260
submitted 1 month ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

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.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 88 points 1 month ago

I would think frontier justice would apply nicely in this situation. Just boot the asshole out in the cold and nature will solve the problem for you.

[-] courageousstep@lemm.ee 45 points 1 month ago

Women and some other minorities are raised to not even consider using acts of violence to protect ourselves, like it never crosses our minds as a possibility that we could physically hurt an assailant if we wanted to. We have internalized a sense of weakness that isn’t actually true. This has been detrimental to our safety as well as the safety of other women. Fuck the patriarchy for doing this to us.

[-] CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al 18 points 1 month ago

Plus fear of being believed, self blame and feeling of needing to be polite.

[-] courageousstep@lemm.ee 11 points 1 month ago

The need to be polite and feeling of blame are both an extension of the lie that we are weak and can’t physically stand up for ourselves. It doesn’t necessarily matter whether we’re believed if we are ultimately safe from the assault in the first place.

But our culture has made us forget that we are strong and capable, has raised us to never develop the muscles to be able to stop someone, to never tear an assailant’s skin off with our teeth, etc.

I could be wildly out of left field, here, and I am extremely privileged that I’ve never been hurt in this way. I just want to see minorities believe that we are strong…because we are.

[-] CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al 13 points 1 month ago

I agree with a lot of what you say. Just bear in mind if they kill/harm someone to prevent themselves being raped, they have to explain this to various authorities. And may feel they won't be believed

[-] courageousstep@lemm.ee 7 points 1 month ago

Yeah, that’s a good point.

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Because for a long time we weren't believed. It's why #metoo was so important.

[-] courageousstep@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

Agreed. The fact that we have to depend on structurally patriarchal/domineering justice system is the problem… It’s a whole mess.

[-] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago

I am sad for the way you were raised, in my entire extended family there is not one woman who would have put up with it or had any thought other than self-defense at whatever cost.

[-] courageousstep@lemm.ee 8 points 1 month ago

I’d love to spread your family’s mindset through the larger white American culture (the one in which I was raised)!

[-] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

I was raised in America as well.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Zippygutterslug@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

You mean there aren't any women who would talk about it in your family I guess, cause statistically speaking that's not likely.

[-] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 7 points 1 month ago

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.

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

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.

[-] ilovepiracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 month ago

While this argument makes sense on paper, it completely nullifies the point. Both should be taught for the following reasons:

  1. You can educate people all you want, but that will not stop the people who simply never gave a flying fuck.
  2. Okay, now you're back to square one, there are evil men out there that don't give a fuck about anyone and WILL abuse you given the opportunity. Thank god they received a talk about how you shouldn't hurt women when they were in 6th grade.
  3. You are now still in a situation where you have to respond to violence, but since self-defence wasn't taught to you, you have to be a helpless victim of said violence.

"It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war."

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

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.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Don't put this on the victims. Women are doing their best to defend themselves.

Unfortunately there's a culture of sexual assault at Antarctica, where the "boys will be boys" crowd overrule the kind of thing @the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world just suggested.

[-] courageousstep@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

I never once blamed the victims. And I never will.

[-] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

My point is that the women being sexually assaulted in Antarctica haven't been passively sitting there saying it "never crossed their mind" to protect themselves - one had to walk around for months wielding a hammer to use as a weapon against her assailant.

It's the wider system down there and the rape culture society that is creating this system not some kind of passive internaluzed helplessness. Most women field scientists are tough as nails because they have to be.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] SARGE@startrek.website 32 points 1 month ago

Exactly what I was thinking.

When you're cut off from any help, you ARE your own help. Don't wait for something unthinkable to happen, this person has made it clear they don't respect you or boundaries, and have made threats.

It's 9v1, if you're scared just wait until they're asleep. Kick them out the door, lock it, and they can try walking their happy ass back to civilization. from Antarctica

Don't bother looking for a body.

[-] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Same, too many people on here have a defeatist mindset and it baffles me.

[-] lost_faith@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 month ago

That is close to my thought, "Hey asshole, you gotta sleep sometime..."

[-] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Exactly, thank you.

I've seen enough scifi to know that (ant)arctic research stations ought to have a quarantine area so that ill crewmembers can be compassionately kept alive separated from those they might harm while still having access to life support in a hostile environment.

[-] tomatolung@sopuli.xyz 15 points 1 month ago

Antarctic builds are costly, difficult, and filled with challenges you don't see in daily life, so while that might seem like a simple idea, it's about half as hard as as putting it on the space station, with a 10th or less the budget.

I'm not saying anything has to be built or installed, just rigged/signposted in physical reality and negotiated as social reality

[-] tomatolung@sopuli.xyz 24 points 1 month ago

I believe it's a remote station/environment issue based on my working in Antarctic and on Research ships.

NSF finally saw the light after it was forced down their throat, and they still haven't resolved it.

https://apnews.com/article/women-working-antarctica-sexual-harassment-assault-mcmurdo-ba0e550fddf1ab0afd031ff4d25143cb

[-] Vagabond@lemm.ee 22 points 1 month ago

You would imagine the people that go to Antarctica are prepared to be self reliant. It's 9 vs 1. You could institute a little ice justice (beat him) and lock him in a room.

[-] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Carry around a hammer?

Realistically they are probably appealing for outside help because the ones who take this seriously don't have the numbers.

[-] goldfish_brain@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

Perhaps they should remove him and arrest him instead of just offering counseling.

[-] notabot@lemm.ee 12 points 1 month ago

They're cut off, noone's getting in or out until the weather improves, which will be months. The team are on their own with the attacker until then and will probably appreciate counselling when they're out.

[-] ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Surprising that they're still cut-off since it's the Antarctic summer right now.

[-] notabot@lemm.ee 8 points 1 month ago

From the article:

The 10-person team is trapped at the remote Sanae IV base, which is on a cliff edge about 105 miles inland from the ice shelf, by encroaching ice and weather as the southern hemisphere winter sets. Teams overwintering at the base are typically cut off for 10 months at a time. Sources told South Africa’s Sunday Times that the only way to leave the base now was via emergency medical evacuation to a neighbouring German base about 190 miles away.

As far as I can see it's currently the end of the Antarctic summer, winter is just starting, and will likely last until October. It sounds like something went badly wrong with both the psychological screening of the team members, and the decision for the ice breaker that delivered them to leave before the situation was resolved.

[-] Skua@kbin.earth 5 points 1 month ago

The article says that it is cut off for ten months per year, so I assume the two months of accessibility are only the absolute peak of summer. That would suggest that they're right at the start of the ten month period just now

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
260 points (99.2% liked)

World News

45949 readers
1299 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS