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.

  • Flying Squid
    10•1 year ago

    I’m really trying to use the UK and Australia as places where people have as much freedom as they do in the US but no guns. Or do you think they’re totalitarian police states or something?

      • Flying Squid
        7•1 year ago

        Maybe instead of arming women to stop men from raping them, we start teaching our men that masculinity does not equal sex and sex does not equal power?

          • Flying Squid
            0•1 year ago

            You didn’t read what I wrote. You need to do more than teach that rape is wrong. You need to divorce sex from both masculinity and power.

            • @OceanSoap@lemmy.ml
              2•1 year ago

              That will do nothing. People who get off on it aren’t going to suddenly not get off on it because you repeat a bunch of words to them. There’s never been a moment in history where rape hasn’t been desired for by a percentage of the population, and unless you’ve implemented some sort of Equalibrium-type society where everyone is force-fed regular injections that keep them compliant, it’s not happening.

              Don’t get me wrong, teaching works for most people, but not all. It’s not going to be eliminated by talking theory at them that forcing someone to submit to them sexual no longer means power.

              • Flying Squid
                0•1 year ago

                When was that moment in history when society had previously decided to divorce sex from masculinity and power? I must have missed that in my history classes.

                • @OceanSoap@lemmy.ml
                  1•1 year ago

                  How do you effectively take the feeling of power away from them? It doesn’t matter what society says.

      • @dangblingus@lemmy.world
        2•1 year ago

        Rape doesn’t occur by strangers. Statistically speaking, it’s a family member raping a family member. Or it’s a close acquaintance. Staying strapped at all times to prevent SA isn’t reasonable.