The negative impact of one harassing statement on a young scientist
Courage Campaign: Women's Stories of Survival and Speaking Out Against Oppression
The following is a story from a member of the WIS PDX community:
CW: mention of sexual discrimination and harassment.
I was a summer intern in a lab when I was 16. The people who worked in the lab had a culture where people would tease and insult each other. I assumed that it was all supposed to be playful, just fun and games.But a few months into the internship, one of the grad students asked me: "What do you tell your parents about what you do in lab?" Another of the cis, white, male grad students responded with a smile: "She says that she gets harassed and likes it." Everyone laughed and the conversation moved on, but my brain froze and never left that moment for the rest of the summer. I told myself to stick it out, since I only had about two months left, so I did. During that time, I avoided that grad student, struggling to decide whether or not I should report him, or confront him about how uncomfortable he made me feel. I dreaded going to lab every day. On one hand, I felt like I should stand up for myself, like a real feminist would do--or something like that. But on the other hand, I felt like it would cause so much more emotional harm to have to confront the grad student about it.At the end of the program, a third-party “mentor” (a volunteer science teacher) was assigned to come into the lab and get my feedback on my experience. I was never explicitly asked if I felt unsafe in the lab, but I do remember being asked at the end of the conversation if I had anything else to add that the program organizers should know. The pause in that moment seemed to stretch on for a long time in my head, but it was probably only a second or two. Of course I felt unsafe and delegitimized and sad and frustrated. But I said no.
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This story was shared with us anonymously as part of the WIS PDX Courage Campaign, which is meant to build support for survivors and to spread awareness of the effects of gender-based discrimination, harassment, and assault in STEM. We empower women to share their stories and speak their truth.
If you would like to participate by submitting your experience to WIS-PDX anonymously, please click the button below. With each submitter’s consent, WIS-PDX will compile these stories to share with the community and any other party to make sure they are heard. We recognize that recounting these events can be traumatic. We want to offer support to any individual who needs it through this process. You are not alone and you do not have to traverse this alone.
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