Summary
A South African scientist at the remote Sanae IV Antarctic base has been accused of sexual assault and violent threats, prompting urgent pleas for help.
The 10-person team is stranded for months due to extreme winter conditions. Officials were warned of the escalating situation as early as December but failed to act.
South Africa’s environment department has launched an investigation and is offering counseling.
The incident raises concerns over psychological screening for Antarctic missions, echoing past violent incidents in South Africa’s research programs.
Absolutely 100%. I think basic self-defense should be a required course in middle school or high school, especially for women. And I would encourage any woman or any person for that matter to take charge of their personal defense, in whatever way is most comfortable for them. Carry a gun, carry a taser, carry pepper spray, take martial arts classes like Krav, etc.
A gun is pretty much the best solution, especially for a woman.
Tasers, pepper spray, martial arts, etc don’t always work and usually serve to just piss off your assailant.
I keep saying this: women and minorities should be the ones owning the most guns, not white males.
Schools should be teaching boys to respect women and not believe they have a ‘right’ to women’s bodies.
If we hit the source of the problem it can be fixed … and the source is not women, it’s boys/men.
What? This has nothing to do with schooling.
Every time you see a woman get womanized, it just tells all the men that they don’t need to try as hard to get with her.
Womanizers are successful because there’s a significant portion of women who want to be womanized. Look at all your personal experiences for no shortage of evidence to back this up.
Women need to have higher standards and stop putting their faith in obvious scumbags if they want culture to change. Too many women expect guys to “mac” on them and assume the guys who don’t aren’t interested. It’s rhetoric that they proudly spew to each other without realizing the damage it does.
“If he’s not talking to you, you can believe he’s talking to someone else!” This kind of stuff is a load of bullshit and only serves to give womanizers an edge over better people.
“It’s easier to fool someone than to convince them they’d been fooled” - Mark Twain. This is true because the women who put their faith in shitty men don’t want to admit they valued the wrong things or have been taken for a ride, so they just keep going. Their “friends” who are doing the same thing also don’t want to admit it or change.
Before you people get mad at me for “blaming the victim,” try to understand that avoiding holding women accountable for their actions contributes to idea of viewing them as helpless children.
While this argument makes sense on paper, it completely nullifies the point. Both should be taught for the following reasons:
“It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.”
Problem is everybody focuses on teaching girls/women and lets the boys/men off with nothing.
Yes, both should be taught … so start pushing for the boys/men now.
If you’re hanging around people that need to be “taught” rape is bad, then maybe you should find a better friend group.
Good to know I’m the problem. How’s that strategy working out for you? Driving up toxic masculinity numbers this month?
Wait, are you raping people/turning a blind eye to rape?
I don’t think they were talking about you in particular.
Yes, take it personally and miss the whole point.
Ofc it’s not all men, but there are a lot of men that cause the problem. So instead of whining about it, do something.
I’m doing something by telling everyone to stop putting their faith in shitty men.
It’s like thieves. You can’t trust a thief and then act all surprised when he steals from you.
Not all people are thieves just like not all men are rapists, but putting your faith in the ones who are obviously scumbags is opening yourself up to be taken advantage of by them.
I wish I didn’t have to say this, but I see way too many women willingly getting taken advantage of by shitty people then getting mad at anyone who calls it out.
At some point, we need to be able to protect ourselves from the predators.
Many people are assaulted by family members, co-workers, people in position in power over them, pastors, doctors, peers in school; some are stalkers, manipulators, who use gaslighting, love bombing, and the slow boil a frog method. Many rapist seem kind, loving, gentle on the outside, people go on about how the person would never hurt anyone, or didn’t expect them to be assailants. Some are friends of friends, friends of family, other people at a party, people you didn’t invite but end up being around. Staying away from shitty people is not a solution, not all rapist can be ostracized and many rapist seem perfectly fine on the outside. Potentially anyone can be a rapist Not that everyone is a rapist, just that you can’t assume someone isn’t a rapist just because they’re normally adjusted or trusted in the community. Many victims are children, disabled, or elderly who don’t pick who they’re around.
Then you have rape apologist, who defend rapist even if evidence is damning, even if they are found guilty in court. Victims have little power when the people around them won’t believe them or won’t protect them. Staying away is horrid advice and only puts the blame on the victims themselves.