Takeaways from AP's investigation into sexual harassment and assault at Antarctica's McMurdo Station

abcnews.go.com:

Many women who work at McMurdo Station, the main United States research base in Antarctica, say the isolated environment and macho culture have allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Many women who work at McMurdo Station, the main United States research base in Antarctica, say the isolated environment and macho culture have allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish.

The National Science Foundation, which oversees the U.S. Antarctic Program, published a report in 2022 in which 59% of women said they’d experienced harassment or assault while on the ice.

But the problem goes beyond the harassment itself, The Associated Press found. In reviewing court records and internal communications, and in interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees, the AP uncovered a pattern of women who said their claims of harassment or assault were minimized by their employers, often leading to them or others being put in further danger.

Several Antarctic workers spoke publicly about their experiences to the AP for the first time.

GRABBING A HAMMER

Mechanic Liz Monahon told the AP a man at the base threatened her in 2021, but her employers did little to protect her. So she grabbed a hammer and kept it on her at all times.

“If he came anywhere near me, I was going to start swinging at him,” Monahon said. “I decided that I was going to survive.”

It turns out the man had a criminal record in New Zealand and had breached a protection order before he’d deployed, a judge later found. Workers said they took matters into their own hands and kept Monahon safe by sending her away from the base on a mission over the sea ice. The man later left Antarctica.

In a recorded interview, a human