According to the survey, half of the women scientists worldwide have been the victim of sexual harassment at some time during their employment, the survey published on Thursday.
In the latest survey, which included more than 5,000 researchers across 117 nations, 49 percent of women scientists reported that they had “personally encountered at least one situation” of sexual harassment.
Nearly half of the cases took place after the MeToo movement emerged in 2017, according to the survey, which was conducted by the Ipsos polling firm on behalf of the L’Oreal Foundation.
For 65 percent of the women, the harassment harmed their careers. Just one in five of the sufferers reported the harassment to their organization. The respondents to the questionnaire worked in fields including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. They worked at more than 50 public and private institutions across the world.
A quarter of the respondents said they had been in a condition where someone was inappropriately and often referring to me as a girl… doll, babe or chick,” or otherwise humiliating them. While 24 percent said they had been asked “intrusive and reiterated questions about my private or sex life that make me feel awkward, the survey said.
A bulk of the harassment took place at the beginning of the victims’ careers. While around half of the victims said they had avoided specific members of staff at their institutions, while one in five said they had felt unsafe at their workplace. About 65 percent of the respondents said not enough was being done to fight sexism and sexual harassment in the workplace.
This survey confirms that science has not been through enough of a revolution since the MeToo movement.”
Alexandra Palt of the L’Oreal Foundation told AFP
The foundation, which works with UNESCO to help women scientists, called on academic and research institutions to adopt zero-tolerance policies about harassment and make budgetary commitments to handle the problem.
Only 33 percent of scientific researchers worldwide are women, and just four percent of science Nobel Prize winners have been female, the foundation said.
There needs to be an effective and transparent internal reporting system.
If we want to fully harness the potential of women in research, they must feel safe.”
Palt added
