this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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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.

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[–] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 108 points 1 week ago (6 children)

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 61 points 1 week ago (14 children)

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 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] courageousstep@lemm.ee 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 week ago (1 children)

Yeah, that’s a good point.

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

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

[–] courageousstep@lemm.ee 6 points 1 week 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 week ago (2 children)

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 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I was raised in America as well.

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[–] Zippygutterslug@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week 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.

[–] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week 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.

[–] NotLemming@lemm.ee 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Have you watched the handmaids tale series? Spoiler alert, but

the main character starts out seemingly powerless, being repeatedly assaulted etc. By the 3rd series she's murdered one of the state sponsored rapists by stabbing him with a pen I think, then the other women hide the evidence and secretly cremate the guy in a furnace.

The lesson I took is that people are always more powerful than they think and solidarity is very important.

Also that the attitude #TraumatiseThemBack is valid when dealing with evil.

[–] courageousstep@lemm.ee 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I have! That show absolutely terrifies me, since yeah, a small minority of people convinces a ton of other people to do violence against women in a way that feels very USA 2025. But that’s a great point! When the main character realizes her power, she goes far in protecting herself and others.

It’s difficult because our culture trains us from birth to never realize we can fight back. Like, I have a strong suspicion that if I was suddenly attacked, my brain would dump all ideas of fighting back and just freeze, which of course allows the violence to happen. I don’t think this is a “natural state” of being for women or any person. I think we were just trained this way, which makes it a very difficult mindset to overcome; I believe that this is by design.

So…how do we retrain women and girls to respond with a #traumatizethemback mindset? Seems impossible to do this at the cultural level, at least for several generations.

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[–] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (6 children)

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.

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[–] SARGE@startrek.website 34 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 week ago

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

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Your comment is kinda case-in-point demonstrating how "frontier" justice can be unjust.

Other publications are reporting physical assault, not sexual. It could have been a slap. Still unacceptable but probably doesn't deserve death by exposure.

My point is, it sounds like a difficult situation but following procedure and running it up the chain is always the right move.

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The body of this article also only mentions physical assault. It appears the telegraph completely made up the sexual assault part and is whipping people into a frenzy over it.

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[–] lost_faith@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Exactly, thank you.

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[–] Vagabond@lemm.ee 41 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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 20 points 1 week 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.

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 1 week ago

this article says physical assault, not sexual.

“An intervention is in place,” he said. “The person who assaulted the team leader is remorseful and has been psychologically re-evaluated willingly.” Asked what triggered the alleged assault, George said: “It was a dispute over a task the team leader wanted the team to do – a weather-dependent task that required a schedule change.”

[–] anindefinitearticle@sh.itjust.works 35 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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.

[–] anindefinitearticle@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] prodigalsorcerer@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Oh yeah, the person going around sexually assaulting people is going to respect a sign stating "do not enter".

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[–] tomatolung@sopuli.xyz 29 points 1 week 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

[–] goldfish_brain@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] notabot@lemm.ee 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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 week ago (2 children)

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

[–] notabot@lemm.ee 10 points 1 week 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 7 points 1 week 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

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The articles is so interesting! Why not have our greatest heroe leaders enjoy some of this peaceful resort-like friendly environment? Orange man would absolute love it. Swasticman too would love the outdoors! There, the white snow is powerful! One might say it has white....maybe one might not say that, wink, wink! C'mon O man and S man, go check it out! Maybe clean up DEI over there?

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