The resources found below are intended to aid you in understanding what a safer space is and about some of what constitutes a violation thereof. There are also a great many relating to what harassment is as education is the best prevention and this is a subject we’ve had a lot of firsthand experience with. If everyone knows what harassment is, we feel it will be much less likely to happen.
What is workplace bullying/harassment?
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_bullying
- http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/crc/2011-workplace-harassment.htm
- http://www.livescience.com/2361-workplace-bullying-epidemic-worse-sexual-harassment.html
- http://arbejdstilsynet.dk/da/regler/at-vejledninger-mv/arbejdets-udforelse/d-4-2-mobning-og-seksuel-chikane/d42-mobning-og-seksuel-chikane.aspx
- http://www.forebygmobning.dk/
- http://www3.uakron.edu/lawrev/robert1.html
- http://bullyonline.org/workbully/amibeing.htm#difference_bullying_harassment_assault
- http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Harassment
What is sexual harassment?
- http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/svaw/harassment/explore/1whatis.htm
- http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/whatissh.pdf
- http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/legal-resources/know-your-rights-at-work/workplace-sexual-harassment
- arbejdstilsynet.dk/da/regler/at-vejledninger-mv/arbejdets-udforelse/d-4-2-mobning-og-seksuel-chikane/d42-mobning-og-seksuel-chikane.aspx
Sexual harassment is a workplace issue, not a personal one
Sexual harassment is a human rights issue
- http://www.stopvaw.org/sexual_harassment
- www.mun.ca/sexualharassment/sexual_harassment/human_rights.php
What is mobbing?
- http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/12/28/bullying-at-work-workplace-mobbing-is-on-the-rise/
- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beyond-bullying/201304/surviving-workplace-mobbing-control-emotional-flooding
What is a safe space?
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Safe_space
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe-space
Why does harassment occur?
It’s all about power, not sex. It is often intended to injure and silence the target.
- http://www.sexualharassmenttraining.biz/sexual_harassment_training_course_Sexual-Harassment-and-Power-Dynamics.html
- https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/abuse-as-ddos
Harassment is often a reaction to whistleblowing:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower#Common_reactions
- http://medicalwhistleblowernetwork.jigsy.com/ptsd-injury-not-disease
What typically happens when someone blows the whistle on organizational corruption?
- www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/22/there-were-hundreds-of-us-crying-out-for-help-afterlife-of-whistleblower
- waronwhistleblowers.com
- http://blogs.cfainstitute.org/investor/2012/10/24/whistle-blowing-no-good-deed-goes-unpunished/
How to prove harassment
- http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/prove-coworker-harassment-9243.html
- http://www.cmlaw.com/proving-sexual-harassment/
- http://www.sdshhlaw.com/articles/ContextMatters.pdf
- http://www.advokat-olesen.dk/cgi-bin/index.pl?side-1-200301.htm
What are the effects of harassment?
- http://www.stopvaw.org/sexual_harassment_that_creates_a_hostile_work_environment.html
- https://www.ufv.ca/hrcro/consequences-of-harassment/
- http://www.stopvaw.org/Effects_of_Sexual_Harassment.html
- http://bulliedacademics.blogspot.dk/2007/03/effects-of-psychological-harassment.html
- http://www.northwestern.edu/womenscenter/issues-information/sexual-harassment/effects-sexual-harassment.html
- http://www.bullyonline.org/stress/ptsd.htm
- http://counseling.uoregon.edu/dnn/SelfhelpResources/SexualAssaultSexualAbuse/SexualHarassmentMythsandRealities/tabid/390/Default.aspx
- http://medicalwhistleblowernetwork.jigsy.com/ptsd-injury-not-disease
What are some common reactions when a survivor of harassment complains?
- Often the accused will try to silence and attack the survivor using a playbook of different tactics.
- Bullies will often try to claim victimhood and accuse the survivor of being the bully. They will agressively lie about what happened and desperately attack the survivor’s credibility and intentions.
- If the survivor refuses to remain silent, often the perpetrators will launch a smear campaign against them. This tactic is so common it has a name: “nuts and sluts”. This is all too often effective as typically the survivor is scared, uneducated in harassment and possibly suffering from PTSD as a result of their mistreatment. So it is easy to paint them as “nuts” as many of the reactions due to PTSD induced from abuse can make the target’s behavior quite angry and often also paranoid/hypervigilant.
