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] 40 points 1 day 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.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago (9 children)

if I was locked in a building with a documented rapist for three months, I would lock him in the walk-in-freezer.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 days 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

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days 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.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day 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.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day 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

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 days 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.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 103 points 2 days ago (8 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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

Exactly, thank you.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 2 days ago (15 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] -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] 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] 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 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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[–] [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.

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[–] [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.

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[–] [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 (3 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] 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)

Yeah, that’s a good point.

[–] [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.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 days 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.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

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

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