| Image: Dr. Kate Clancy (UIUC) |
The "Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault" study that was published in PLOS ONE on July 16, 2014 by the team of biological anthropologists Kate Clancy (UIUC), Robin Nelson (Skidmore), Julienne Rutherford (UIC), and Katie Hinde (Harvard) revealed several issues relating to harassment and assault within the field of anthropology.
Some of the issues highlighted:
- A lack of awareness on codes of conduct and sexual harassment policies.
- 2/3 of the 666 respondents reported some form of harassment (71% of women respondents and 41% of men respondents) or assault (26% of women respondents).
- 90% of women and 70% of men were trainees or employees when harassed or assaulted.
- Perpetrators of harassment and assault differed between men and women, with women typically being targeted by people senior to them and men by peers.
1. What was the main motivation for your study? Had there been previous studies of harassment and assault within the field that pointed towards a larger issue?
To
our knowledge there were no previous studies that explored harassment and
assault at field sites, but there were papers detailing individual experiences
and interactions in the field. There were also surveys on other professions,
particularly the health professions and business that suggested hostile
workplaces were big problems for women. Personally, I was motivated by a story
a friend told me of her own assault, her attempts to report it, and the slow
realization that no one wanted her to go forward with the story because they
were privileging their field site's data over her mental, physical, and
emotional health. This friend's story, and soon after another's, made me
realize that my amazing field experience did not match that of many of my
colleagues'.
Once
these stories were pseudonymized and shared on my blog, more stories poured in,
via email, on comments, on Twitter, and in person. By this point I was known as
the person to whom you go to share your story of assault or harassment, but I
didn't know what to do with all this except raise awareness. Heather
Shattuck-Heidorn and M. Elle Saine invited me to give a talk on the ethics of
field site management at our professional society meetings, and this is the
point at which I realized the issue had gotten too big for me. Ever since that
point, Robin Nelson, Julienne Rutherford, and Katie Hinde and I have been
working on a team in developing and analyzing this project.
2. Did the results surprise you?
The
results did not surprise me, but it does feel very different to have over 600
surveys tell you something, compared to dozens of anecdotes.
3. What is the key take away message from this study?
There
were really 3 key findings, to my mind. First, women are targeted more than
men, and trainees more than any other employment status. Second, the nature of
the harassment and assault towards men and women were different: women tended
to be abused by their higher ups, where men were harassed by their peers (there
are too few data points of men being assaulted for us to say the direction of
those abuses). Third, very few individuals knew of any reporting mechanism
should they be targeted for harassment or assault; fewer still did report their
experience; and then, of those, only 7 individuals were satisfied with the outcome
of reporting.
4. Are there any follow-up studies being performed?
We
are in the midst of writing a second paper, based on our analyses of 26
interviews I conducted with a semi-random subset of survey respondents. With
the interviews we have respondents' entire stories. This makes it easier for us
to find strong links between field site activities, cultures, or behaviors, and
the respondents' experiences.
5. Has there been any action from groups within the field of
anthropology as a result of this study?
Several
professional societies have issued zero tolerance statements across a few field
disciplines, and I know our paper is required reading now in several
professional societies, departments, and labs.
6. The study showed noticeable differences in the treatment of men
and women within the field? Which of those results were the most
surprising for you?
I
think the fact that the women experienced vertical abuse, and the men
horizontal, was both surprising and confirmatory. That is, it makes sense to
think that those who target women are more likely to be their superiors,
because they may be making a particularly predatory decision given their
additional vulnerability. But again, seeing those data laid bare like that
still hit me hard.
7. What can we, as a community of scientists (not in this field,
but with a similar problem of ongoing harassment within our community), do to
help? What can we take away from the SAFE study?
To
my mind, the first take-away is that harassment and assault are major, ongoing
problems for women across many, if not all, professions. This issue has not
been resolved, it's not any better now than in the previous generation, and
it's not going away. We need to confront this reality if we are to move
forward.
In
terms of how to eradicate harassment and assault, a multi-level approach will
be needed. We need to educate more people that consent is the basis of healthy
communication between partners -- yes means yes instead of no means no. We need
to help people understand the power they have when they are bystanders to
something wrong -- they need to speak up, and we need to create a culture of
accountability here. We all know perpetrators in our disciplines who get away
with a lot. Why do we let them continue to have success in their jobs? The cost
is often intense psychological harm to many individuals, targets and
bystanders, who have to leave the field or continue to interact with someone
who has hurt them.
Finally,
we need clearer, safer reporting mechanisms for those moments when targets do
feel they can report their experiences. We need these to be available whenever
people are working, even when it's not on campus, because campus policy is
still supposed to apply in observatories, field sites, and field schools.
Fed Up with Sexual Harassment II: The Solution Series
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