Victim Blaming is a common response:
- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-love-and-war/201311/why-do-we-blame-victims
- http://www.livescience.com/24710-standing-up-sexual-harassment.html
- http://www.christenacleveland.com/2013/04/listening-well-as-a-person-of-privilege-seek-to-understand-and-embrace-anger/
- http://www.doctornerdlove.com/2012/07/labeling-women-crazy/all/1/
- http://thecurrentconscience.com/blog/2011/09/12/a-message-to-women-from-a-man-you-are-not-%E2%80%9Ccrazy%E2%80%9D
Examples of and overview articles on gender discrimination and harassment (and other violence) in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
- https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/an-open-letter-on-feminism-in-tech
- www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/technology/technologys-man-problem.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=1
- https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/08/sexual_harassme.html
- http://www.computerworld.com/article/2551969/it-careers/why-women-quit-technology.html
- http://valleywag.gawker.com/this-is-why-there-arent-enough-women-in-tech-1221929631
- https://medium.com/the-power-of-harassment/
- http://www.ibtimes.com/tinder-sexual-harassment-suit-latest-example-techs-misogyny-1616724
- http://web.archive.org/web/20120705070446/http://news.cnet.com/8301-31322_3-57431869-256/why-we-need-to-keep-talking-about-women-in-tech/
- http://www.ibtimes.com/women-tech-meet-google-over-gender-gap-silicon-valley-1593168?rel=rel2
- https://medium.com/ladybits-on-medium/the-insidious-power-of-not-quite-harassment-857e2f71059a
- http://kotaku.com/she-was-harassed-by-a-games-reporter-now-shes-speakin-1510714971
- http://scientopia.org/blogs/ethicsandscience/2013/10/15/this-is-not-a-post-i-want-to-write/
- http://www.networkworld.com/article/2227920/opensource-subnet/is-there-a-sexual-harassment-problem-in-the-open-source-community-.html
- http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_incidents
- http://www.buzzfeed.com/courtneystanton/a-woman-walks-into-a-tech-conference#.vcxqZwdLZ
Reports on discrimination in STEM
Individual instances of discrimination, harassment and gender based violence in STEM (this is a very incomplete list and only the most high profile cases are touched on, this scourge has affected thousands of marginalized people in STEM)
- Kathy Sierra (also here)
- Brianna Wu
- Julie Pagano
- Adria Richards
- Juile Ann Horvoth
- Randi Harper
- Liz Abinante
- Faiza Harbi
- Shanley Kane
- Asher Wolf
- Cate Huston
- Julia Ferraioli
- Anita Sarkeesian
- Zoe Quinn
- Kathleen Raven
- Monica Byrne
- Whitney Wolf
- Priya Shetty
- Geek Feminism’s Timeline of Incidents
Harassment in hacking / citizen science / open knowledge
- https://medium.com/the-magazine/hacked-off-4c423793a831
- missionlocal.org/2013/12/combating-sexual-harassment-in-tech/
- https://plus.googleapis.com/wm/4/111164228693257897305/posts/X9M3mwbkXAb
- https://noisebridge.net/wiki/Meeting_Notes_2013_09_24#Proposals_from_last_week
- https://noisebridge.net/wiki/Harassment
- https://www.fsinf.at/dear-hacker-community-–-we-need-talk
- http://modelviewculture.com/pieces/the-rise-of-feminist-hackerspaces-and-how-to-make-your-own
How widespread is harassment in Denmark?
- http://www.b.dk/nationalt/vold-chikane-og-stalking-mod-kvinder-i-danmark-overstiger-eu-gennemsnit (In Danish)
- Denmark actually has the second highest rate of sexual harassment in the EU, 81%. See Page 101 of the FRA’s major report. However, Danish culture perpetuates this scourge by sweeping both the systemic problem and individual instances under the rug, as denounced in this article. When the FRA report came out, it was largely dismissed by the Danish mainstream whereas the report was taken very serious in other EU countries.
What are Danish laws and punishments for harassment? Are organizations liable alongside perpetrators?
- http://www.advokat-olesen.dk/cgi-bin/index.pl?side-1-200301.htm (In Danish) The onus of proof is shifted onto the accused harasser to prove that no harassment took place. Also, organizations are most often liable along with individuals, especially if they did not act to protect the complainant.
What can people who have been harassed and failed by the traditional system do?
Why is discrimination so rampant in STEM?
- Bystanders often do not intervene http://www.catehuston.com/blog/2014/12/31/sigh/