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Science Has a Sexual Assault Problem

cold fjord writes: Phys.org reports, "The life sciences have come under fire recently with a study published in PLOS ONE that investigated the level of sexual harassment and sexual assault of trainees in academic fieldwork environments. The study found 71% of women and 41% of men respondents experienced sexual harassment, while 26% of women and 6% of men reported experiencing sexual assault. The research team also found that within the hierarchy of academic field sites surveyed, the majority of incidents were perpetrated by peers and supervisors. The New York Times notes, "Most of these women encountered this abuse very early in their careers, as trainees. The travel inherent to scientific fieldwork increases vulnerability as one struggles to work within unfamiliar and unpredictable conditions."

5 of 460 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Is there a single field that doesn't? by ganjadude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh, crap, I said "broad". Now I'm guilty too!

    you joke but you are probably correct here. The issue is not that 71% of all women are being sexually assaulted. Its that 71% of all women "feel assaulted" Somehow in the past 40 years what someones feelings are trump what the actual actions are.

    Saying something sexual, is NOT sexual assault.

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  2. nonsense by silfen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article looks at field work, not science as a whole. The results are self-reported, not verified or verifiable. And "harassment" and "assault" are defined so broadly that many normal day-to-day interactions can fall under them. In short, there is no evidence that "science has a sexual assault problem" in any standard meaning of those words.

    Much as feminists and other progressives like to establish such a principle, in reality, just because you feel uncomfortable or believe that something was inappropriate doesn't mean anybody has actually done anything wrong.

  3. Re:Is there a single field that doesn't? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Same goes for women.

    Why is it always the men that get singled out here? That 6% figure for men ought to be far more eye opening than the figure for women. Basically 1, it's definitely underrported and 2, the focus is still on the women. The focus is always on the women.

    Few men bother to report sexual assault or rape because there's little point in doing so. Most people are under the belief that women don't do that and even if they were to try, it's not technically possible. But, it does happen, even if most cases get swept under the rug.

    As far as the figures for women go, most of the time it's 3rd parties defining it as sexual assault even in cases where the "victim" wouldn't consider it to be sexual assault.

  4. Re:Reporting bias? by meta-monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Also, whether a woman finds an advance to be "harassment" or not depends on whether or not she's interested in the man.

    So let that be a lesson to you. If you want to avoid harassment:

    1) Be handsome

    2) Be attractive

    3) Don't be unattractive

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    We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  5. Re:Is there a single field that doesn't? by mod+prime · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you don't want to look like a creep - ask the girl to your room around witnesses (they don't have to hear, just as long as you make it feel safe for her to refuse). Waiting until your alone in a confined space, if not harassing, is very bad manners to the point of being ungentlemanly. Don't do that, guys.