Study on Sex Harassment and Assault in Field Studies

A new study in PLOS ONE has found that scholars -- especially women and those starting their careers -- experience sexual harassment and sexual asault when doing field studies in anthropology, archaeology, geology, and other fields. A survey of 142 men and 516 women found that a majority (64 percent) had experienced sexual harassment (defined as inappropriate sexual remarks, comments about physical beauty, or jokes about cognitive sex differences, for example). More than 20 percent reported they had been the victims of sexual assault (defined as unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature, including touching, physical threats, or rape).