Sexual harassment and assault plague U.S. research bases in Antarctica, report says
A new report commissioned by the National Science Foundation finds a culture of silence and fear among employees at U.S.-run facilities in Antarctica.
Updated September 1, 2022 at 8:31 PM ET
On her very first day in Antarctica, one woman was warned to avoid a certain building at the National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station "unless [she] wanted to be raped."
Another was so "freaked out" by the pervasive sexual harassment that she began carrying around a hammer.
Sexual assault and sexual harassment "are a fact of life" in Antarctica, another woman said, "just like the fact that Antarctica is cold and the wind blows."
These are among the accounts published in a newly released , that shows just how pervasive stories of harassment and assault are at the bottom of the world.
