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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[–] [email protected] 58 points 2 days ago (8 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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day 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 @[email protected] just suggested.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

rape culture society

Stop putting faith in shitty people if we want rape culture to stop. Too many times I see people complain about "rape culture" when hanging around scumbags (jocks, gangbangers, scammers). Find better influence, value different things, and have higher standards.

Rape culture only exists because we allow it to.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

these are literally scientists, nerds! Who are these antarctic gang bangers? The problem is that the punishments aren't heavy enough. There's no chance of capital punishment regardless of how many people or how many times you rape someone.

Everyone is all about "what about false charges!" how often do other crimes get people arrested under false charges as well? People barely care about that.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

people complain about “rape culture” when hanging around scumbags

Are you saying thst women scientists shouldn't "hang around" Antarctica?

Because that's fucked up and another example of putting the emphasis on the victims actions.

Rape culture only exists because we allow it to.

NOW you're on the right track. We as societies should be stepping down a lot harder on this crap.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I'm referring to the macrocosm of rape culture outside of Antarctica.

We need to be willing to recognize and ostracize scumbags and womanizers. Unfortunately, we tend to elevate them to the highest positions of power in our social circles.

That needs to change.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

I completely agree with you on that.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Icl, I'd say it's the opposite in terms of we need less fatherlessness, not just for girls but boys as well; not only does no father figure often lead to degenerocity, particularly in women, but also since a father would care about protecting his daughter more than anything (hopefully), they can help/teach their daughters to protect themselves.

Women naturally being more compassionate, definitely leads to them being more vulnerable though, I agree.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

not only does no father figure often lead to degenerocity, particularly in women

Women naturally being more compassionate

2 generalizations of women according to sexist stereotypes. I shouldn't feed the trolls but here we are.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What in the sexist did I just read?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

How is saying we need fathers more involved in the lives of their daughters sexist? 🤣🤣🤣💀💀

How is saying fathers care for their daughters sexist? Apparently not hating all men and wanting every child to have as healthy of a relationship with their parents as possible is now sexist 🤦

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There is no patriarchy omds 🤦🤦🤦 no1 is being underpayed just cause of their race or gender, there's no worldwide agenda against women.

No, I ain't a far-right conservative trump supporting fascist who hates women and all minorities, I base all my opinions and beliefs on my own experiences and the things I see.

I don't see everything through the polarising lens of either one two absolutely shit parties. In other countries, believe it or not, people have their own beliefs that aren't based on whether they're right or left wing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

No, I ain't a far-right conservative trump supporting fascist who hates women and all minorities

lol ok

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

🤣🤣🤣 Just cause I aint a political extremist on 1 side don't make me one on the other. Js cause I aint a far-left patriarchy smashing white ppl hating woke anti-capitalist communist don't make me a far-right Trump-supporting Hitler praising dictator-sucking Nazi fascist and vice-versa.

Some people seem to think you have to be one or the other, most people think both sides are lunatics. Plus Trump fans support him with their chest.

I don't let next man, especially any politicians decide my opinions for me. There's political parties outside of America believe it or not, their viewpoints aren't the only 2 that exist in the world.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (2 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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

A gun is pretty much the best solution, especially for a woman.

Tasers, pepper spray, martial arts, etc don't always work and usually serve to just piss off your assailant.

I keep saying this: women and minorities should be the ones owning the most guns, not white males.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 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.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Schools should be teaching boys to respect women and not believe they have a ‘right’ to women’s bodies.

What? This has nothing to do with schooling.

Every time you see a woman get womanized, it just tells all the men that they don't need to try as hard to get with her.

Womanizers are successful because there's a significant portion of women who want to be womanized. Look at all your personal experiences for no shortage of evidence to back this up.

Women need to have higher standards and stop putting their faith in obvious scumbags if they want culture to change. Too many women expect guys to "mac" on them and assume the guys who don't aren't interested. It's rhetoric that they proudly spew to each other without realizing the damage it does.

"If he's not talking to you, you can believe he's talking to someone else!" This kind of stuff is a load of bullshit and only serves to give womanizers an edge over better people.

"It's easier to fool someone than to convince them they'd been fooled" - Mark Twain. This is true because the women who put their faith in shitty men don't want to admit they valued the wrong things or have been taken for a ride, so they just keep going. Their "friends" who are doing the same thing also don't want to admit it or change.

Before you people get mad at me for "blaming the victim," try to understand that avoiding holding women accountable for their actions contributes to idea of viewing them as helpless children.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago

If you're hanging around people that need to be "taught" rape is bad, then maybe you should find a better friend group.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 days 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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

It's not really unique to women or SA. I'm not trying to downplay the severity of it, I'm merely highlighting how most crimes are actually quite hard to prove and get justice for.

For example, most people whose cars are broken into never receive justice.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days 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)!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I was raised in America as well.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you're not a woman. I think you're underestimating how prevalent and protected sexual assault can be

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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.

Find, and take, local self defence classes. Not necessarily martial arts classes (though they may be involved), but real world self defence. It'll be grittier, nastier and much better practice. Get used to grappling and fighting in a controlled environment, and you'll be much less likely to freeze if you need it in an emergency.

You're right that'll it'll take a long time to change at a cultural level, but that needs to start somewhere, and obe person doing it and then encouraging others could be a local catalyst.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Thank you for the encouragement. I do need to do this. Especially with the current climate in the USA.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (2 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.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

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 really don't think we should be perpetuating the idea that women can rely on their strength to fight off an offender.

It has the knock-on effect of emboldening women to put themselves into situations they otherwise would not because "they know how to fight" or what have you. Then they find out just how powerful testosterone is and bad things happen.

I'm serious. As a man who gets next to no exercise, I still feel strong as hell. I still feel like I could demolish any chick who isn't hitting up the gym 5 days a week. I wouldn't, but it's scary to think about. The natural advantage that testosterone gives, coupled with males being brought up to think they need to be tough, paints a very poor picture for the "girl power" crew that wants to pretend women can reliably combat men.

Really, the best thing we can be doing is teaching people how to avoid dangerous situation altogether. It'd be nice if we could create a culture of recognizing womanizing scumbags when we see them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

It has the knock-on effect of emboldening women to put themselves into situations they otherwise would not because “they know how to fight” or what have you.

A'ight, I grew up in an red state with a lot of gang activity and had to learn how to fight just to go to school. I know you aren't thinking of 'attending class' when you said this, but I saw girl fights where they were using the stucco walls like a cheese grater to take somebody's face off.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days 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

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

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