<\/a>The current alcohol ration allows Antarctic workers to buy up to the equivalent of 18 beers each week, or three bottles of wine, or a 750 milliliter (25 ounce) bottle of spirits.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe NSF said it\u2019s also instituting several new measures during the current southern hemisphere spring and upcoming summer that are aimed at preventing sexual harassment and assault at the base, where typically around 70% of workers are men. These include enhanced training, a new survey to collect data and monitor trends, and visits to the ice from experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karen Marrongelle, the NSF\u2019s chief operating officer, said it was committed to ensuring a safe environment wherever science or education was conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will not rest until we are confident that every member of the Antarctic community feels safe and supported,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NSF published a report in 2022 in which 59% of women said they\u2019d experienced harassment or assault while on the ice, and 72% of women said such behavior was a problem in Antarctica. Last year, the NSF created an office to deal with such complaints, provided a confidential victim\u2019s advocate, and established a 24-hour helpline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AP investigation found a pattern of problems at McMurdo. One woman who reported a colleague had groped her was made to work alongside him again. Another woman who told her employer she was sexually assaulted was fired two months later. Another woman said bosses at the base downgraded her allegations from rape to harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the AP published its investigation, the NSF sent a message to U.S. Antarctic Program workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe know that it can be difficult to hear these accounts. It is for us,\u201d the NSF wrote in the email, which was obtained by the AP. \u201cThese are not experiences we want anyone to have within the USAP (or anywhere else in the world).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The email outlined the new anti-harassment measures the NSF planned to implement and offered resources for support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jennifer Sorensen, who told the AP she was raped at McMurdo in 2015, said the NSF had tried unsuccessfully before to blame alcohol for the high rates of sexual misconduct at the base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey know full well that all the rationing or denial of alcohol sales being forced on us isn\u2019t going to do a damn thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the NSF and lead contractor Leidos were serious about stopping sexual misconduct, they should start believing survivors and ensure they aren\u2019t retaliated against, she said. They should also stop rehiring perpetrators, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlcohol can obviously blur the lines of consent, there\u2019s that issue at play, but overwhelmingly, sexual assault has occurred even when neither party has been consuming alcohol, as was the case with me,\u201d Sorensen said. \u201cSo it\u2019s definitely not going to eliminate the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sorensen said that if the NSF wants to reduce drinking, it should provide alternative diversions, such as the bowling alley, ceramic studio and greenhouse which used to be features at McMurdo but have disappeared due to budget cutbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britt Barquist, who said she was groped at McMurdo in 2017, said in an email it was positive that the NSF was making an effort to improve the culture at the base. But she remained concerned that incidents were still being swept under the rug when it put a contracting company\u2019s primary objectives at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor example, my incident took place during work hours, at a job site, no alcohol involved, and was corroborated and reported through official channels,\u201d Barquist wrote. \u201cI was later told by my company\u2019s HR that I would have to work with the perpetrator again because his job was mission-critical and there was no one else to fill his role. None of these new policies implemented by the NSF would prevent that from happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NSF and Leidos have declined to answer questions about Barquist\u2019s case, or others highlighted in the AP\u2019s report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under another new initiative to improve morale, the NSF said it will be expanding internet access through the satellite network Starlink, allowing workers to stay better connected to people back home. Starlink is run by SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NSF first foreshadowed impending changes to its alcohol policies in a blog post early last month, and said it first told workers about the new anti-harassment measures in mid-August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AP sent the NSF a detailed list of questions about its investigation in early June and has continued to correspond since, including asking for any planned changes to address sexual harassment and assault. The NSF never listed any planned changes to alcohol policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause these changes are related to morale and welfare and not sexual assault\/harassment prevention, we did not mention this program initiative in our previous response,\u201d the NSF said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) \u2014 From Sunday, workers at the main United States base in Antarctica will no longer be able to walk into a bar and order a beer, after the federal agency that oversees the research program decided to stop serving alcohol. McMurdo Station will not be going entirely dry, the National Science […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":18416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4729,1461,1139],"class_list":["post-18415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-alcohol","tag-base","tag-workers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18417,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18415\/revisions\/18417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}