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish.
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.
Buckingham was hired by PAE. Amentum didn’t respond to questions from the AP. Leidos Senior Vice President Melissa Lee Dueñas said it conducts background checks on all its employees.
“Our stance on sexual harassment or assault couldn’t be more clear: we have zero tolerance for such behavior,” Dueñas said in an email. “Each case is thoroughly investigated.”
Translates to 1) We thoroughly investigate and hire sexual predators and 2) We say this b.s. to protect our jobs, actually we have zero tolerance for those who complain about sexual harassment.
The report made it clear that those in charge enable sexual predators.
I had a female friend/coworker that had previously served in the Navy, on a carrier as a communications specialist. She told stories of endless harassment. She said ultimately some of the women crafted partnerships with other female sailors and convinced everyone they were lesbians in order to just survive the job. It meant they had to spend lots of time together and play the part. She also said they had to work the jealousy angle because nobody wanted to be attacked by an angry lesbian girlfriend.
The male sailors assumed a lot of the women were lesbians because of the masculine nature of the work, or, as she put it, because they couldn't believe the women weren't attracted to them. It turned out if you gave them a plausible explanation you could fake your way through it. Without a plausible explanation, they could become resentful and dangerous. I asked if claiming to be married and/or have kids would work, she said it wasn't as effective and you ultimately needed female allies anyway. She also said that actual lesbians would pretend to "date" hetero women in order to protect them. She kind of described it as leveraging the power of rumors.
I told her it sounded a lot like what happens in prison. She said in some ways, it was a prison.
We're just ignoring the sign that damn near reads "McMurder Station"?
Being alone in the middle of a literal ice desert with a lot of male nerds so socially awkward that they rather be in the middle of an ice desert sounds like an absolute disaster.
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you are too worried about the objects in a room. removing guns is like chopping the leafs off a tree expecting to kill it. you need to stop looking at the gun tree and see the forest of human evil. objects in a room cannot hurt you, unless what? a human wills that object for.good or bad. if guns didnt exist youd be up in arms about bows and arrows
People have literally been murdered there. I don't see why this concern should suddenly jump to the top of the list over that.
Well just like every white woman 🤷🏼♂️
Strong, independent women don't need any help